Live data from Hacker News

Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

cbc.ca

201–210 of 602 posts

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#201

After watching this segment, I immediately bought a 20" box fan, a 20x20 MERV 11 filter, and put one together. It kicks the pants off of air purifiers twice the price and it moves a lot of air through. Best investment ever. CBC was testing CADR, which is one metric among others, but an important one if you're looking to clean a room's air, fast.

They are great for reacting to bad air quality (like wildfires), but are way too loud for normal use.

I have an Awair and did that dance of turning on the box fan filter when levels were higher than normal, then turning it back off once in normal range.

Now I much prefer keeping a quieter (less performant unit) on continuously to keep the levels low.

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#202
post #101

Dyson : Air Products :: Beats : Audio Products Pretty much every Dyson product I've used, from the public bathroom air "blades" to the vacuums, seem like a gimmicky, inferior products with a premium price tag. None of them do their intended job better than older, cheaper products in their category. I know James Dyson is regarded as a genius engineer, but the consumer product company bearing his name seems to be 99% m…

The public bathroom air blades drive me crazy. It keeps splashing the water back and forth, the air speed is too high and my hands inadvertently touch the sides and probably there are a bunch of germs circulating inside, as not everyone washes their hands thoroughly. The old school super blowers that just do hot air down, or whichever direction you turn, probably consume more power, but certainly dry my hands faster…

Not only are airblades gimmicky nonsense, they are very loud.

Anything that blows air around will also blow viruses and the like into the air. People do not wash hands in a "standardized manner" and some people do not even use soap. After their hands are wet, they just stick their hands to the airblade, sometimes touching the sides and shaking the rest of the water all over because they are in a hurry and can't wait that 10 seconds or whatever it takes.

I hate airblades and I don't like hot air dryers.

Paper towels are the best.

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dyson, like Apple, doesn’t make products for nerds like us who are willing to go through that level of effort. Their prices are high because their products are simple and “just work” without much fiddling.

What's being questioned here is whether this product actually works (as air filter, as advertised).

While it may not be the best, it still does the job.

My partner smokes indoor when I am not present and there's no smoke odor when I get home.

According to the chart on their app, the peak low air quality from several cigarettes goes away within an hour or so. https://imgur.com/a/0qgwT1F

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have four in our house and they are workhorses. Still running strong and quiet 3-4 years later of running 24/7. Probably one of the best things I've ever bought. They are also popular enough, and have been around long enough, that there is an "ecosystem" of third party replacement filters that are affordable and capable. The sound of the Coway is also quite nice for sleeping in our opinion. It's a quiet "whoooosh"…

What benefits do you feel from having four filters? Not hating, genuinely curious. It's just never occurred to me to filter the air in my home aside from burning something on the stove or similar

I have one in the bedroom and one in the main living/office area. They were essential in California during the past few years of fires. The indoor air quality was maintained consistently while outdoors was horrendous.

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have four in our house and they are workhorses. Still running strong and quiet 3-4 years later of running 24/7. Probably one of the best things I've ever bought. They are also popular enough, and have been around long enough, that there is an "ecosystem" of third party replacement filters that are affordable and capable. The sound of the Coway is also quite nice for sleeping in our opinion. It's a quiet "whoooosh"…

What benefits do you feel from having four filters? Not hating, genuinely curious. It's just never occurred to me to filter the air in my home aside from burning something on the stove or similar

That's a good question, happy to answer.

I have asthma and mild allergies triggered by pet dander and sometimes seasonal pollen and such. It's a 3 bedroom house. 7 rooms total. And we have pets, because we're dumb.

Ideally we'd have one filter for each room, but they're not the cheapest things, so we just keep them in the rooms where we spend the most time.

Do they work? They've had a positive impact on my asthma/allergies. Not a magic cure, but nothing is. Obviously, it is a part of a comprehensive strategy that includes vacuuming and so forth.

Side benefits of the filters are that they also cut down on dust accumulation on surfaces, and are somewhat effective at reducing odors in general thanks to the swappable charcoal filters.

(FWIW they used to go on sale for like $119 once in a while, in pre-COVID times. That's when we got ours...)

