5 ms·

I really like this purifier's big brother, the IKEA STARKVIND, which is available in both regular[0] and table[1] versions. The table version is nice because,

• timenova 3y ago
  Where do you keep the air quality sensor? I suspect that if you keep it away from the purifier, and closer to where you sit in the room, it's a more real representation of the air quality. Usually the air around the purifier would be purer than other parts of the room until an equilibrium has reached. I haven't done extensive testing to validate this theory either, just a hunch. Let me know if my hunch is incorrect.
  • Mister_Snuggles 3y ago
    Right now the air quality sensor is in the basement, and the purifiers I'm comparing it to are upstairs. It's not a fair comparison, it just "seems" to be reporting using a different scale. My plan is to put the sensor near one of my STARKVINDs and see how the numbers compare. This will tell me if they're measuring the same thing and reporting it at the same scale. Once I understand what the sensor is telling me a bit better, I'll put it in a more useful place. Your suggestion of putting it closer to where you sit is a very good one.
    • KennyBlanken 3y ago
      Humidity has a huge effect on the non-lab-grade sensors and that, combined with the fact that upstairs will have all the dander, fabric fibers, etc...of course they're different values.
• KennyBlanken 3y ago
  I don't have the link handy, but many/most of the inexpensive particle sensors are junk in one way or another. They're only good for relative measurements at best.
• TylerE 3y ago
  The table version sounded interesting until I looked at the dimensions. 22" is way too low to be useful as anything besides a bedside table. Anywhere slse I'd describe it as more of a tripping hazard. That's lower than the seat height of a lot of chairs. A typical table is more like 30-32".
  • mschuster91 3y ago
    It makes for a perfect bedside table though, the place where you'd actually want clean air the most. Virtually inaudible in the low speed modes.
    • poulsbohemian 3y ago
      This is to me one of the reasons for CPAP - you get filtered air all night long!
      • TylerE 3y ago
        I do wish the filters were better though, they're really not very good, just basic cellulose. They're mainly to catch big stuff like pet hair. Nowhere near a HEPA.
        • poulsbohemian 3y ago
          That's a very fair point - I still find that they've made a difference for me, even with the limitations.
          • TylerE 3y ago
            Yeah, I'm sure they do. I've got so many low-moderate level allergies that it's kinda hard to establish what normal even really feels like. I got a round of shots as a teen that helps, but it's still some level of congestion at the best of times. Actually the biggest difference I found when I first started on it (almost 10 years ago now), besides the obvious sleep stuff, is that the humidifier keeps me from getting nosebleeds about 3 times a week in the winter.
• mschuster91 3y ago
  > I really like this purifier's big brother, the IKEA STARKVIND, which is available in both regular[0] and table[1] versions. I got one of these as well, and I recommend them with the extra carbon filter. Very, very nice thing to have in a kitchen, if you're a smoker or if you have cats. The carbon filter takes out a lot of nasty smells, enough to not smell anything food-y even in a directly adjacent room while running a frying pan and chopping onions, or when smoking a cigarette on the open window. And the "plain" filter picks up a loooot of the fur that you'd find everywhere including in your food when your cat decides it's time to go and shed everywhere she can.
  • Doxin 3y ago
    How long do the carbon filters last in your experience? Does it have an indication of when you should?
    • liminalsunset 3y ago
      The carbon filters in this machine are fairly sparsely filled and don't have a significant amount of carbon in them. Typically replacement is recommended after about 6 months or so, but I've found that with heavy use, similar filters last only a month or so before losing effectiveness. It has to do with how much odor and VOC is present in the area you are using the filter in, as well as how much it is running. I made my own filters with over 2-3x the carbon by weight (bought from Amazon) in them, and they last about 2-3 months before they start emitting an odd smell (but they still seem to reduce odor, but they are no doubt trading new smells for older ones as they fill up). I usually change the filters as soon as the smell becomes odd, in my case, the smell is like a slightly sour and damp version of the fresh and dry chocolatey smell that they sometimes have when new.
