Bangkok Air Pollution

[xylophone]

On ‎25‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 9:57 AM, xylophone said:

Waiting to test the Xiaomi unit against the Sndway air monitor to make sure it is working effectively.

I know this is about the air quality in Bangkok, however I have been following it very closely because I've been worried about the air quality in Patong.

 

So to this end I have been posting about the Filtrete sheets, my new Xiaomi 2S air purifier and the Sndway air monitor which has just arrived.

 

It had been suggested that the Xiaomi readings were very inaccurate, this by one testing organisation, whereas others did not find this to be the case, so I was keen to see where I stood.

 

Very pleased to say that the following readings have been obtained: –

 

Xiaomi 2S has a particle reading of 005, a temperature reading of 30° and a humidity reading of 56%.

 

Sndway has a particle reading of 5 to 6 (fluctuating slightly), a temperature reading of 30° and a humidity reading of 53%.

 

So I am extremely happy, not only with the performance of the Xiaomi air purifier, but also about the fact that the air quality in my apartment is excellent (when I took the Sndway out onto my balcony for a few minutes, the reading went up to 20).

 

Many thanks to TallGuyJohninBKK for posting the Sndway instructions in English!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

FWIW, I never remember reading anything bad about the 2S model. The questions of accuracy that I saw raised were about the prior regular 2 model.

 

But either way, it's good to see the 2S readings matching those of your Sndway sensor, and thanks for posting the results.

 

Keep in mind, right now with the recent/current rains, the ambient air quality around has been pretty good. The real test of your purifier will be when the outdoor readings are hitting 40-50 mcg or more (if they ever hit that in Patong, I don't know), then what kind of readings will the purifier produce indoors.

[edwardandtubs]

For the Xiaomi to get a room from 20 to 5 is not that impressive, depending of course on how long it was on for and how big the room is. My DIY gets it down to 0-1 quite quickly.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

For the Xiaomi to get a room from 20 to 5 is not that impressive, depending of course on how long it was on for and how big the room is. My DIY gets it down to 0-1 quite quickly.

Usual Xiaomi reading in my apt is 001, but for the tests I opened up the ranch slider doors, and after the reading I posted, it is now down to 001 again.

 

I am a happy chappie.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

FWIW, I never remember reading anything bad about the 2S model. The questions of accuracy that I saw raised were about the prior regular 2 model.

 

But either way, it's good to see the 2S readings matching those of your Sndway sensor, and thanks for posting the results.

 

Keep in mind, right now with the recent/current rains, the ambient air quality around has been pretty good. The real test of your purifier will be when the outdoor readings are hitting 40-50 mcg or more (if they ever hit that in Patong, I don't know), then what kind of readings will the purifier produce indoors.

Re the Sndway...........I charged it with the usb lead and the battery seems to run down very quickly???

 

Can the battery be changed, and how? Or is this normal?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

Re the Sndway...........I charged it with the usb lead and the battery seems to run down very quickly???

 

Can the battery be changed, and how? Or is this normal?

 Once fully charged, they're supposed to run on battery for several hours. I don't know that the internal battery on these sensors is replaceable.

 

On the sensor, there's a battery indicator icon on the top right corner of the display that generally shows how much the charge is.

 

For mine, I keep them plugged in all the time to a wall outlet USB charger, just like for charging a mobile phone.

 

Keep in mind, re charging, the power coming from a USB port on a PC is a lot less than that coming from a USB wall charger, so the charge time if connected to a PC's USB port is likely to be much longer.

 

 

 

[balo]

13 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Once fully charged, they're supposed to run on battery for several hours.

If you run on the battery only, in stand by mode with the display off, it will last for a whole day. But if you hit the button a few times and the display will be on a few minutes every time , battery will run out pretty quickly.  

 

So when I bring it with me outside , I always carry the USB charger with me. 

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

57 minutes ago, balo said:

But if you hit the button a few times and the display will be on a few minutes every time , battery will run out pretty quickly.

 

 

I just unplugged my Sndway sensor from its wall plug charger, turned it back on on battery power only, and so far it's been running for more than 20 minutes without reverting to off/standby and without me having to press the power button again. And the on-screen battery meter monitor is still showing full charge.

 

Edited April 30, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[balo]

12 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

just unplugged my Sndway sensor from its wall plug charger, turned it back on on battery power only, and so far it's been running for more than 20 minutes

That's strange, I think mine is set to 10 minutes before it turns off the display, maybe its adjustable? 

Edited April 30, 2018 by balo

[balo]

I get steady 0 to 1 now most of the time in my bedroom .  So I am happy about that . The air quality outside been pretty good  also , around 20-25. 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Heavy rain last night and this morn does wonders:

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just a mention about something I've discovered at home that you might not necessarily think about: shower/talcum powder doesn't seem to mix well with air purifier and air conditioner filters.

