Recommendations for Air Purifiers please.

[JimmyJ]

Also where to buy it if they have a store in Chiang Mai.

 

Besides working well, efficiency, filter replacements readily available, etc., also care about it being very quiet.

 

Thank you.

[KannikaP]

There was a thread about this a couple of weeks ago.

I have an Xaomei 3C which is OK, but a bit noisy and filters are expensive.

I taped some 3M Filtrete (Lazada) over the top air inlet of my air conditioners and it works a treat on auto-fan setting, and costs not a lot.

[homeseeker]

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/philips-air-purifier-ac082020-16-49-nanoprotect-hepa-i338252363-s655156153.html?clickTrackInfo=query%3Aair%2Bpurifier%3Bnid%3A338252363%3Bsrc%3ALazadaMainSrp%3Brn

 

Not sure about buying from shop in CM. I in BKK bought from Lazada.

 

Seems like efficient. Filter replacement on line via Lazada. Quiet except a bit of noise when bad air.

Colour light on top of purifier telling you quality level.

Easy to clean . Its a respected brand and the price is decent.

I bought 2.

[dddave]

I have 2 Xiaomi air purifiers, one in living room and one in the bedroom.  They seem to do a pretty good job.  I buy filters once a year through Lazada, under B1000 each which I consider reasonable for a years use.  The only time I hear them is when I am cooking and they detect the additional smoke in the air.  They automatically go on high speed until the smoke clears.  Both were bought through Lazada.  Under B4000 each.

[moogradod]

Depends very much of the rooms air volume. A purifier for a few thousand bath might not really be fit for larger rooms. We have 2 - a 12K Dyson for the sleeping room and a 44K LG for the living room. Both automatic, remotely controllable and keeping a history in memory. The LG is the second largest they have. Bought in the Home Electronics shop at Central Festival Pattaya. It really works well and detects even kitchen smells very quickly.

[nigelforbes]

We also run two Xiaomi's, a smaller one for the bedroom and very large one for rest of the house. Noise is not an issue and filter costs are very reasonable, 2,200 for the large device but only once a year. We also have filtrette attached to our aircon units, useful to run on really bad days in fan only mode. Finally, we also have a Xiaomi in the pickup that runs off 12v, it helps a lot on bad days.

[MrJ2U]

1 hour ago, dddave said:

I have 2 Xiaomi air purifiers, one in living room and one in the bedroom.  They seem to do a pretty good job.  I buy filters once a year through Lazada, under B1000 each which I consider reasonable for a years use.  The only time I hear them is when I am cooking and they detect the additional smoke in the air.  They automatically go on high speed until the smoke clears.  Both were bought through Lazada.  Under B4000 each.

We're using those also.  Very good at reducing small particulates and reasonably priced replacement filters. 

 

Bluetooth controls.  

 

Used with the Air Visual Pro its a sound choice. 

 

[nigelforbes]

BTW Xiaomi products are sold in MI stores, there's one on the 2nd floor (?) of Central Festival, a few doors down from Central Dept store.

[JimmyJ]

5 hours ago, KannikaP said:

25 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

We also have filtrette attached to our aircon units, useful to run on really bad days in fan only mode. Finally, we also have a Xiaomi in the pickup that runs off 12v, it helps a lot on bad days.

I taped some 3M Filtrete (Lazada) over the top air inlet of my air conditioners and it works a treat on auto-fan setting, and costs not a lot.

There is an outdoors part of the ac unit with the big fan and an indoors part.

 

You guys tape the Fitrete over the top of the indoors unit?

[KannikaP]

2 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

There is an outdoors part of the unit and an inside part.

 

You guys tape the Fitrete over the top of the inside unit?

Inside unit. The air is circulated INSIDE the room, not outside.

[nigelforbes]

6 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

There is an outdoors part of the ac unit with the big fan and an indoors part.

 

You guys tape the Fitrete over the top of the indoors unit?

The inside unit contains the fan that circulates the air around the room, that fan is covered by a mesh screen that keeps out the big bits of debris. Tape the filtrette to that screen but only cover three quarters of the screen, give it room to breathe in case it gets blocked. Inspect and change frequently. The cover lifts up on the front of the unit inside the house to reveal the screen mentioned above. The fan in the unit outside the house is part of the air conditioning compressor unit, don't get involved with that.