      • Doxin 3y ago
        Hmm, that'll not work very well for my use-case then. I've not got a great nose, and I would like to keep smells at bay for visitors. Not planning on replacing a filter monthly "just in case" though. Thanks for the info!
• greggsy 3y ago
  A recent air quality comparison demonstrated that there wild fluctuations across most brands. Nonetheless, I think it’s still helpful to see the changes in the environment, and to understand and observe how leaving a window open, or doing some activity, or handling some volatile substance, or how seasonal dust and pollen can affect hay fever in your own little microcosm.
  • wkat4242 3y ago
    Yeah I noticed that when I clean my washing basket with a little bit of alcohol the VOC jumps from 200 to 20000 in a matter of minutes and doesn't go back to normal for a day or so. Even though I don't even smell it. These sensors are just incredibly sensitive. Another example: burning one candle increases PM 2.5 considerably and after blowing it out the wick gives a little wisp of smoke that makes it peak from a normal 1 to 50 or so.
    • imp0cat 3y ago
      I almost entirely stopped using candles after getting an air purifier with a particle and VOC monitoring sensor (Electrolux/AEG Pure A9). It's very enlightening. Even a single push of spray deodorant releases a crazy amount of particles and makes the purifier go crazy for a short while.
      • bennyg 3y ago
        Is that short burst of deodorant actually harmful or do the numbers just go up a lot?
        • theshrike79 3y ago
          It measures the amount of particles in the air, it doesn't analyse their content. Just having an ultrasonic humidifier in the bedroom makes the PM25 counter jump from 1-2 to 200-250.
          • deleted 3y ago
• jansan 3y ago
  I do not understand why IKEA makes it so hard to attach a FÖRNUFTIG purifier to a wall or under a table. I bought one to attach it under my son's room table, which fit perfectly, but putting four screw holes into the FÖRNUFTIG was a pain in the ass. It would make those things so much more versatile if scrwholew were already perpared.
  • Mister_Snuggles 3y ago
    I'm a bit confused by this comment. The assembly instructions[0] clearly show screw holes on the back of the unit and it appears to even include a template for putting the screw holes into the wall you're mounting it to. It doesn't look like the holes would be suitable for mounting under a table though, they'd probably prefer that you replace the table with a STARKVIND. [0] https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/assembly_instructions/foernuftig-air-purifier-white__AA-2250649-3-100.pdf https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/assembly_instructions/foernuftig-...
• kettleballroll 3y ago
  In terms of air quality sensors, what really made a difference for me was getting a CO2 sensor. "Fresh air" (low CO2) behaves way different than what j was taught. I live in a newly constructed building, which apparently is almost hermetically sealed. And we have no AC, since we're in Europe. As a result, air quality (in terms of co2) goes downhill unexpectedly FAST. And opening the windows for 5 to let in fresh air is definitely not enough to restore quality to sensible levels. EU norms say that public building should have less than 800ppm CO2, as anything above might affect cognitive abilities. However, reaching that level is almost impossible without constantly cracking the window (or an AC). I'd never have expected this....
  • Gare 3y ago
    Most home AC systems in Europe don't provide fresh air, that's a common misconception.
  • BHSPitMonkey 3y ago
    This is one of the reasons why newer, "sealed" buildings need to be mechanically ventilated (ideally with a HRV or ERV to keep your HVAC waste to a minimum).
  • timc3 3y ago
    That really sucks. Sounds like the ventilation system is poorly designed. I wish that all modern buildings had properly sized FTX / air handling units. These exchange the old air with new air using the heat from the old to warm up the new air and at the same time can have HEPA filters for cleaning the air.
