Edit: plants do nothing to particle matter in air they can soak up co2, benzene, formaldehyde etc but do ample resesrch before placing plants in your bedroom. Typically snake plants are fine in bedroom as they don't give out CO2 at night. There is no need for an air purifier if you have ample light in your room. Just plant a few indoor plants Peace lily Rubber plant Snake plant Spider plant Aloe vera Money plant Orch…
Apparently this NASA study needs a huge asterisk next to it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18193622
Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
191–200 of 355 posts
Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps strain on the cheap box fan motor as it tries to pull its air through the filter. I've gone through a number of those style of cheap box fans over the years, any kind of long-term resistance very near the intake seems to cause the equally cheap motors harm and shorten their functioning life considerably. I haven't seen the same motor damage problem with resistance added to the exhaust side. In absence of that…
I'd agree with this. I used to put the high-efficiency filters on my furnace, my HVAC guy said these filters are so heavy that they put a strain on the blower motor. It's better for the motor to use a plain blue fiberglass filter (MSRP $1). You're not really filtering that much out of a closed house, unless you run your forced-air A/C or Heat with the windows open.
This graph of airflow vs. MERV rating isn't very conclusive in my mind: http://www.homeenergy.org/UserFiles/file/26-6_p34big(1).jpg
Granted there are about a million variables in all HVAC systems that could affect the results.
Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#193Important tip: if you set up an air purifier in your home, make sure to plug all drafts around your house: windows, doors, etc. Even a DIY purifier with small airflow can make your indoor air excellent if given enough time to do so and no leaks to fight against. If you want to get some fresh air in your home, do not leave a window half-open all day long—instead, open all your windows at once to cycle the air as fast…
Very interesting! How does the Dylos 1100 Pro compare to, for example, the Nova SDS011 sensor? By my cursory review, the SDS011 is much cheaper and appears to offer a more native Raspberry Pi-compatibility experience. Is the Dylos more precise? Can it produce readings the SDS011 can't? Are the two sensors measuring fundamentally different things? Finally, if you had to do it all over again, would you choose a differe…
Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#194Few years back I was desperate to find a large apartment in an area where they are just not available. I found one, extremely cheap, that the owner could not find anybody to rent to. The apartment was all but destroyed by previous occupants -- there was substantial mold in most rooms, heavy cigarette smell that was completely masked by even worse problem -- monkey pee and feces on every flat surface in the apartment.
Being geek I decided I will try what I can do and in the end I devised a protocol to treat the apartment. My girlfriend was very sceptical. A month later I brought her to apartment to the smell of fresh furniture and she was instantly converted. There was no fresh furniture, it was just the other smells were completely eradicated.
The only smell I could not get easily off and lingered for many months was banisters that were painted over with lacquer by the owner before I had the chance to treat them.
The treatment was:
1. industrial ozone generator (200 USD) + 200W fan + air dehumidifier (ozone decays quickly in humid air) + programmable timer and remotely controlled (over Internet) AC socket to control fan and generator (this let me turn the fan for 20 minutes every hour and let me turn everything off 3 hours in advance so I can visit safely without being subjected to high levels of ozone). This setup was on for an entire month except for when I was visiting to do other stuff in the flat.
2. 35% hydrogen peroxide mixed with baking soda. Ozone kills mold, binds and oxidises any smells except for urea crystals. To neutralize urea crystals you first have to dissolve them and treat while in dissolved state, before they crystalize again. I don't know what baking soda does, exactly (except for making cleanup tougher...) but I found dissolving some improves the treatment with hydrogen peroxide. I sprayed every surface (walls, floors, furniture, etc.) in the flat with this mixture enough to get it wet so that it dissolves and reacts with urea crystals.
Now, mandatory WARNING: both concentrated ozone and 35% hydrogen peroxide IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, you absolutely MUST spend time researching how to handle this stuff safely.
The hydrogen peroxide at that concentration INSTANTLY BURNS ANY ORGANIC MATTER IT IN CONTACT WITH. This includes your lungs and eyes if they come in contact with vapors or mist.
Concentrated ozone may also leave lasting effects on your eyes and lungs.
MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE NOBODY ENTERS YOUR FLAT WHILE IT IS BEING TREATED, MAKE SURE OZONE IS NOT VENTING TO OTHER APARTMENTS, ETC.
One minuscule drop of 35% hydrogen peroxyde touched my finger and it felt as if I was shocked with electricity and the skin was instantly burned white. Don't even think about getting close to it without heavy nitrile gloves and face mask.
The fumes and mist will be extremely dangerous, I have used full face mask with external breathing aparatus to be on the safe side while I was spraying entire flat with it.
Test the effect on any surface before treatment and dilute with water until it becomes safe for that surface. I have destroyed some stuff at the kitchen where it reacted with plastic foil on otherwise metal oven exterior, etc. I ended up diluting it for everything except stained walls. For furniture I diluted it to around 5-6% hydrogen peroxide, for floor panels to around 9%.
ALSO, very important, 35% hydrogen peroxide naturally decomposes producing lots of hydrogen so if you store the containers for longer than few days you have to constantly monitor them and vent hydrogen before containers burst. Once you finish your treatment, get rid of it as quickly as possible -- it is a liability while you are storing it.
On the upside, and this was very important to me, this does not leave any lasting dangerous chemicals in your flat. Both the ozone and hydrogen peroxide decompose naturally into harmless products and baking soda is the only think you can really work to get rid of but only for cosmetic reasons -- so that your entire flat does not look as if it is covered in dust.
Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#195Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very interesting! How does the Dylos 1100 Pro compare to, for example, the Nova SDS011 sensor? By my cursory review, the SDS011 is much cheaper and appears to offer a more native Raspberry Pi-compatibility experience. Is the Dylos more precise? Can it produce readings the SDS011 can't? Are the two sensors measuring fundamentally different things? Finally, if you had to do it all over again, would you choose a differe…
I bought the Dylos almost 5 years ago. At that time I don't think the SDS011 was available. A cool feature of the Dylos is monitor mode. It wakes up every hour, spins the fans for 1 minute, and spits out a measurement. It's convenient for 24/7 monitoring because it reduces fan noise and dust accumulation. I don't know if the SDS011 offers something similar, or if you could somehow program that yourself, but that may…
Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#197Wouldn't turning on the extractor in your kitchen have the same effect? If you've got the correct filter in there anyway.
If it vents outside though, not necessarily. Running the extractor would drop air pressure and pull from elsewhere (particularly bad during times with low air quality).
Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#198Do we have any other alternative to HEPA filtering, or something that last 5 years without me paying to replace it every 1 - 2 years? All the current Air Filtering system are like Printers, they earn more money with the yearly filter replacement. I also wonder if it makes sense to have an Air Filter if I have my windows opened 80% of times? I like the better Air Circulation, but the Air Quality aren't exactly great e…
Windows open - pointless if there is significant airflow. I've got a window open too, but no significant airflow resulting from it.
Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#199I built my own air purifier in 2016, living in London, I was living in a basement and was having breathing problems due to mould. My landlady was gaslighting me at the time, so I built the air purifier. It worked for a while but mould spores cling to the paper filter and eventually grow into the filter material. I think Dyson uses glass fiber filter to stop this problem. My filter helped a lot, but eventually I had s…
> I was subletting so had no grounds for complaint How does that work? You may not be eligible for regular tenant protections, but you're still eligible for recourse through regular courts, no?
Re: Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
#200I just ordered a wifi plug for mine though so that I can set it on a timer / hacked amazon dash button. It's not but the slight whoosh is annoying