Which Is A Good Air Purifier For Home Use?
Startling Facts about Air Quality
Delhi and surrounding areas have been news with regards to air quality. So how bad is it really?
To get an idea about the air quality one of the best ways is to use aqi.in or use the app Airvisual if you don’t have an air quality metering device. For example today’s air quality in Delhi is 352 which is 7 times above the breathable clean limit. PM 2.5 is 188. Now here is the real shocker, PM 2.5 can be almost double to almost 2.5 times higher inside the house than the air quality outside. Which means PM 2.5 is in the range of 350 to 400 inside the house. In air quality terminology this quality of air is termed as hazardous. On Diwali night PM 2.5 crossed 999 (the air quality meter doesn’t measure beyond that no.)
Remember in terms of controlling the damage caused by air quality on really polluted days there is nothing available as of now that can totally control it. Air Purifiers is one the best available solutions in terms of gadgets and technology to “limit the damage”. For example if PM 2.5 is 550, don’t expect it to drop 50 simply if you use the air purifier. Even with multiple air purifiers in the same room it can at best drop down to 80-100 levels, which is atleast better than hazardous. On a “good” day in Delhi winter when PM 2.5 is around 180 at night, using an air purifier can take it under the 50 levels.
An average adult takes in 11,000 litres of air in a day, out of which around 6000 is during sleep. Using an air purifier can limit the damage to a great extent.
What to look for in an Air Purifier?
CADR - Clean air Delivery Rate
Type of Filter - The most effective is HEPA filter
Change frequency - Look at the costs involved
Ionizer - It helps bring the 2.5 down
Power consumption
Looking at few models of Air Purifiers in 14000 to 25000 range
BlueAir - Joy S
Joy S is a good looking compact device that is good enough for a room of around 170 square feet. An entry level device of Blueair, it is priced at Rs.14,999. However on the downside there is no display nor any other way to know if the room has been purified.
Technical specs
Coverage area: 172 square feet / 16 square metres, suitable for small rooms
Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR): 200 m3/hour, CADR indicates the volume of purified air (in cubic metres) which an air purifier produces every hour
Unique HEPASilent Technology combines electrostatic and mechanical filtration which removes 99.97% of air borne pollutants, bacteria, virus, allergens, microplastics, smoke, dust, pet dander and pollen smallest as 0.1 micron in size
5ACH (Air changes per hour) - Cleans air every 12 mins in the recommended room size
Energy efficient only consumes 1.5 watt if used on normal fan settings, maximum energy consumption goes up to 10 watts on 3rd fan setting
Whisper silent performance
Long lasting Filter up to 4380 hrs, if used 24X7
Easy operation via one button control, Filter change alert & one can change the filter via simple twist
What’s Great
Design
The design is compact and looks good
Performance
It works well in small rooms. It took around 30 - 45 minutes for a room of around 170 sq ft to be purified. Sound wise it’s pretty silent.
What’s Not Great
No Display
Especially in relation to Indian extreme air conditions how is one to supposed to know if the air purifier is even effective? This is one common problem which most consumers face. Buying an additional measuring device costs around 9000
Panasonic F- PXM35AAD
F- PXM35AAD is a compact device that is equipped with Nanoe technology, which according to Panasonic enhances the quality of indoor air by filtering out harmful particles including PM2.5. The device has a night mode which works really well in terms of less sound. Priced at 21,995, it is available on amazon for 13,939.00
Technical specs
Coverage area: 283 sq. ft. / 26 sq. mtrs., suitable for bedroom / living room (medium)
Purification method - High-Efficiency Particulate Arrestant (HEPA) filter type, H.E.P.A filter and deodorization filter
Warranty: 1 year on product and 3 years filter life
Filter replacement indicator
PM 2.5 certified
Wattage: 9 watts
What’s Great
Filter life
3 years filter life is great.
Performance
In terms of performance it’s pretty effective. It took around 30 minutes for a room of around 200 sq ft to come down from 300 to 70. The night mode is almost silent. For an air purifier with a coverage area of 280 sq ft Panasonic F- PXM35AAD is pretty compact.
What’s Not Great
No Display
How is one supposed to know the effectiveness? For a product costing almost 22000 at least a basic display should be there.
Kent Alps Plus
Kent Alps Plus is good enough for 437 square feet. It comes with an air quality display. It also has an ionizer. In terms of noise Kent Alps is low at 20 decibels and minus the indicator light performs really well at night. Priced at Rs.25,000
What’s Great
Performance
Kent Alps Plus performs well in bringing down the pollution levels. The best it got was to bring down the 2.5 content in the air from 600 to 80 in around 15 minutes. That’s quite a performance truly.
It has HEPA filter of grade 17 and combined with the ionizer it performs well.
Ionizer
The ionizer works really well bringing down the 2.5 levels.
Display
There is an air quality display which is really useful. However the display may not be 100% accurate as its located in the device but at least it does a good job as an indicative effectiveness of the air purifier
What’s not good
No Night mode
There is no night mode. At best you can put the speed control on auto or low. Plus no way to control the LED indicator light at night.