    • bborud 3y ago
      Some years ago I ran a department that did a lot of prototyping and research. One of the things we experimented with was CO2 sensors. Not hugely expensive sensors, but mostly cheap ones since we were mostly interested in relative changes (rather than absolute values) - and seeing what kind of performance you could get out of relatively inexpensive sensors[1]. (This is from memory) We got a lot of interesting results placing sensors in a bunch of commercial buildings. Most rooms in all buildings we measured couldn't keep the CO2 levels below 1000ppm. In fact, most meeting rooms we measured would struggle to keep below 1200-1300ppm when in use and we regularly saw much worse numbers. In one building all meeting rooms we measured would quickly blow past 1200ppm when in use -- except the meeting room management used. Which tended to hover between 600ppm when not in use and about 800ppm when used (though it was big and rarely more than at 1/4 capacity). I guess that explains why complaints about low air quality fell on deaf ears. We also discovered why the meeting rooms in the basement were so awful for late meetings. At around 1800 hours or so in the evening, the HVAC shuts down. From what I gather, in a tall building, there are supposed to be mechanisms to prevent air from moving back and CO2 dropping down the HVAC system and pooling in the basement. This one didn't. (In fact, ALL the buildings on the campus had the same problem since they were all built at the same time by the same company). So over a few hours CO2 levels would rise to a level where the sensors max out their range and get saturated. They would stay that way until a couple of hours after the HVAC got switched on in the morning. People would sometimes use those meeting rooms until late in the evening. If you use consumer air quality measurement devices, beware that they're not terribly good. CO2 sensors tend to have cross sensitivity to lots of other gases. And cheap (eg less than $400 for just the sensor component) particle sensors tend to be fairly crap. A lot of sensors we found in HVAC systems are even lower quality than consumer grade stuff I've seen in products. [1] The sensors we used are often found in premium consumer air quality measurement products. So they aren't dirt cheap, but they also aren't that great.
• liminalsunset 3y ago
  The real "hack" lies in the IKEA STARKVIND air filters. They're from a reputable manufacturer, are HEPA filters, and best of all, they only cost $14.99 CAD (price may vary in your country). This makes them great as *replacement filters for other air purifiers*. This is one of the things I love the most about IKEA - hackable IKEA products are available worldwide and can be easily sourced and adapted as "materials" instead of "products". The Starkvind air purifier appears to be airflow-constrained on the fan, and not the filters they used. I put its filter (with some cardboard glued to the edges to seal the difference in size) in a Coway Mighty AP-1512HH (often recommended) and have not noticed a huge decrease in airflow at all, even though technically there is less filter area. Based on rudimentary measurements with an anemometer, the airflow is acceptable, and after about a year or more of continuous use, it's lost about 10% of the airflow after I recently changed it. Even better, if you are so inclined, you can buy several STARKVIND filters and cut them to size/merge multiple if your purifier takes different size filters. And if you have a smaller purifier, IKEA also has the FORNUFTIG (thinner) filter for $7 that you can similarly hack.
  • sundvor 3y ago
    Starkvind means Strong wind, Fornuftig means Reasonable. Got to love their product names, as a Norwegian. Meanwhile I have 2x AX90s in my place. Love them! Got the 2nd when I realised the special it was on was not too far from a single filter change, so it'll be fun when they're both up for refresh. I'm addition to appreciating clean indoor air, I'm kind of preparing for the next bushfire in Melbourne - can still remember the last one, which was very very bad. I think it might happen next year, and be even worse than last time given current fuel build up. I might check out the IKEA ones to keep the AX90 filters fresh, if the IKEA filters are much cheaper to replace / run on an everyday basis. (The Samsung units have an amazing ability to go from a very silent idle to a really bloody high CFM, on auto - currently mainly experienced when cooking). Edit: They are stupidly cheap, found the Australian prices! Will definitely pick up a few in due time. https://www.ikea.com/au/en/cat/air-purifiers-filters-49081/ https://www.ikea.com/au/en/cat/air-purifiers-filters-49081/
  • deleted 3y ago
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• _yeiy 3y ago
  Really neat how easy IKEA products data can be gleaned, especially thanks to the online community. I wanted to add a screen to the VINDRIKTNING[0] air quality sensor, and thanks to an existing project[1] I was able get it working[2]. [0] https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/vindriktning-air-quality-sensor-60515911/ https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/vindriktning-air-quality-sensor... [1] https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sensor https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sens... [2] https://github.com/zvakanaka/vindriktning-oled-no-wifi https://github.com/zvakanaka/vindriktning-oled-no-wifi