[swm59nj]

I have a large Xiaomi purifier in the living room of my condo in Bangkok for the past two years.  My condo is 80sqm. It runs quiet when the air quality is in the green zone.  It should be in the green zone normally.  It did go in the red once when cooking food and it started to smoke.  It did make noise.  But as I said it normally stays in the green zone. I keep the unit on the lowest setting.  The higher you make it,  you will hear the fan. 
The unit will tell you the percentage of life left on the filter.  
In the bedroom I have a Hatari air purifier which is small.  They only make one size. 
How often you change the filters depends on the air quality.  And  with the type of air quality in Thailand,  I do not see how the filters last a year.  You might be saving money on filters.  But that defeats the efficiency and purpose of the purifier.  
The Xiaomi I have.  I have to change the filter every few months.  When the display shows 10 percent left.  With the Hatari it is recommended to change the filter every three or four months. 

[phetphet]

On 12/24/2022 at 1:38 PM, homeseeker said:

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/philips-air-purifier-ac082020-16-49-nanoprotect-hepa-i338252363-s655156153.html?clickTrackInfo=query%3Aair%2Bpurifier%3Bnid%3A338252363%3Bsrc%3ALazadaMainSrp%3Brn

 

Not sure about buying from shop in CM. I in BKK bought from Lazada.

 

Seems like efficient. Filter replacement on line via Lazada. Quiet except a bit of noise when bad air.

Colour light on top of purifier telling you quality level.

Easy to clean . Its a respected brand and the price is decent.

I bought 2.

+1 for Lazada.

I bought a Xiaomi 4. The bigger one. Can't remember which exact model offhand.

Filter supposed to last for a year.

[spidermike007]

Avoid Xiaomi like the plague. They are less expensive for a reason. They either stop working after a year, or the app stops working and you can't control the unit. Chinese junk.

 

The Samsung units are built to last. They are expensive. But I have had mine well over ten years now. Also, check replacement filters. The good units have very large filters. And check prices of replacement filters. They can be expensive. 

[Unify]

My Xiaomi unit works very well, and has for 5 years. However, the meter that reads the pollution level is <deleted>. Therefore, it doesn't come on automatically when it should. I recommend you go down to Makersplace in Chiang Mai, and pick up one of their more accurate meters. 

[fabruer]

For larger areas or different rooms I could recommend AirDeveloppa Air Purifiers. I use 3 of them since two years. 

Best price/value I found, reliable and easy. They're straight forward in everything, also design. Meaning they don't look like a prop but air flow is unrivaled in my opinion. 

They don't run too quiet though, especially on high. 

 

For sleeping room I use one of these SmartAir purifiers, 3 speeds manual switch. Filters are a bit more expensive at 4x change per year at THB4,000 total. With 3 cats that's not to be avoided. No pets, 2x filter would do. Once if you clean and maintain the filter regularly.

 

If you have the money to spend go for a reputable brand, look at filter sizes and prices.

If on a budget avoid bells and whistles. The simpler the unit the better. Makes for long life and easy maintenance.

[Lee4Life]

The wife has severe asthma, so we run two purifiers, one Altec Pro 1 and one Altec AL3. They are both automatic and sample air quality and adjust function accordingly. Two things I am aware of: If you set the units side by side and turn them on the automatic function settings, the AL3 will come up with consistently poorer air quality levels and turn itself on higher function modes than the Pro 1, in fact the Pro 1 hardy ever turns itself up to a higher function level. We took a video of the two machines working side by side and then sent the Pro 1 back to the factory on their recommendations after talking to them on the phone. At first they said it was defective and they would send us a replacement, then they sent us our old unit back and when we called them they said they could find nothing wrong with it. The other thing is that we have been trying to buy a new filter for the smaller AL3 unit for nearly one year, I ordered it on Lazada six times only to have the seller cancel the order because they do not have it. Currently we have been waiting for a call back from Altec for nearly three weeks. I am not degrading the company, just stating facts.

[JimmyJ]

2 hours ago, Unify said:

 I recommend you go down to Makersplace in Chiang Mai, and pick up one of their more accurate meters. 

Unfamiliar with Makersplace and can't find a place with that name that would sell AQI readers.

 

Do you have a link or more info?

[JimmyJ]

On 12/24/2022 at 1:23 PM, KannikaP said:

There was a thread about this a couple of weeks ago.

 

I just went back to mid-October in this subforum but couldn't find it.

 

Do you recall which subforum it was in?

[nigelforbes]

If you want the very best, IQAir Health Pro Plus air purifiers are of Swiss design and used by hospitals world wide. They are not cheap outside of Thailand but if you're buying from inside, they are very expensive.

 

https://www.amazon.com/IQAir-HealthPro-Plus-Medical-Grade-HyperHEPA/dp/B002VXDCHW?th=1

 

Whatever you're going to buy you should buy soon, because prices will start to go up, if they haven't already - the best time to get a bargain of course is mid year.

[tomazbodner]

10 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Avoid Xiaomi like the plague. They are less expensive for a reason. They either stop working after a year, or the app stops working and you can't control the unit. Chinese junk.

