Bangkok Air Pollution

[seb2015]

Reopening the thread :)
Seems like we have our first week of the new pollution season ..


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[MaxYakov]

23 minutes ago, seb2015 said:

Reopening the thread ????
Seems like we have our first week of the new pollution season ..


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You think? I'm ready for it. I just installed a 12 inch intake fan with an Hatari HEPA filter in one of my bathroom windows. I was a little kludgy since it's actually a high-volume exhaust fan which I reversed.

 

I can, by cracking the other bathroom window (which is normally sealed airtight), ventilate the bathroom with clean (PM 2.5 = 0.x) air or ventilate all my rooms by cracking a window on the opposite end of my one bedroom apartment from the bathroom. Air flow volume is not great with the HEPA filter in place, but the air is clean, at least.

 

The strategy is to not let raw (unfiltered) Bangkok air into my apartment, except through the two doors, which are kept open for for a matter of seconds.

 

Also have an Hitachi air purifier using the same filter (Hatari) in the bedroom where I spend most my time and have a portable, digital PM2.5 measurement device which appears to give accurate, reasonable readings. All my HEPA filters (there are 3) as well as my A/C evaporator are pre-filtered with a single layer of 3M Filtreté^TM filter material.

 

I wear a two-layer PM2.5, one-way-valved mask whenever I'm outside my room in the air pollution of (ahem) Beautiful Bangkok.

Edited September 18, 2019 by MaxYakov

[smutcakes]

10 minutes ago, MaxYakov said:

You think? I'm ready for it. I just installed a 12 inch intake fan with an Hatari HEPA filter in one of my bathroom windows. I was a little kludgy since it's actually a high-volume exhaust fan which I reversed.

 

I can, by cracking the other bathroom window (which is normally sealed airtight), ventilate the bathroom with clean (PM 2.5 = 0.x) air or ventilate all my rooms by cracking a window on the opposite end of my one bedroom apartment from the bathroom. Air flow volume is not great with the HEPA filter in place, but the air is clean, at least.

 

The strategy is to not let raw (unfiltered) Bangkok air into my apartment, except through the two doors, which are kept open for for a matter of seconds.

 

Also have an Hitachi air purifier using the same filter (Hatari) in the bedroom where I spend most my time and have a portable, digital PM2.5 measurement device which appears to give accurate, reasonable readings.

You sound like fun....

[MaxYakov]

9 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

19 minutes ago, MaxYakov said:

You think? I'm ready for it. I just installed a 12 inch intake fan with an Hatari HEPA filter in one of my bathroom windows. I was a little kludgy since it's actually a high-volume exhaust fan which I reversed.

 

I can, by cracking the other bathroom window (which is normally sealed airtight), ventilate the bathroom with clean (PM 2.5 = 0.x) air or ventilate all my rooms by cracking a window on the opposite end of my one bedroom apartment from the bathroom. Air flow volume is not great with the HEPA filter in place, but the air is clean, at least.

 

The strategy is to not let raw (unfiltered) Bangkok air into my apartment, except through the two doors, which are kept open for for a matter of seconds.

 

Also have an Hitachi air purifier using the same filter (Hatari) in the bedroom where I spend most my time and have a portable, digital PM2.5 measurement device which appears to give accurate, reasonable readings.

You sound like fun....

Really? I'm been accused of that by someone else here recently. You quoted my post before I had finished editing it to add my out-in-Bangkok, two-layer, PM2.5 one-way-valved, filter mask. I'm a lot of fun. ????

 

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by MaxYakov

[edwardandtubs]

Usually September is the cleanest month. We could be in for the worst dry season ever.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 hours ago, seb2015 said:

Reopening the thread ????
Seems like we have our first week of the new pollution season ..
 

 

It's not bad / unsafe yet in BKK. But this week's levels definitely have been a jump up from the low/green/safe levels that have been prevalent the past few months.

 

We're still mostly in the yellow/moderate range, and not much yet into the orange/unhealthy for sensitive groups range. However, worse air is undoubtedly coming as we head toward the end of the calendar year and the start of the smog season.

 

 

 

By now, after several years experience with this, I'm well prepared:

--two functioning HEPA air purifiers at home (one for living room and the other for the main bedroom) with plenty of replacement filters in hand.

--supply of Filtrete sheets if needed to add to my regular air con filters.

--ample supply of N95 valved and unvalved masks for when having to go outside during the really bad times.

--Door and window jams at home already sealed with weather stripping to prevent bad air outside from leaking inside.

 

Get your stocks and supplies before the really bad air hits, because once that happens, all the stores here typically tend to sell out and these kinds of supplies/equipment become hard to find.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

18 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

Usually September is the cleanest month. We could be in for the worst dry season ever.

 

The air in BKK usually doesn't start to get really bad until December, based on past seasons, and then that usually continues through March or April.  But there's usually an gradual upward slope of pollution levels in the run-up to December.

