Have Allergies? Time for an Air Cleaner

Air quality inside the home is a big problem.  We’ve recently reviewed a number of products that monitor your home health.  With nearly 25 million people suffering from asthma in the US alone and this number continues to grow at a fast pace, something needs to be done.

Here are some more interesting statistics*:

• Nearly 50 million Americans suffer from nasal allergies.
• 30% of these Americans suffer from dog and cat hair and dander.
• Did you know that there are over 40,000 droplets in a typical sneeze?  They can shoot out of a mouth at a speed up to 100mph and be suspended in air for hours.
• Scientists found that on average, 16,0000 particles of flu virus were contained in a cubic meter of air when tested at health clinics and daycare centers.
• Which comes to no surprise that the U.S. EPA found that indoor air pollutants were generally 2 to 5 times greater than outdoor pollution levels. 

Since 90% of the air we breathe is indoor air, an air cleaner is a good solution to reduce contaminants.

An Air Cleaner for Inside Your Home

Do you or a family member suffer from allergies or asthma?  If so, you know it doesn’t take much for a flare-up.  Whether it be frying in the kitchen, the family cat, an outbreak of the flu in the household, or even household cleaning agents being used, your home could be a trap for holding irritants in the home for days.

In the past, we have reviewed Foobot, which is a great device that visibly tells you when it detects a larger amount of unhealthy contaminants in the room.  

We keep Foobot in the kitchen and we can tell by its lights when we need to open the windows to let some fresh air in (the old fashioned air cleaner – works as long as the air outside is cleaner than the air inside!).  It’s been a tremendous aid in educating our children about harmful air.

We have also covered other air cleaner and purifiers in the past and educated you on how containments can irritate your allergies and asthma.  But now we’d like to tell you about what I will call, the Cadillac of air cleaners, the Airmega.  

The Airmega is a sleek, luxurious smart air purifier designed to rid of pet dander, allergens, and more from your home’s air.  It can reduce over 99.97% of pollutants, larger than 0.3 micron (1/1000 of your fingernail).  Amazing, huh?

And with the Airmega App , (400S and 300S models), you can control your Airmega air cleaner from anywhere and receive real-time air quality notifications, and filter lifetime monitoring.  You can even schedule your Airmega from afar.

Visible Monitoring

The Airmega uses visible circles with colors to help you identify the quality of the air in your room at a glance.  Typically the room is Good, but if the Airmega senses pollutants like dander, pollen, cleaning agents, frying, etc., it will start to turn greenish, yellowish, or reddish dependent upon how dense they are.

There are two ways to visibly see how well the air quality is in your room:

1.  The colorful circle display directly on your Airmega unit.
   

      2.  The same color wheel is repeated in the app – so you can see the air quality in your home real-time from anywhere.

In fact, you can see the air quality for the day hour-by-hour, for the past 7 days, 30 days, and even for 12 months.  Above you can begin to see the trends on an hourly basis to determine the times of day when pollutants are more prevalent.

This is a report for 30 days of usage.  You can see that a majority of the time, the air is moderate to good.  You would expect to see the air relatively clean most of the time if you’re using your Airmega air cleaner in smart mode.

4 Modes of Operation

Let’s Talk Filters

 

 Features:

• Available in white or graphite (coming soon)
• Can cover a wide area, up to 1,560 sq. ft.
• Removes over 99.97% of pollutants larger than 0.3 micron from the air
• Visible indicator of indoor air quality on the unit itself
• Monitors air quality in real-time from in the home our outside of it
• Improves respiratory health and increases comfort levels for those suffering from asthma or allergies
• WiFi connected so it can be controlled and automated from the Airmega app
• Dual-suction fan to intake air from two areas at once
• From the app, you can monitor pollution live and see history levels throughout the day and more
• Alexa integration to turn on/off, set sleep timer, get air quality updates, set fan speed, and more
• Multi-stage HEPA filtration system designed to reduce more than 99% of volatile organic compounds and odors
• Offers up to a year’s worth of data on pollution level for user analysis

Pros:

• Air filters lifespan is based on actual use rather than a set time like other purifiers
• Easy access to filters and pre-screen can be washed
• Beautiful stylish design
• Covers an area up to 1,560 sq. ft.
• Surprisingly quiet, even on high speed
• Noticeable difference in comfort – less morning sniffles
• Notifications help to know which pollutants are causing the most decrease in air quality
• Works with Amazon Echo for vocal commands
• Gives you the air quality indoors and outdoors
• Portable – though large, you can move to the room to which family member needs it the most

Cons:

• More expensive than many air purifiers due to this one being a more professional version
• A bit bulky
• App install was easy, but had difficulty pairing it  with WiFi 

The Airmega 400S air cleaner is on sale right now through the Airmega website for $636.64 with free shipping.  It normally sells for $849.  Airmega also has other air purifiers available that are either not Wi-Fi enabled or cover smaller areas for a lesser cost.  You can buy the filters as a set directly from Airmega for $129, when it’s time to replace them.

A Mom’s Perspective