 

The good units have very large filters. And check prices of replacement filters. They can be expensive. 

Take a quick look at where your air cleaner is manufactured. It's right at the back of it.

Good units don't necessarily have large filters, but a multi-layered filters, with last one being HEPA. Size of filter will depend on the cavity/fan size/air throughput, but not quality of air coming out of it.

 

As for a popular Korean brand being built to last... you are an entertainer, right?

[Katsura]

11 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Avoid Xiaomi like the plague. They are less expensive for a reason. They either stop working after a year, or the app stops working and you can't control the unit. Chinese junk.

 

The Samsung units are built to last. They are expensive. But I have had mine well over ten years now. Also, check replacement filters. The good units have very large filters. And check prices of replacement filters. They can be expensive. 

 

I had a Xiaomi Air Purifier 2S for a couple of years now and no issues.

I have tried a few other brands and I would definitely recommend Xiaomi Air Purifiers.

 

Pros:

• Very affordable compared to most other brands
• Very effective filtration (verified with Laser Egg Air Quality meter)
• Silent operation on low-medium levels, but still effective 
• Filter seems to last long (1 year for me in Bangkok, YMMV) 
• Wifi connection, can be controlled via app 
• Elegant design that blends in with most types of furniture
• Small footprint, doesn't use up much space
• Relatively precise built-in PM2.5 sensor (verified with Laser Egg) 

 

Cons:

• Filters are a bit more expensive than some other brands (it's still one of the cheapest air purifiers to operate) 
• Auto mode is useless because what it deems acceptable AQI is way too high (it's a shame because the built-in PM2.5 sensor is precise) 
• The 3/3H model has a bit of an annoying high pitched sound at high levels, no issues with my 4 Lite and 4 Pro model though
• Wish the app had a few more functions and Apple HomeKit integration

 

Other brands I have tried:
 

- Sharp (can't remember which model): Weaker performance, pricier, annoying negative ion generator

- Smart Air Sqair: Weak performance except on the highest level (loud!), takes up more space, no PM2.5 sensor, no wifi connectivity

 

 

PS: I would recommend always buying the international version of Xiaomi devices to avoid any app compatibility issues 

[nigelforbes]

10 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Avoid Xiaomi like the plague. They are less expensive for a reason. They either stop working after a year, or the app stops working and you can't control the unit. Chinese junk.

 

The Samsung units are built to last. They are expensive. But I have had mine well over ten years now. Also, check replacement filters. The good units have very large filters. And check prices of replacement filters. They can be expensive. 

It sounds like you had bad luck with Xiaomi, it happens I suppose. Our Xiaomi's on the other hand are in their third year and have been problem free. If you look inside the guts of a Xiaomi or indeed any other air purifier there's very little to go wrong. It's nothing more than a plastic shell containing a fan and a filter plus some electronics to change the fan speed and turn the unit on and off....that's it. There's not that much to go wrong and there's not much difference between the various units because you can't improve the process! The real value is in the filters, if I had the spare cash to throw around I might buy the IQAir Health Pro Plus because in tests it removes the greatest volume of particles from the air....that's a function of the filter. 

 

This guy tested a number of products: https://moderncastle.com/xiaomi-smart-air-purifier-pro-4-review/

 

I personally can easily justify spending 12k baht on an air purifier that removes 96.5% of all particles after one hour. But I can't justify spending over 70,000 baht on an IQAir device, just to get that number up to 97.4% . https://moderncastle.com/iqair-healthpro-plus-review/

 

Even if my Xiamoi dies after three years and I have to buy a new one, that's still only 4K baht per year. On that basis, I don't care if the device is built to last or not, what matters is the cost per year to operate and the efficiency levels. Anyway, chances are that after 5 years the technology will have been improved so it's probably not desirable that it lasts forever.

[Captor]

17 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Avoid Xiaomi like the plague. They are less expensive for a reason. They either stop working after a year, or the app stops working and you can't control the unit. Chinese junk.

 

The Samsung units are built to last. They are expensive. But I have had mine well over ten years now. Also, check replacement filters. The good units have very large filters. And check prices of replacement filters. They can be expensive. 

And they are not real Hepa filters.

[nigelforbes]

3 hours ago, Captor said:

And they are not real Hepa filters.

It looks like a messy topic but probably worthwhile putting into perspective. The US EPA defines HEPA filters thusly:

 

" This type of air filter can theoretically remove at least 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and any airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns (µm). The diameter specification of 0.3 microns responds to the worst case; the most penetrating particle size (MPPS). Particles that are larger or smaller are trapped with even higher efficiency. Using the worst case particle size results in the worst case efficiency rating (i.e. 99.97% or better for all particle sizes)".

 

https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-hepa-filter

 

Note the word, "theoretically" in the above definition.

 

Using the links I supplied previously, it looks as though the IQAir device, probably the best one sold anywhere, is this effective: "During testing, it removed 97.4% of airborne particulates.

 

On the other hand, the Xiaomi looks like this: "Within the 1 hour test, the Xiaomi removed 96.5% of air particulates".

 

Also, neither test, nor the HEPA definition above, says how long it takes or should take to reach the standard, minutes, hours, days perhaps?

 

Obviously the term HEPA is abused and involved in marketing fuzziness but to what extent, I am unsure. Finally of course there's the cost/performance trade off aspect. Xiaomi costs 12k and removes 96/5%, IQAir costs 70k and removes 96.5%. 

 

Lastly, it is unclear to me whether HEPA standards for air purifiers have been overtaken by other standards such as air quality standards. Of course it's great to make sure that no small bad particles get into your lungs but is the HEPA standard of 99.7% of all particle sizes absolutely necessary or achievable in a residential setting? In a clean room where fine products such as optical lenses are made, yes and in some sterile settings such as isolation wards of hospitals, yes. But in the average house or apartment, I doubt it. The cracks and gaps around windows and doors in many houses would prevent that target from ever being reached plus there is unlikely to be an air lock chamber on the front and back doors! My guess is that for domestic air purifiers, the HEPA standard is a goal rather than an absolute and that proximity to that goal is determined by price. 

 

 

 

 

 

[nigelforbes]

Some good points made in the link below. 

 

"HEPA filters were first used in hospitals and nuclear power plants to protect people from harmful airborne particles and illnesses". They were not designed for domestic or residential use.

 

Won’t remove every particle: Unfortunately, HEPA filters will not remove pollutants from the air that are smaller than 0.3 microns, including viruses, some bacteria, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are household items like hairspray and ammonia that are too small for a HEPA filter to eliminate. Airborne mold spores are large enough for a HEPA filter to catch. 

 

https://www.airdesigninc.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-a-hepa-filter-in-your-home-air-system/

[KannikaP]

On 12/24/2022 at 7:19 PM, nigelforbes said:

The inside unit contains the fan that circulates the air around the room, that fan is covered by a mesh screen that keeps out the big bits of debris. Tape the filtrette to that screen but only cover three quarters of the screen, give it room to breathe in case it gets blocked. Inspect and change frequently. The cover lifts up on the front of the unit inside the house to reveal the screen mentioned above. The fan in the unit outside the house is part of the air conditioning compressor unit, don't get involved with that.

 

[spidermike007]

15 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Take a quick look at where your air cleaner is manufactured. It's right at the back of it.

Good units don't necessarily have large filters, but a multi-layered filters, with last one being HEPA. Size of filter will depend on the cavity/fan size/air throughput, but not quality of air coming out of it.

 

As for a popular Korean brand being built to last... you are an entertainer, right?

Every Samsung product I have ever owned, was built to last. Except their TV's. Great build quality. I have a 16 year old inverter AC, refrigerators, air filters and a Samsung washing machine. All seem to last forever. 

 

Lastly, air filters are ALL about the size of the filter. A huge factor. Small filters are not adequate. 

[nigelforbes]

10 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Every Samsung product I have ever owned, was built to last. Except their TV's. Great build quality. I have a 16 year old inverter AC, refrigerators, air filters and a Samsung washing machine. All seem to last forever. 

 

Lastly, air filters are ALL about the size of the filter. A huge factor. Small filters are not adequate. 

I don't think I agree that filters are ALL about size or surface area. Since different filter components are required to filter debris and gasses, it's about the construction and composition of the filter also. IQAir for example uses three different filters in it's machines, each serves a different purpose to filter out different things. The filters on our Xiaomi measure 12 inches by 19 inches and are 2.5 inches thick, AND there's two of them, that's a lot of concertinaed surface area plus carbon layers! 

 

https://supersaversgadgets.com/products/mi-air-purifier-max-high-density-filter-replacement-dual-filter-pack-for-pro-and-max-pro-2pcsset

 

 

[spidermike007]

15 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

I don't think I agree that filters are ALL about size or surface area. Since different filter components are required to filter debris and gasses, it's about the construction and composition of the filter also. IQAir for example uses three different filters in it's machines, each serves a different purpose to filter out different things. The filters on our Xiaomi measure 12 inches by 19 inches and are 2.5 inches thick, AND there's two of them, that's a lot of concertinaed surface area plus carbon layers! 

 

https://supersaversgadgets.com/products/mi-air-purifier-max-high-density-filter-replacement-dual-filter-pack-for-pro-and-max-pro-2pcsset

 

 

The filters on those machines are large, and more than adequate. Nice to hear some of their machines are holding up. They are a bargain.