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AFAIK, home air purifiers are just theatre. 1. There is no way you’re getting a right seal all the way through the purifier because if you did it would cost or
by ornornor 7y ago
AFAIK, home air purifiers are just theatre.
1. There is no way you’re getting a right seal all the way through the purifier because if you did it would cost orders of magnitude more. So there is air being sucked in around the filter and along the way that mixes with the filtered air
2. I seem to remember virus (and smells or VOCs) are way too small to be caught by a hepa filter so they just float right through
3. Some filters have a uv light in them. But they’re inefficient because not all the air is exposed, the exposition duration is too short, and it generates ozone as a side effect (probably not great to breath in large quantities)
4. They do an ok job at catching dust particles for allergy sufferers and some of the pollen
- henvic 7y agoI'm surprised you are saying a purifier with a HEPA filter might be this bad. Orders of magnitude more? Are we talking about the same category of products? What is your source saying HEPA filter doesn't filter viruses? Do you any data to back up your claims? Regarding UV light, I agree that it might not be too effective... (but I had a great experience with using one on my aquarium a long time ago).
- ornornor 7y agoI think this page sums it up in a helpful way: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-air-purifier/ https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-air-purifier/ Whatever you think of the wirecutter’s picks and impartiality or lack thereof, I find the parts where they explain what matters in any given product category and how they picked helpful in educating myself. I see they recently updated this particular one in light of the virus (I read this article a few years ago and there were no coronavirus concerns then)
- mhb 7y ago1. Why does this matter? It's not going in a window and the room is not sealed. The air purifier has multiple chances to filter air that has bypassed the filter the first time. 2. HEPA filters and various other filter media claim to filter viruses. So I think your recollection is incorrect. See: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating-1 https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating-...
- ashtonkem 7y agoYou know, you can test how well an air filter performs; the diagnostic equipment isn’t that expensive. https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/what-is-the-best-air-purifier-on-the-market-today/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/what-is-the-best-air-pur...
- rkagerer 7y agoI recognize the meter used in that article, looks like a Dylos DC1100 Pro or similar. I own one, they're a bit better than the worst consumer ones, but not of the caliber I would expect for an article doing investigative research. You could certainly get a sense of "better/worse" but I'd be skeptical of any quantitative readings (I've seen mine be off by an order of magnitude or more)
- rkagerer 7y agoAlso cheap, consumer grade particle counters such as the one the commenter is likely using for monitoring are notoriously inaccurate. I own a mid-level, optical based counter and even it drifts without regular calibration.