 

For a long time, I've used a small amount of shower powder in the bathroom adjoining our main bedroom every day before then dressing in the bedroom. And, along the way, I've posted that I was finding a lot of "dust" accumulation on both my bedroom air con filters and now more recently my bedroom air purifier prefilter.

 

So, this past week, I tried the experiment of skipping the shower powder when dressing every morning. And then today, I did the regular weekly check of both my bedroom air purifier and air conditioner filters. And to my surprise, both were remarkably cleaner than they had been in the past.  So it would seem, I'm going to be mostly skipping the powder from this point forward. And my filters will be better off for it.

 

But I also want to repeat, I wasn't actually putting on the powder in the bedroom where the filters are. I was putting it on in the adjoining bathroom. And, I wasn't using a lot of powder, just a quick douse. But somehow, it certainly looks like a lot of that powder was ending up on my bedroom filters, and on the floor and surfaces in my bedroom.

 

[JAS21]

Has anyone bought any of the Daikin Streamer Range ... they seem to cover 41M2 down to 21M2. Bedroom is about 30M2 inc bathroom but downstairs Lounge is bigger.

 

Apparently they have anew model coming out the end of this month MX-3114N-20140603 ...so I was told but that number seems a 2014 model ... thanks

 

Late extra ... found some information here https://www.daikin.co.th/en/product/residential-en/air-purifier-en/

Edited May 14, 2018 by JAS21

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, JAS21 said:

Has anyone bought any of the Daikin Streamer Range ... they seem to cover 41M2 down to 21M2. Bedroom is about 30M2 inc bathroom but downstairs Lounge is bigger.

 

Apparently they have anew model coming out the end of this month MX-3114N-20140603 ...so I was told but that number seems a 2014 model ... thanks

 

Late extra ... found some information here https://www.daikin.co.th/en/product/residential-en/air-purifier-en/

 

I'm not familiar with their purifier products, nor have I ever seen them in the retail space.

 

But from reading the website you linked to above, the one area where you have to be careful is with the ionizing air purifiers. And that's because, depending on the technology used, the ionizing function can produce levels of ozone, which is an irritant that can be harmful to one's health when inhaled.

 

I'm not saying the Daikin units do that, because I don't know. But I do know any time an air purifier starts talking about ionizing treatment, that's something you have to look out for, and hopefully find the issue addressed in the technical details or product information for the units.

 

[JAS21]

18 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I'm not familiar with their purifier products, nor have I ever seen them in the retail space.

 

But from reading the website you linked to above, the one area where you have to be careful is with the ionizing air purifiers. And that's because, depending on the technology used, the ionizing function can produce levels of ozone, which is an irritant that can be harmful to one's health when inhaled.

 

I'm not saying the Daikin units do that, because I don't know. But I do know any time an air purifier starts talking about ionizing treatment, that's something you have to look out for, and hopefully find the issue addressed in the technical details or product information for the units.

 

Thanks for that ... I like that model as it has a built in humidifier, it will keep the aircon busy... The ionizing thingee is monitored internally and shuts off when desired level is reached.

 

We looked at what Level 6 in Central ChaengWattana had to offer, quite a collection including Daikin, Blueair etc etc. Decided to stick with the MCK55TVM6 ... someone is ordering one for us. 

 

 

[balo]

Not a good day today in Pattaya .

I get readings between 35 and 40 outside now (99-111 AQI).

 

So I will wear my mask today before I head out in the traffic. 

 

 

[balo]

Not a good day today in Pattaya .

I get readings between 35 and 40 outside now (99-111 AQI).

 

So I will wear my mask today before I head out in the traffic. 

 

 

[balo]

And this stupid slow forum made me post twice , sorry about that . 

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

Anything of interest here: http://www.smtv.co.th/index.php?page=category&category=12

 

I just used the SMTV shop for something else and very impressed with them.

[johng]

Its all that second hand smoke from those dastardly tobacco smokers dont you know ?...not only that but they discard their butts into drains and cause floods which then drain into the sea killing all ocean life...the dastardly tobacco smoker
"killer of worlds" [emoji14] [emoji1]

[edwardandtubs]

Early Sunday morning and it's all misty-looking outside so I put my pm2.5 monitor on the balcony and am getting readings of about 50, equivalent to an AQI of 137.

[edwardandtubs]

This thread has gone quiet but for the sake of balance it's worth mentioning that the air quality has been fine recently, consistently on the borderline between moderate and good. The Chulalongkorn station is reporting an AQI of 53 but it seems to be better where I am as I can see clear skies far into the distance and my Sndway is reporting pm2.5 of 2-5.

[balo]

I do almost daily measures out on my balcony in Pattaya. The last month the air quality been surprisingly good, some days my gadget shows 0 to 3 , and that is really on the low scale here. But we've had daily rain showers and combined with a fresh breeze it feels really good.

 

 

[bkk6060]

6 minutes ago, balo said:

I do almost daily measures out on my balcony in Pattaya. The last month the air quality been surprisingly good, some days my gadget shows 0 to 3 , and that is really on the low scale here. But we've had daily rain showers and combined with a fresh breeze it feels really good.

