Why does Smart Air’s latest air purifier, The Sqair, use a weaker filter–an H11 HEPA compared to the H12 and H13 HEPA filters out there? Tests of different filter grades revealed that weaker filters sometimes make stronger purifiers. Of course, purifier companies like to market their filters as top grade. Lots of purifiers […]
Tag: data
Top Air Purifiers in Shanghai Consumer Protection Bureau Tests
Using actual air purifier test data on is the best way to cut through the misleading marketing claims purifier companies make to try to get us to pay more money for clean air. For that reason, I’m always on the look out for good test data. Data is power. One source I like […]
Did Chennai’s Air Quality Get Better in 2018?
Analyzing air quality data from the US Consulate, Smart Air found that Chennai’s air quality improved 9% in 2018 compared to last year. Despite the improvement, Chennai still averages over three times the World Health Organization’s annual limit. Chennai air pollution by month Breaking down the data by month, air quality started 2018 at […]
Did Mumbai’s Air Quality Improve in 2018?
Smart Air analysed Mumbai’s PM2.5 air quality data provided by the US Consulate. What we found was that Mumbai’s PM2.5 levels increased 15% in 2018, giving much poorer air quality than the previous year. These higher air pollution levels push Mumbai’s annual PM2.5 average to more than seven times the World Health Organization’s annual limit of […]
Did Delhi’s Air Quality Improve in 2018?
After analyzing Delhi’s air quality data from the US Embassy in 2018, Smart Air found that air pollution fell 5% in 2018 compared to 2017. Despite the slight improvement, Delhi still averaged more than 10 times the World Health Organization’s annual air quality limit, making it one of the most polluted cities in the world. Delhi started […]
What is the best air purifier on the market today?
I started thinking about this question a lot because I was living in Beijing, and the “airpocalypse” struck: I had a cough I couldn’t shake for weeks, so I started doing research into air purifiers. Unlike another answer here, I wasn’t concerned about allergens like pollen. I was concerned about the very small particles […]
A one-stop guide to protecting yourself from air pollution
So you’ve found yourself a city with bad air pollution – perhaps you’re in Beijing, Bangalore or Bangkok? Or try Delhi, Ulaanbaatar or Shanghai? You’ve heard of air pollution, but what is it, how does it affect our health and what guide should you follow to keep air pollution from cutting years off your life? […]
All purifiers perform worse when air pollution is high
Take an average day in Delhi or Beijing. Not a bad day. Just a regular, old average day. The air coming into our lungs on those average days is 8 to 12 times the World Health Organization’s annual limit. That’s bad! But a lot of people don’t start to get worried until it looks […]
Directly comparable tests: DIY vs Blue Air
I’ve wanted to know for a long time whether the DIY filter is as effective as the Ferrari filters. In an earlier post, I compared my data to the tests of Dr. Saint Cyr (whose excellent posts inspired me to look into filters in the first place). But I noted that the comparisons were far from […]
DIY Cannon: Better, Faster, Stronger
Ever since I started my DIY filter experiments, I’ve been wondering whether I could create a super DIY by using a stronger fan. In the past three months, my collaborator Anna has helped me test a half dozen different fans. She now has a home full of fans: After months of tests, one […]