What does “PM” mean? PM stands for particulate matter, which refers to particles in the air. These particles can be solids (like dust) or liquids (like drops of water). Some common sources of PM are car exhaust, smoke from coal-fired power plants, pollen spores, and dust from construction sites. Sometimes you’ll see “PM” followed […]
Category: Filters
What combination of air filters do I need to protect against everything?
This will sound like a grand claim, but two filters are all you need. Here’s why (with data). Very Reasonable Reasons To Be Skeptical Why might you be skeptical? For one, big purifier companies are in an arms race to tell you they have more filters than the next guy. Simpleton Thomas here is […]
Smart Air Unveils New Techno-Ultra HEPA filter
“Finally, a HEPA filter that actually works!” Back when we started Smart Air in 2013, we set out to create effective air purifiers that don’t cost a lot. Today, we are proud to announce that 5 years of hard science and testing have culminated in a technological breakthrough: The Smart Air Techno-Ultra HEPA! […]
How to Get the Most Out of Your Purifier
If buying an air purifier is the first step to breathing clean air, the second step is knowing how to use it best! Here are the 4 most important things to know about how to use an air purifier—based on data, not intuition. 1. Note down the date of purchase HEPA filters have a […]
How long do the Blast and Blast Mini HEPAs really last?
Ever since we launched the Blast and Blast Mini in 2017, we’ve wanted to get good data on how long the filters last. These filters are huge, 10-20 times the size of our DIY purifier filters in fact. We’d expect them to last much longer, but let’s see what the data says. The Problem with the Numbers […]
How long do the Blast and Blast Mini HEPAs really last? – Supplemental Article
Estimating Lifespan from the DIY1.0 Longevity Tests The Blast HEPA is 20 times bigger than the DIY 1.0 and it is made of the same material. Thus, is it reasonable to think that the Blast HEPA will last 20 times as long? Not really, because the Blasts push more air and clean bigger rooms, so […]
Test: Can You Turn Off Your Purifier When You Sleep?
Here’s a question I often get asked: “I don’t want to hear the fan while I sleep, so can I run my air purifier for an hour and then turn it off before sleeping?” The logic is that, since the doors and windows are closed, once we clean all the air in the room, it […]
Do Air Purifiers Remove PM2.5?
When I was coughing through Beijing’s airpocalypse and thinking about buying an air purifier, I wanted to know something first–do air purifiers really get the small particles of PM2.5? I wondered because I saw lots of air purifier tests on pollen, but pollen is generally 10 microns or larger, whereas I was really […]
Should air purifiers have the filter on the front or back?
When I made my first DIY purifier, I put the filter on the front: That led me on a long, unexpected journey. It turned out that I wasn’t the only one interested in breathing clean air in China, so I started a small social enterprise called Smart Air to ship these low-cost purifiers to fellow-air […]
Protect Yourself From Cities With Bad Air Pollution: A Beginner’s Guide
So you’ve found yourself a city with bad air polluted – perhaps you’re in Beijing, Bangalore or Bangkok? Or try Delhi, Ulaanbaatar or Shanghai? What can you do to keep air pollution from trimming years off your life? When I moved to China in 2007, I wasn’t a dummy. I was a college grad, and […]