[ExpatOilWorker]

14 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

It's not bad / unsafe yet in BKK. But this week's levels definitely have been a jump up from the low/green/safe levels that have been prevalent the past few months.

 

We're still mostly in the yellow/moderate range, and not much yet into the orange/unhealthy for sensitive groups range. However, worse air is undoubtedly coming as we head toward the end of the calendar year and the start of the smog season.

 

 

 

By now, after several years experience with this, I'm well prepared:

--two functioning HEPA air purifiers at home (one for living room and the other for the main bedroom) with plenty of replacement filters in hand.

--supply of Filtrete sheets if needed to add to my regular air con filters.

--ample supply of N95 valved and unvalved masks for when having to go outside during the really bad times.

--Door and window jams at home already sealed with weather stripping to prevent bad air outside from leaking inside.

 

Get your stocks and supplies before the really bad air hits, because once that happens, all the stores here typically tend to sell out and these kinds of supplies/equipment become hard to find.

 

 

Best time to shop is November 11 (11/11), the Chinese online shopping day. Since Lazada is a part of Alibaba they drop their prices and shops are still well stocked with HEPA and 3M filters.

[lopburi3]

Bangkok air seems to be coming from Cambodia for the last week (at least storms are traveling East or North-East to West or South-West when I have checked).  So does not appear to be Indonesia burning related.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Best time to shop is November 11 (11/11), the Chinese online shopping day. Since Lazada is a part of Alibaba they drop their prices and shops are still well stocked with HEPA and 3M filters.

 

Not sure what's going on with the monthly sale dates on Lazada. I just bought a new mobile phone from them at a legitimate substantial discount, and it was part of a big "9/9" promotion they were having that day. The next day, the price of the same phone I bought had doubled back to its pre-9/9 sale price.  So it may be a recurring thing and not just an 11/11 only thing.

 

I noticed PowerBuy seems to be doing the same thing on the matching day/month dates....

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[tifino]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

Bangkok air seems to be coming from Cambodia for the last week (at least storms are traveling East or North-East to West or South-West when I have checked).  So does not appear to be Indonesia burning related.

just been reading elsewhere, that the Indo President announced he's embarrassed by the smoke... 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

Bangkok air seems to be coming from Cambodia for the last week (at least storms are traveling East or North-East to West or South-West when I have checked).  So does not appear to be Indonesia burning related.

 

Here's Berkeley Earth's current PM2.5 mapping for Asia. AFAIK, the white areas such as the PH means they don't have valid PM2.5 data for those areas.

 

 

http://berkeleyearth.lbl.gov/air-quality/map.php?z=5&x=102.12329&y=23.58146&m=h&c=y&f=y&r=h

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 minutes ago, tifino said:

just been reading elsewhere, that the Indo President announced he's embarrassed by the smoke... 

 

Ya think???

 

 

[tifino]

18 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Ya think???

 

 

yes , he made quite an understatement! 

at different times; I've been in BKK, Georgetown(lived 5 years), and Singapore... when the annual Indonesian rice fires were lit... 

[brewsterbudgen]

Particularly bad this morning. I and my son are coughing badly again...[emoji35]

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[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Particularly bad this morning. I and my son are coughing badly again...

 

The broader area doesn't look so bad, either now or earlier in the day. May have been some local thing...

 

[seb2015]

 
It's not bad / unsafe yet in BKK. But this week's levels definitely have been a jump up from the low/green/safe levels that have been prevalent the past few months.
 
We're still mostly in the yellow/moderate range, and not much yet into the orange/unhealthy for sensitive groups range. However, worse air is undoubtedly coming as we head toward the end of the calendar year and the start of the smog season.
 

 
 
By now, after several years experience with this, I'm well prepared:
--two functioning HEPA air purifiers at home (one for living room and the other for the main bedroom) with plenty of replacement filters in hand.
--supply of Filtrete sheets if needed to add to my regular air con filters.
--ample supply of N95 valved and unvalved masks for when having to go outside during the really bad times.
--Door and window jams at home already sealed with weather stripping to prevent bad air outside from leaking inside.
 
Get your stocks and supplies before the really bad air hits, because once that happens, all the stores here typically tend to sell out and these kinds of supplies/equipment become hard to find.
 
 

Thanks , I’m gonna build my setup over the weekend I think .
What’s your go-to place for filtrete ?



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[MaxYakov]

4 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Particularly bad this morning. I and my son are coughing badly again...

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Sorry to hear that. I'm fairly close (Asok). I personally consider even the so-called "Moderate" as being unacceptable in my apartment and demand (and get) < 2 micrograms (which is around < RTAQ 8 or so and support that level with three separate HEPA-filtered ventilating/cooling/purifying devices).

 

Ref: HERE

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

21 hours ago, seb2015 said:

Thanks , I’m gonna build my setup over the weekend I think .
What’s your go-to place for filtrete ?

 

HomePro Ploenchit often stocks it, including the larger size and more economical rolls. But there's also a 3M official store on the Lazada TH site that sometimes has pretty good sales on Filtrete.