    It's just never occurred to me to filter 
    the air in my home aside from burning 
    something on the stove or similar
Yeah, I don't think this is some sort of thing that everybody needs to do.

If you're currently doing fine, then this doesn't seem like something you need....

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#206
post #4

I still cannot get over this product. They whole selling point of a dyson fan is the 'air multiplier' tech, which creates a low pressure zone that propels air through the ring. According to dyson, this tech can move 15x more air than the fan in the base of the unit. Why in the world would you build an air filter around a system that does not directly interact with 93% of the air it moves? https://www.jameco.com/Jamec…

The fan also sucks compared to something like a Vornado.

"Buffeting" of air is not a practical issue when using a fan - you want a fan that can create a lot of air flow.

The Dyson fan comes across form first then making up reasons to explain the form retroactively. It feels like an interesting look is the goal rather than something that's actually better.

Am I wrong about this? Do people that have the fan like it? Is it better? I've only played with one in a store, but haven't owned one myself. I have owned Vornado fans which I liked.

Another one that comes to mind is the Molekule air filter which is basically fraud.

Large HEPA filters work, people should use them.

My favorite: https://medifyair.com/

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are talking about the household vacuum type (upright & cordless) not shop-vacs or dust collectors.

My household vacuum cleaners have almost always been corded (with the exception of a couple battery powered ones I had 5 or 10 years ago). Granted, I didn't shell out several hundred dollars for the cordless ones, but dead batteries and replacements got old after the first round so I've stuck to corded ever since. It's just not something I ever really had a problem with. The cords are typically quite long and I never…

I was referencing GP's Festool comment - Festool does make great stuff, but in the vacuum space they mostly make dust collectors for woodshops and shop-vac style shop vacs -- not the household-style vacs we're talking about.

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What benefits do you feel from having four filters? Not hating, genuinely curious. It's just never occurred to me to filter the air in my home aside from burning something on the stove or similar

I'm also curious about running them 24/7.

Mine run 24/7 on low for a few years so far, one is going on 3 years and the other is about 8 months. No issues other than periodic cleaning and filter replacement. Main hint: keep a spare filter before California fire season.

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much every Dyson product I've used, from the public bathroom air "blades" to the vacuums, seem like a gimmicky, inferior products with a premium price tag That's interesting to me because I've had the opposite experience. I move a lot. For almost decade I moved twice a year. I don't like taking the dirt from one place to the next, so I buy a new vacuum cleaner every time. So I've been though a lot of vacuum cl…

AMA from a vacuum technician: https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/7gmsoe/iama_reddits_o... IIRC he recommends Miele vacuums.

I was in the market for a vacuum last year and followed the advice in that topic. I bought a used Miele C1 Compact for $80. Great vacuum for my small apartment and I've been very happy with the purchase.

I remember seeing the Dyson Ball vacuum the first time in the store and being incredibly underwhelmed after all the marketing on TV. It was heavy, and felt like a bunch of cheap plastic that was going to break apart. Then I tried a few of those handheld Dyson vacuums in different Airbnbs I lived for a while. They were a pain to clean, hair would get caught in the spinning brushes, and the battery life on all of them was terrible (one would only last about 2 minutes, likely because the battery was aging). It always feels like marketing and "cool" gimmicks come first with Dyson products and the actual quality is second.

Re: Dyson air purifier outperformed by cheap DIY box fan filter in Marketplace test

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What benefits do you feel from having four filters? Not hating, genuinely curious. It's just never occurred to me to filter the air in my home aside from burning something on the stove or similar

It's not a necessity if you have the window open to move around the air, but that's typically not as much of an option in the winter. You'd be surprised how much dust and particles a purifier picks up. If you take a look at the photos for the Blue Air 211 on Amazon, you can see how much it picks up. Mine was exactly like the photos. The pre-filter was completely covered in dust, and the inner filter was completely da…

    It's not a necessity if you have the window open to move around the air,
If you live in an urban area or someplace else with lots of air pollution, the outdoor air might be a problem!

Of course, I don't think an air filter like this would be very effective with the windows open.

Post reply on HN