Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier • Hacker News Board

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#171

Post by breput » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:40 PM UTC

KennyBlanken wrote: post #137

breput wrote: post #111

Big 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…

That air filter will move such a small volume of air, it's basically useless unless you're in a small closet.

Well, my experience refutes that opinion, but yes, it sized for a smaller room or less polluted larger areas.

My office is approximately 12' x 12' x 8' or 1,152 ft³. That means the room's air would (theoretically) completely pass through the filter every 20 1/2 minutes. As the article explains, even the lower quality filter in the Ikea air purifier is so close to 100% efficient that it isn't worth worrying about, so completely filtering the air three times per hour is nothing to sneeze at...

And the cost is negligible - the fan might cost $0 to $10, filters are $20/year, and electricity usage is around 2 watts or probably under $2/year.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#172

Post by anamexis » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:40 PM UTC

syedkarim wrote: post #135

KennyBlanken wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being open about when you are in a sponsorship "relationship" is not something that earns you an internet cookie, it's required by the FCC https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/sponsorship-identificat...

Those FCC regulations are for broadcasters.

No they’re not: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-...

Whoops, missed FCC vs FTC. Anyways, there are similar regulations from the FTC.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#173

Post by clairity » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:42 PM UTC

rahimnathwani wrote: post #16

Saint_Genet wrote: post #3

Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but the IKEA one which they singled out as not recommended to buy is the only one in the article they don't earn a commission on when someone buys it

This is mentioned in the first line of the article: "you should instead buy a different purifier that totally coincidentally happens to pay affiliate marketing commissions."

i literally ran into this with wirecutter when searching for an air purifier years ago. they recommended an inferior performing coway when their own tests concluded that blueair (211+) was significantly better. they've long since removed the chart showing this discrepancy, and they still recommend coway, no doubt because that's their affiliate partner. i bought the 211+ and have been mostly satisfied with it for my studio apartment, but beware, filters are relatively expensive.

in any case, if you really care about effective air purification, buy the largest/most powerful fan you can get (CADR tries to proxy this, but is an imperfect measure), because the critical factor is getting as much of the air volume through the filters before the dust settles (literally). filter effectiveness isn't nearly as critical as throughput.

nowadays i'd probably opt for two of the ikeas instead, and put them on opposite sides of the room (but not against a wall). that'd be cheaper and likely just as effective.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#174

Post by jefftk » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:42 PM UTC

cosmodisk wrote: post #162

I've done so much research about air purifiers that I think I could do a thesis if I were in academia. The vast majority of these devices fall under one category: rubbish. Lots of gimmicks performed when it comes to efficacy. Bending reality with borderline claims or inventing useless terms that mean nothing. If you are serious about indoor air quality, start with IQAir. Their products are bulky, contain multiple fil…

Most air purifiers are a high-quality filter and a fan to move air through it. That's a solid approach, and they perform close to how you'd expect given their flow rate and filter rating.

Why are IQAir products especially good?

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#175

Post by OrwellianChild » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:43 PM UTC

hypersoar wrote: post #51

The 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…

Just going to throw out https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/ as a solid option for the climbing, hiking, and outdoor sport equipment they review. Most reviews involve real-world subjective testing, which is really what you need when you're trying to figure out whether a jacket is warm or a rain shell keeps you dry, etc.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#176

Post by Brakenshire » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:43 PM UTC

kitsunesoba wrote: post #82

mrkwse wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will be interesting if LMG can pull off what Linus is aiming for with the massive investment in a laboratory environment. There are huge parts of the tech market where the most critical reviewing you can find is anecdotal accounts of if the reviewer liked a product or not (or the more clinical reviews are drowned out by the anecdotal noise).

I'm hopeful for LMG's lab too. It's still a bit of a gamble, but from the sound of it the company is set up such that they can review products in an objective, data-backed way and tank any blowback from manufacturers that occurs as a result. It's much more focused on enthusiast computer hardware, but Gamers Nexus[0] is doing good things in this space too. Their style is much more dry and data-dense than LMG's though,…

https://www.notebookcheck.net/ also seems to do a lot of their own testing.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#177

Post by CharlesW » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:44 PM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #151

CharlesW wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“A conspiracy theory is not the same as a conspiracy; instead, it refers to a hypothesized conspiracy…” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory

Exactly, if they're true it's a conspiracy fact or just a conspiracy. And even if they do NOT take kickbacks, there's no financial incentive at all to "link" to a sales page that doesn't offer affiliate links, where there is one to link. And so the best way to handle this is to not review at all products that aren't available through said sites. Think Southwest tickets not being available from aggregators.

> And even if they do NOT take kickbacks, there's no financial incentive at all to "link" to a sales page that doesn't offer affiliate links…

And yet Wirecutter does this.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-stuff-from-i...

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#178

Post by hackernewds » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:44 PM UTC

tyre wrote: post #90

Nextgrid wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the problem is that it ultimately skews the incentives and contradicts their claim that the editors are totally isolated from the commercial part of their business. Their homepage currently suggests the following: > We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission [emphasis mine] The "about" page claims: > There’s no incentive for us to pick inferior produc…

They make more money from me if their reviews are accurate. If they’re are only motivated by money, then that incentive favors honest reviews. If I buy products that they recommend and they’re shit, I won’t go back and click anything again in my life. Making an extra $3 from on purchase isn’t worth it.

It works if you, the reader, doesn't suspect malice. Which it seems there is.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#179

Post by Someone1234 » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:45 PM UTC

rossmohax wrote: post #140

Looking for an indoor air quality monitor to buy, any recommendations?

To monitor what (e.g. what particular size, VOX, radon, etc)? And do you need logging? Because that almost entirely determines which one.

For simple, cheap, PM2.5 and above, the Ikea "VINDRIKTNING" is a good choice. It only offers a simple traffic-light system though, no logging and numeric readout. USB-C powered (cable and power-brick sold separately). Around $25~ including buying the USB-C cable and power-brick, $13 alone.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#180

Post by dan-robertson » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 6:45 PM UTC

DeathArrow wrote: post #153

hypersoar wrote: post #51

The 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…

Project Farm is testing a lot of things: https://youtube.com/c/ProjectFarm

I watched a few of these a while ago and I can somewhat see why they’re popular as they have this fast-paced data-dump look-at-all-this-testing format but I didn’t really think they were very good. I thought many of the tests were likely poor metrics for actual quality and that results would therefore be misleading. A stupid example would be trying to measure how much torque a Phillips head screwdriver can apply before camming out because the point of the screw design is that screw drivers should cam out at a certain torque (so better screw drivers shouldn’t necessarily let you go tighter).