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My place is small and open enough that I only need one Mila. I know it is working because when it senses AQI indoors, eventually the AQI goes to zero. I moved t

My place is small and open enough that I only need one Mila. I know it is working because when it senses AQI indoors, eventually the AQI goes to zero. I moved the Mila to another part of the house and the AQI was still zero. It is currently running at 20% fan speed and reporting that it changes the air in the room it is in, 4.2 times per hour. A friend of mine, with a much larger house, has 4 Milas. The solution is to get more filters so you're changing the air in the place on a regular enough basis that it keeps the AQI near zero all the time. After I got the Mila, there was a noticeable difference in the amount of dust that collected all over the house on a regular basis. I can see it in the filter sock, which I take outside and regularly clean as well. The Mila app also integrates with a 3rd party local AQI sensor to show me the 'outdoor' view of things. My indoor AQI is always lower than the outdoor AQI. I consider that a win. If I open the windows, the AQI goes up. If I close the windows, the AQI goes down. I live near the ocean, the AQI here is already pretty low. Mila definitely does a lot more than just an AQI sensor, it cleans the air.

TeMPOraL 4y ago
Thanks for being very specific about your environment and use patterns. I think a lot depends on how air naturally flows through your apartment. In my case, I doubt one purifier would suffice even for the ~60m² we live in, as I can already tell we have at least four different "zones" that don't want to exchange air unless forced to (e.g. by running the AC fans to stir things up) - I can tell by observing how heat and smells move. It's something that I believe could be corrected, but I need to find a HVAC specialist (or learn enough myself) for it[0]. In the meantime, I want to monitor the air quality parameters in all those zones separately, to quantify both how much stuff accumulates in each, and how bad the circulation actually is. > After I got the Mila, there was a noticeable difference in the amount of dust that collected all over the house on a regular basis. I can see it in the filter sock, which I take outside and regularly clean as well. I very much hope to get that effect. I'm allergic to dust mites, and my children most likely are too (observing them seems to hint at it, but they're too young for it to show up on tests), and I hope that adding air purifiers with HEPA filters will help reduce the household cleaning workload a bit. Anyway, I've looked at Mila website, and I'm torn. On the one hand, even if pricey, it's nicely designed and tick the right boxes. Two filters, including the carbon one that seems actually loaded with carbon instead of just pretending. On the other hand, they condemn other vendors for bullshit marketing... and then literally do the same thing. Don't know what to think of that. ---- [0] - There's an extra constraint here in that it's an apartment in a block of flats that's been designed primarily for natural/"gravity" ventilation. I've been explicitly told by the HOA operating it that I absolutely cannot put fans into existing grilles and ventilate mechanically, as it will mess up the airflow for the whole building.
- latchkey 4y ago
  My background is in running large scale data centers. I've had a lot of experience with airflow management for cooling very hot computers. Airflow is critical. Moving air around is critical. If you have 'zones', then you'll need more filters for sure. It sounds like you're in a warm environment. I used to live in Vietnam where the air is generally terrible. Do you have one of those AC units in the house on the walls? When was the last time you had them cleaned? I ask because those AC units are horrid... they collect huge amounts of dust and mold and nobody thinks to clean them properly (it isn't easy)... they are basically spraying out nasty shit. If you can, turn them off and get used to the heat. I did that and stopped getting sick all the time. People say running AC makes you sick... it isn't the cold air, it is these nasty units. If it is central AC for your HOA, I'm sure they've never been cleaned... or at least not often enough... Mila is definitely a bit of a marketing gimmick, that said, the product is quite nice (noise, design and visual) and another good thing is that their support is excellent. I'm actually on my 3rd unit now because of production defects they've had (and since resolved). Being able to just email them and have them ship me a new unit in a couple days is a really nice aspect of paying a bit of extra money for these things. I've also built the 3 filters to a box fan [0]. That works extremely well too, but is a lot louder and takes up a lot more space than the Mila, and doesn't look as nice. (The link I give you is kind of the extreme version, you can go a lot simpler than that.) I bought the Mila highest end filter. It is excellent. Heavy (clearly full of dense carbon). Well made. The optional, also over priced, sock really helps keep it clean (you could probably make your own with similar fabric). I'm sure the filter will last a couple years in my current relatively clean environment. I also vacuum the filter when I clean the sock, to help it last longer since these things are kind of expensive. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbWiZSsEqPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbWiZSsEqPg

TeMPOraL 4y ago

Thanks for being very specific about your environment and use patterns. I think a lot depends on how air naturally flows through your apartment. In my case, I doubt one purifier would suffice even for the ~60m² we live in, as I can already tell we have at least four different "zones" that don't want to exchange air unless forced to (e.g. by running the AC fans to stir things up) - I can tell by observing how heat and smells move. It's something that I believe could be corrected, but I need to find a HVAC specialist (or learn enough myself) for it[0]. In the meantime, I want to monitor the air quality parameters in all those zones separately, to quantify both how much stuff accumulates in each, and how bad the circulation actually is. > After I got the Mila, there was a noticeable difference in the amount of dust that collected all over the house on a regular basis. I can see it in the filter sock, which I take outside and regularly clean as well. I very much hope to get that effect. I'm allergic to dust mites, and my children most likely are too (observing them seems to hint at it, but they're too young for it to show up on tests), and I hope that adding air purifiers with HEPA filters will help reduce the household cleaning workload a bit. Anyway, I've looked at Mila website, and I'm torn. On the one hand, even if pricey, it's nicely designed and tick the right boxes. Two filters, including the carbon one that seems actually loaded with carbon instead of just pretending. On the other hand, they condemn other vendors for bullshit marketing... and then literally do the same thing. Don't know what to think of that. ---- [0] - There's an extra constraint here in that it's an apartment in a block of flats that's been designed primarily for natural/"gravity" ventilation. I've been explicitly told by the HOA operating it that I absolutely cannot put fans into existing grilles and ventilate mechanically, as it will mess up the airflow for the whole building.

latchkey 4y ago
My background is in running large scale data centers. I've had a lot of experience with airflow management for cooling very hot computers. Airflow is critical. Moving air around is critical. If you have 'zones', then you'll need more filters for sure. It sounds like you're in a warm environment. I used to live in Vietnam where the air is generally terrible. Do you have one of those AC units in the house on the walls? When was the last time you had them cleaned? I ask because those AC units are horrid... they collect huge amounts of dust and mold and nobody thinks to clean them properly (it isn't easy)... they are basically spraying out nasty shit. If you can, turn them off and get used to the heat. I did that and stopped getting sick all the time. People say running AC makes you sick... it isn't the cold air, it is these nasty units. If it is central AC for your HOA, I'm sure they've never been cleaned... or at least not often enough... Mila is definitely a bit of a marketing gimmick, that said, the product is quite nice (noise, design and visual) and another good thing is that their support is excellent. I'm actually on my 3rd unit now because of production defects they've had (and since resolved). Being able to just email them and have them ship me a new unit in a couple days is a really nice aspect of paying a bit of extra money for these things. I've also built the 3 filters to a box fan [0]. That works extremely well too, but is a lot louder and takes up a lot more space than the Mila, and doesn't look as nice. (The link I give you is kind of the extreme version, you can go a lot simpler than that.) I bought the Mila highest end filter. It is excellent. Heavy (clearly full of dense carbon). Well made. The optional, also over priced, sock really helps keep it clean (you could probably make your own with similar fabric). I'm sure the filter will last a couple years in my current relatively clean environment. I also vacuum the filter when I clean the sock, to help it last longer since these things are kind of expensive. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbWiZSsEqPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbWiZSsEqPg