In September 2019, the Delhi government and Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced Delhi’s PM2.5 air pollution was down 25% in 2019 over the previous year. Yet there is doubt. Thewire.in expressed skepticism about this claim. As data-driven nerds, we wanted to let the numbers answer this question. So we dug into the Delhi PM2.5 […]
Author: Paddy Robertson
Paddy graduated in aeronautical engineering from Bristol University, and now runs Smart Air's operations from Beijing. He's an advocate for open data, free information and transparent business.
Can HEPA filters capture nanoparticles?
Many big purifier companies claim only their HEPA filters capture nanoparticles, like this Molekule ad. Although this claim is false, even journalists repeat this myth. Why is this belief so pervasive? One reasonable explanation is that the definition of “HEPA” leads people down that route. For example, this definition on Wikipedia […]
Hold on! Replacement filters cost more than buying a new air purifier?
Ever since Smart Air founder Thomas made his first DIY purifier, Smart Air has been telling the world that purifiers are needlessly overpriced. And ridiculously expensive replacement HEPA and carbon filters are one reason why. HEPA filters were invented over 70 years ago by the US government. There’s no patent, nothing fancy – they’re just […]
Providing Clean Air to one of China’s biggest retailers
We’ve shipped over 50,000 of our simple, effective, no-nonsense DIY air purifiers since launching. That’s a lot of clean air, for a fraction of the market average price. In 2017 we launched the Blast and Blast Mini purifiers, which pump out huge amounts of clean air at very low noise levels. The DIYs are great […]
Smart Air Unveils New Techno-Ultra HEPA filter
This was an April fools post published on 1st April, 2019. The content of this article was published for the purpose of April fools – there is no fancy new tech in HEPA filters! Read on to learn why. “Finally, a HEPA filter that actually works!” Back when we started Smart Air in 2013, […]
Beijing’s air quality improves whilst New Delhi’s PM2.5 levels worsen
Beijing and Delhi often hit the news as two of the most polluted cities in the world, with PM2.5 levels often soaring to tens of times the WHO annual limit (10µg/m3). Smart Air plotted the PM2.5 data from the US Embassy in Delhi and the US Embassy in Beijing to compare how the air quality […]
Do masks really work in India’s air pollution?
Every year when winter rolls around, a billion people in India are left breathing toxic, polluted air when on the streets. Be it in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata or Hyderabad, everyone is forced to become experts in a complicated scientific question to cope with the pollution: Do air pollution masks work? I’ve heard doubts from smart, […]
IQAir Atem Review – Is this portable air purifier effective?
The IQAir Atem is a personal, portable air purifier that’s new on the scene. Recently, we were asked by Vincent to review the IQAir Atem – which IQAir calls “the most effective personal air purifier.” Here was Vincent’s question: Being the data nerds that we are, we decided to get some data to help us answer […]
Are Cheap Particle Counters Accurate?
When I first started making DIY purifiers, the particle counters I could buy were a US$260 Dylos or crazily expensive particle counters that costed thousands of dollars. Since then, the market has exploded with new particle counters as cheap as 99 RMB. But are they any good? Putting Particle Counters to the Test To […]
Can I Clean or Wash HEPA filters? – Supplemental Data
This post contains supplemental data for the post “Can I Clean or Wash HEPA filters?“. It includes detailed information about the testing method, and the original data, open-sourced for all to view. Click here to view the original article Open Data Particle Capture Tests For the particle capture tests, CK used a Met One GT-531 […]