Air purifiers work best in a closed room environment and this worries some who are concerned that there wouldn’t be enough oxygen coming in when all doors and windows are closed. Yet recent tests in a real apartment — with as many as seven people in a small room — show less than 1% change in oxygen […]
Category: Indoor Air
Which Gym in Beijing has the Safest Air?
Even though PM2.5 levels fell in 2017, years of bad air pollution across China has led to many people installing air purifiers in their homes. Most of us are now breathing cleaner air at home, but what about when we are in public spaces? What’s the air like in that gym we go to, or […]
Is PM2.5 Worse on the Subway?
I wear a pollution mask in Beijing, and I’ve always taken it off when I get into the subway. That’s because I’ve always assumed air in the subway is better than outside. But am I right to take it off? I’ve heard a lot of Beijingers debating whether air in the subway is any better […]
Smart Air Indoor Air Quality Audit in 3ESpace
Date of audit: 27/05/2017 Audit conducted by: Yap Choon Khin Paddy Robertson Air quality monitor: Dyloc DC1700 Pro AirVisual Node Audit location: 3ESPACE, Beijing Jiaodaokou, Xinhua New Culture Building, 5th floor Air quality measurement outside premises: 115 µg/m3 Corresponding Air Quality Index (outdoors)[1]: 182 Air quality inside premises: 70 µg/m3 Corresponding Air Quality Index (indoors): […]
Shanghai Test: Is indoor air better than outdoor air?
When I got my very first particle counter, I tested sites around Beijing to see whether indoor air was better than outdoor air. It was. But that test had some limitations. My first particle counter didn’t have a battery, so I had to estimate outdoor particulate in some locations. I also didn’t look into any […]
Does Chinese New Year Affect Inside Air?
I’ve posted data before showing that outdoor air quality is strongly correlated with indoor particle counts (r = .71), but Chinese New Year gives nerds like me a great chance to see what happens when we get a momentary shock to air quality. The media made a big deal about people cutting back on fireworks this year […]
How Much Does Outside Air Pollution Affect Indoor Air?
I’ve always wondered: how much does outdoor air pollution affect the air in my home? Even if I keep my windows closed, if the air outside gets really polluted, does air in my home get a lot worse? To answer that question, my Smart Air collaborator Anna has been taking particle counts in her Beijing […]
Q&A: Do ACs bring in more dirty air?
tmthyliu 提问: Just built a DIY air filter, pretty excited to have clean air in the house! I was wondering though, how does this work when the air conditioner is on? Does it make a difference at all? I don’t know how ACs work but it seems they pump more air into my room (where […]
How Safe is Indoor Air?
I recently did some research on whether indoor air is as bad as outdoor air. Before that, I had a conversation with a friend in Beijing that went something like this: Friend: I’m not sure if I can make badminton tomorrow. I have a basketball game in the day. Me: Oh man, do you play outside? […]