Short: If I put a small plant specifically chosen for air purification in my room, could it help with the air quality significantly?

Long: I keep my room door shut to keep house animals out of it, and it gets musty/stale smelling. Opening the window would waste AC/heat. Also, I like the idea of sleeping in a room with "cleaner" air. Cleaner as in more oxygen and/or less contaminants. I envision (and I'm open to changing all of it) a small box with moss (I'm told it has the most leaf mass and therefore cleaning ability), an appropriate grow light, and maybe a slow fan to keep the air circulating over the moss. I've sen some ready solutions on amazon for this. I don't care about visual aesthetics.

I guess I'm asking if this is worth doing, if maybe it can remove the mustiness at all and if it can help the air quality? I've heard that this is a great idea from some, and that its a complete waste of time from others.

Totally inadequate, I think and you will just be providing a source of mould and moisture...as beautiful as moss is. Vapours are coming off everything in the room, which will be natural off-gassing and the byproducts of micro-organisms, like bacteria and mould. The air in the room really needs to be changed periodically with new air to exhaust those vapours/smells away. If you must leave it closed then look into the fan-assisted versions of negative ion generators and ozone generators. You should not be in the room whilst it's on as it can cause breathing problems. The ozone or negative ions are very reactive and will react with your moist membranes if you hang around too long with it on. They don't last long at all once it's off. You probably won't need to do it all the time... just when it starts to get fusty again. Research them. Make sure it is powerful enough to process the volume of your room.

Edited November 1, 20187 yr by StringJunky

A few points:

- plants help with air quality only in certain aspects. specifically: plants help with degradation of certain VOCs, for example, but musty smells are indicative of mold, which cannot be "purified" with plants.

- VOC degradation is not done by leaf plants, rather they are degraded by bacteria living at the root of plants. Due to slow circulation, and the fact that VOC have to get to those bacteria, the degradation rate is fairly low if you just put a pot somewhere.

-oxygen production is dependent on leaf and light availability. Note that in the dark plants do not produce oxygen but become a net consumer (due to respiration)

What about a pet barrier instead?

Thanks, sounds like it is not so worth it, feedback appreciated.