Wirecutter has gone way downhill since NYT bought them, too. :(
The only review source I trust is https://www.youtube.com/c/ProjectFarm/videos
Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
261–270 of 723 posts
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#262There might be better air purifiers, but the recommended Coway purifier is really good. I've had one for 5 years, still working as well as the day I bought it. I also have a 3x more expensive high-end Alen unit, but it's not nearly as effective or quiet as the simple Coway. The filters are way more expensive too.
Same. The Coway is very quiet, and it works rather well, as measured by the Dylos particle counter elsewhere in the room.
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#263The best air purifier is a $20 Lasco box fan with a 3M square furnace filter duct taped to it. You can vary the cost and filtration ability based on the filter. A super duper filter is like $35, and a midrange is about $20.
I've got this setup to deal with cat litter dust. It works very well for that purpose and the filters are cheap (I get the cheapest one that's not see-through, That said, it's very loud even at the lowest setting. It's not something you want to share a room with. I use my home automation stuff to only run it when required, based on a motion detector at the litter boxes.
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#264Earlier quoted context omitted.
As the article explains, unless you're using the purifier to filter the air coming into a space, small differences in the purifier output PM2.5 level don't matter. If the output has 99% lower PM2.5 than the input vs 100% lower, that's dwarfed by all the existing particles that the output is about to be mixed back in with.
The output air of 0 vs 15 ug/m^3 is not negligible difference, especially when the air outside is 200+ during wildfires. The reality is, the great output air of Blueair filter + 350 cfm CADR is a pretty big difference. My indoor ambient air was about 10-15 ug/m^3 compared to 30-40 using the other solutions.
The difference between an output of 0 and 15 ug/m^3 with an input of 200 ug/m^3 is negligible when considering the performance of the filter in the room. Let's walk it through, imagining 1000 CF room and a flow rate of 250 CFM, and comparing something that's 100% effective (0 ug/m^3 output) vs 92.5% effective (15 ug/m^3 output).
At t=0 your room has a pm2.5 of 200 ug/m^3. At t=1min it has filtered 250 CF which is at either 0 or 15 ug/m^3. The remaining 750 CF is still at 200 ug/m^3. The air in the room is now either:
100% effective: ( 0*250 + 200*750)/1000 = 150 ug/m^3
92.5% effective: (15*250 + 200*750)/1000 = 154 ug/m^3
> the great output air of Blueair filter + 350 cfm CADR is a pretty big difference. My indoor ambient air was about 10-15 ug/m^3 compared to 30-40 using the other solutions.
My guess is your other solutions had a much lower flow rate (and hence a much lower CADR). What are you comparing to?
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#265Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m going to dissent here on this thread because I’m not seeing any references. I personally feel the quality of Wirecutter has gone down since NY Times just a bit. However, after almost a decade of reading Wirecutter they have overwhelming provided a decent “why you should trust us” section for staple consumer items. There is a good example from just today. [1] You can always say they should do more, but honestly th…
>> They didn't actually try any of the products themselves (they admitted as much in the article). > I’m going to dissent here on this thread because I’m not seeing any references. OK, here's one such reference in "The Best Baby Formula" [1]: > We didn’t do any testing for this guide, because babies have minds of their own, and it would be impossible to control for all of the variables that might make a baby prefer o…
Testing is different from research.
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#266Big Clive made a video and wrote an OpenSCAD script[0] which allows you to 3D print a base and adapter to convert a regular 120mm computer fan into a "true" HEPA air purifier. You might already have a spare 120mm fan laying around - I am using a $8 ARCTIC P12 fan[1] which is very quiet and is designed to work with high static pressure. The generic filters[2] are two for $17, (supposedly) H13 grade, available from a n…
Thanks for sharing this! Can you provide the values of the variables for that exact linked filter and fan? I'd like to print this while I wait for Amazon shipping. I bought ASIN B07GJG285F instead - same fan, but faster shipping for me. screwhole=5; //fan screw hole diameter (5) filterhole=92; //HEPA filter hole diameter thickness=1.5; //Thickness of plastic layer (1.5) insert=10; //Length of insert into filter (10)
You'll definitely want to bump thickness up to 2.0 mm for more rigidity. Otherwise just measure the diameter of your filter and maybe round up slightly.
I put a layer of electric tape around the flange where the filter adapter inserts into the filter and it makes a very nice airtight fit. Finally, just print it with the big end facing down and you shouldn't need any supports.
screwhole=5; // fan screw hole diameter (5)
filterhole=59; // HEPA filter hole diameter
thickness=2; // Thickness of plastic layer (1.5)
insert=10; // Length of insert into filter (10)
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#267I have three of the Fornuftig and am very pleased with them, save for the noise being quite bothersome at the highest setting. They’ve helped quite a bit with a pollen allergy. Getting good information has been a nightmare and it’s nice to see a post calling out the utter nonsense that gets spread about HEPA and filtration, with no thoughts to diffusion. The big problem I have now is that I would like to upgrade to t…
Ikea Starkvind flow rates:
From https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/starkvind-air-purifier-white-00... "Product details" and then "Other documents" gives you
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/manuals/starkvind-air-purifier-wh...
and there the table on page 7 gives you the flow rates.
The filter is EPA12.
"The particle filter is tested according to EN 1822-1 and ISO 29463-3 which corresponds to class EPA12."
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/starkvind-2-piece-filter-set-s9...
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am being polite in explaining the low-income perspective on devices like these. Looking at a device designed for low-income people who are trying to breathe healthy air and saying, essentially, "it's ugly, I would never want that" is extremely tone deaf around why it exists in the first place: because desperate people need an inexpensive solution. If you feel shame from that alternate perspective, I would suggest i…
Quoted post unavailable.
You're misquoting me. I never said they were extremely fortunate for choosing one model over the other, I said they were extremely fortunate for "being able to choose form over function." When wildfire season rolls around and air becomes very hazardous where I lived, local air purifiers of all kinds were completely sold out, and the box fan solution is all a lot of us had[0]. It's not just inexpensive, it's about availability of materials.
>just to try to dunk on someone
You're attributing negative intentions to my posts, which isn't appreciated.
0. https://twitter.com/seattlefire/status/1425260701568970752
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#269Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> They didn't actually try any of the products themselves (they admitted as much in the article). > I’m going to dissent here on this thread because I’m not seeing any references. OK, here's one such reference in "The Best Baby Formula" [1]: > We didn’t do any testing for this guide, because babies have minds of their own, and it would be impossible to control for all of the variables that might make a baby prefer o…
That seems justified. (IMO I’d want a review of the ingredients, then it’s up to my kid to prefer flavours.) That choice isn’t related to the choices for products for adults, which is what we care about.
The only point was to confirm that Wirecutter doesn't always actually test all of the products they review, regardless of whether it's (arguably) justified in each individual case.
Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier
#270The Wirecutter is a highly flawed review site, but at least it's a real one. There are vanishingly few left for general consumer products. There's WC, Consumer Reports, and what else? They've seem to have all been killed off. When I'm researching some category of product, I feel lucky if I find any professional reviews written by people who have actually touched the thing they're reviewing. I know we've all had the e…
If you happen to speak German, Stiftung Warentest is great and reviews a wide range of stuff.