Many people are selective about the water they drink, and for good reason: clean and pure drinking water is vital for our health. But why don’t we have the same level of care or concern about the air quality in our homes, schools, and workplaces?
My office is next to a street with a lot of traffic. When the windows are closed, it is quiet but can get hot and stuffy, especially when the door is closed. But when the windows are open, it is noisy yet cool and allows for better air flow. My wife has allergies and now that we have children, I started to consider air quality more carefully, wanting to measure and deal with any unhealthy gases, annoying allergens, and soot (tiny particles of carbon) entering our home via the windows. While I am no expert on the subject, here is what I have learned:
- Getting a good microphone and headphones (expect future posts on those subjects) can help a lot with noise reduction, allowing me to keep my windows open or use a portable air conditioning unit attached to the window when the weather is hot.
- A little tabletop USB fan that oscillates is a good desktop companion that helps me feel cooler even when the doors and windows are shut. I avoid pointing it directly at my face continuously, otherwise it dries out my eyes. These fans are generally affordable, quiet, and don’t consume as much power as larger fans or AC units.
- I bought my wife a Dyson air purifier and fan. It was expensive, not a powerful fan, loud when on the higher settings, and the filters needed to be replaced more often as the unit got older, even after cleaning and using it less. But I liked having an app that I could use to measure the air quality. It would automatically ramp up to a higher setting when the air quality was worse (like when there were forest fires in the city or we didn’t have powerful enough ventilation fans when cooking with the stove). So the sensor seemed pretty good, especially for the first couple years.
- Then I discovered the air purifiers from Air Oasis. I bought one iAdaptAir 1.0 Small for our bedroom and we noticed my wife started using her inhaler less often. Whenever I clean the filter, I can see how much dust and particles it traps. It’s noticeably sturdy and does the job it’s meant to do (purify the air, not operate as a cooling fan). So I decided to buy a second one for my office, and they had just released the iAdaptAir 2.0. The small model of this version is larger than the previous, but works just as well, if not better. They also have an app which I can use to monitor the air quality and when I need to change the filter. So while Dyson was my first air purifier, Air Oasis will probably be my last airbender, I mean, air purifier. I recommend them highly.
Air and Water: elements worth great care and consideration (but perhaps not to this extreme – see parody video below by the amazing ProZD).