 

 

Not trying to start something with you, but am just curious why?

If it is high do you stay inside or wear a mask when you go out?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

This thread has gone quiet but for the sake of balance it's worth mentioning that the air quality has been fine recently, consistently on the borderline between moderate and good. The Chulalongkorn station is reporting an AQI of 53 but it seems to be better where I am as I can see clear skies far into the distance and my Sndway is reporting pm2.5 of 2-5.

 

Ditto on that, lately, my living room in central BKK with all doors and windows closed has been bouncing in the 0-5 mcg range of PM2.5 WITHOUT any purifier running. But I still run a different purifier in our bedroom at night, every night, regardless. These days, it easily keeps my PM2.5 at a flat 0 reading all night long.

 

Been making arrangements to stock up on spare HEPA and charcoal pre-filters, to have them ready for the bad season coming presumably starting around November. Probably keep my original filters from early this year until then, and perhaps change to new/fresh ones once things start to get bad again.

 

BTW, I posted and asked in the other thread for folks with purifiers to post the height and width dimensions of their HEPA filters and for what model. But no one seems to be paying attention there any more. It would be interesting to see, if there's any potential overlap between the sizes of HEPA filters used in different models. Perhaps there's some potential overlap of fit.

 

For example, my Sharp FP-F30 uses a HEPA filter that's sized 12 in high X 11-1/4 in wide.

 

And I posted the info on obtaining replacement HEPA filters for Sharp models here:

 

 

Edited June 8, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

If it is high do you stay inside or wear a mask when you go out?

 

Yes, I did both this past bad season. Stayed in more, and when I needed to go outside, wore a 3M N95 facemask.

 

I also bought two PM2.5 monitor units for about $50 apiece that give me continuous readouts in our bedroom and living area so I know when to run our purifiers and how much to run them in order to maintain good indoor air quality, despite what may be going on outside.

 

The main air pollution problem in BKK is PM2.5, which is very tiny particles that bypass all your body's defenses and can get into your bloodstream and cause health issues of various sorts.

 

If anyone has a choice to avoid or minimize exposure to something like that, why wouldn't they?

 

I'd lived in BKK for years and never had a purifier at home, nor did I wear masks, because, I had never really learned and understood what PM2.5 pollution is all about and just how harmful it is. But I ended up learning about it, and once you do, there's no going back.

 

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqibasics.particle

 

Quote

 

Numerous scientific studies connect particle pollution exposure to a variety of health issues, including:

• irritation of the eyes, nose and throat
• coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath
• reduced lung function
• irregular heartbeat
• asthma attacks
• heart attacks
• premature death in people with heart or lung disease

 

 

BTW, in Thailand, PM2.5 pollution is very much a seasonal thing, meaning there's a very bad time of year for it, generally November to March or April, and the rest of the year typically isn't too bad.

 

So the hard-core time to be using air purifiers and wearing facemasks is 5+ months of the year.

 

 

Edited June 8, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[lopburi3]

Hatari RAP-1201 filter is 357mm wide by 373mm high by 29mm thick,

[balo]

On 6/8/2018 at 5:19 PM, bkk6060 said:

Not trying to start something with you, but am just curious why?

If it is high do you stay inside or wear a mask when you go out?

I am the only one with an accurate PM 2.5 device in Pattaya , in Bangkok you can just go online and look at the AIQ map .

So I am curious about how bad or good it is here in Pattaya.  

 

When it's really bad , I can also smell it , and then I will wear a mask when I ride my bike or need to walk a longer distance. 

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2018 by balo

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, balo said:

I am the only one with an accurate PM 2.5 device in Pattaya , in Bangkok you can just go online and look at the AIQ map .

So I am curious about how bad or good it is here in Pattaya.  

 

When it's really bad , I can also smell it , and then I will wear a mask when I ride my bike or need to walk a longer distance. 

 

 

 

Probably just me, but I do not see it as being that bad.

Pattaya has the marine type layer and fog being near the ocean.

I can smell it but usually that is the crap when I am behind a bus.

The air seems generally pretty good to me, but I am sure a device will be more accurate.

 

[JimShorts]

I think a huge problem in Thailand is this. The air pollution is being created year round. Half of the year the weather does not suppress the air pollution, half of the year the weather does suppress the air pollution. This allows enough time for people to stop worrying about the issue. If the weather did not suppress the air pollution for 6 months, then the air pollution issue would be persistent year round and it would be more likely that real action would be taken to reduce the problem. As it stands, it seems the cycle is the air gets bad, people get concerned, talkers start talking about making a change but don't actually do anything as they are really just buying time waiting for the air to get better at which point everyone forgets.

 

The air has been really decent lately. But I know the airpocalypse is returning in just a few months and historically speaking it will be worse this year then last, as each year it has gotten a little worse for the last 5 years.