 

FWIW, in my testing, Filtrete sheets are not a substitute or replacement for using a good HEPA filter air purifier. They may, though, be a helpful add-on when the air gets very bad and your purifier might be struggling to keep up.

Edited September 20, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

21 hours ago, seb2015 said:

 

Thanks , I’m gonna build my setup over the weekend I think .
 

 

 

Ahh, I forgot to mention in my list above re my home air pollution measures an important item that Max included in his list -- a PM2.5 monitor that will tell you just the levels you're getting inside with any purifier devices on and off....

 

Such a PM2.5 monitor allows you to know when to best turn on or off your purifiers, and when to turn up or down the fan speeds....thus maximizing their effectiveness while also saving electricity.

 

Here's one good example that's worked very well for me over the past couple years:

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32826759103.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000013.1.56d02881NKVw5g&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreThisSeller&scm=1007.13339.99734.0&scm_id=1007.13339.99734.0&scm-url=1007.13339.99734.0&pvid=ac51c860-beaf-4f80-8d9b-2705780172f7

 

[saltedegg]

Haze has gotten immensely thick in BKK over the past hour.

 

Edit: HEPA filters are quite expensive here, no? I'm looking at PowerBuy. Should I be purchasing elsewhere?

Edited September 20, 2019 by saltedegg
question

[lopburi3]

The storms have also changed direction and now coming from South-West

[tomazbodner]

My air cleaners went wild this morning and looking outside, the haze doesn't look good. Xiaomi filters when there is up to about 50-60 ppm outside generally hover between 001 and 004... but they were over 10 all day today, with much higher numbers in the morning.

 

AQICN showed >150 a couple of hours back. Not good.

[tomazbodner]

13 minutes ago, saltedegg said:

Haze has gotten immensely thick in BKK over the past hour.

 

Edit: HEPA filters are quite expensive here, no? I'm looking at PowerBuy. Should I be purchasing elsewhere?

Best air filter I've ever bought (it shows actual pollution readings, is able to be controlled over the internet, actually has spare filters readily available) is Xiaomi Air Purifier 2S. Global versions are about 4000 baht up on Lazada's Xiaomi official store, and Chinese versions cheaper if you don't really care about the display language or ability to add them to app. Filters are also cheap at about 800-900 baht, lasting ~6 months each. That would be my recommendation.

[saltedegg]

23 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Best air filter I've ever bought (it shows actual pollution readings, is able to be controlled over the internet, actually has spare filters readily available) is Xiaomi Air Purifier 2S. Global versions are about 4000 baht up on Lazada's Xiaomi official store, and Chinese versions cheaper if you don't really care about the display language or ability to add them to app. Filters are also cheap at about 800-900 baht, lasting ~6 months each. That would be my recommendation.

 

Thanks, that's much more reasonable. Hoping the rain continues in the coming days.

[lopburi3]

Well I am reading 8 inside and 59 outside AQI (2 and 16 ug/m3 on my meter) using normal Hatari filter.  

[tomazbodner]

[losworld]

On 9/19/2019 at 10:00 AM, lopburi3 said:

Bangkok air seems to be coming from Cambodia for the last week (at least storms are traveling East or North-East to West or South-West when I have checked).  So does not appear to be Indonesia burning related.

Bangkok is very capable of creating its own smog regardless of imput from burning season.  The vehicles are not properly maintained and belching diesel buses and trucks combined with non existent regulations on factory emissions will set the stage for China like pollution levels that will continually get worse.

[lopburi3]

12 minutes ago, losworld said:

Bangkok is very capable of creating its own smog regardless of imput from burning season.  The vehicles are not properly maintained and belching diesel buses and trucks combined with non existent regulations on factory emissions will set the stage for China like pollution levels that will continually get worse.

I have lived in China - Bangkok at its worst in nothing like Beijing (and my first experience there was when it was a bicycle city).  And I also remember the real Bangkok diesel issue; when a trip from Don Muang would turn a white handkerchief black with one blow of the nose.

[MaxYakov]

1 hour ago, saltedegg said:

Haze has gotten immensely thick in BKK over the past hour.

 

Edit: HEPA filters are quite expensive here, no? I'm looking at PowerBuy. Should I be purchasing elsewhere?

HomePro @Chit Lom was pushing the Hatari HEPA filters (had a stack of them for only 888 baht) and the corresponding air purifier (around 5K baht). I bought two and modified them to fit my Hitachi AP and my bathroom intake fan (which I removed the activated charcoal layer for to keep air flow restriction to a minimum).

 

The correct Hitachi HEPA filter would have had to be shipped from Japan and would have cost around 2,000 each. I had purchased a slightly smaller Hatari HEPA filter several years ago for 600 baht but didn't use it because I knew It would, in short order, get dirty where I was living at the time. I'm using that one now in a box-fan-driven evaporative cooler (that I've converted to be a non-evaporative cooling fan).

 

Anyway, I'd check with HomePro @Chit Lom.

Edited September 20, 2019 by MaxYakov