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Earlier this year we published an article about Smart Air, a group of Americans in Beijing who have been producing DIY air filters at exceptionally low cost – starting at 200 rmb. With an obviously useful product at such low cost, they’ve created a lot of buzz. This Sunday, they’re hosting a workshop at Bookworm.
The cost of entry to the workshop is 200 rmb and this includes a DIY air filter which each participant will assemble along with instruction from the Smart Air founders. They will also provide information about operation of the filter and use, and they will have a particle tester on site for evaluation of the filters.
If you haven’t already, check out their site: Smart Air Filters. There’s also an RSVP link for this event which is here.
What if you already own one? And what will be done the other 89 minutes of the workshop? Will there be anything new apart from what we know from their website, their Taobao shop and the recent CL article?
Hi Vincent, Thomas here, the nerd behind Smart Air.
Good question! If you already own one, you could attend and give the new filter to a friend 🙂
Otherwise, shoot me a message, and I’d be happy to let you attend for free.
We’ll be doing fun stuff in addition to the content already up on the website. You’ll get a sneak peek at our longevity tests of how long the filters last, you can test it live with our particle counters, will explain whether pollution masks (what does the data say??), and you can chat with Gus and Anna about any questions you have.
Also, I left this comment on the Smart Air interview, but figured I’d leave it here as well for anyone who has one of these:
I ordered a wifi-enabled smart plug like the one Mark mentioned last week and it arrived a few days ago, here’s a link to the item on Taobao which is 99 rmb: Wifi Smart Plug
Setup took about 5 minutes (you connect to it from a laptop using wifi and then select your home wifi network and enter the password if you have one). Once it’s connected, you download their iPhone app, which is in Chinese, and you can use it to turn the outlet on or off via wifi or 3G. It works perfectly and there isn’t much more to it, although it has scheduling features which I haven’t used. What I’ve been doing this week is turning the filter on an hour before I return home.
I ordered this SamoAir PM2.5 Detector the other day and hope it arrives before Sunday so I can compare it to the higher-end particle Dylos meter which Thomas uses.
I’ve always been curious about the science of particle counting. How do we actually detect how much PM2.5 we have in a meter cubed?
I’ve always been curious about the science of particle counting. How do we actually detect how much PM2.5 we have in a meter cubed?
This would be a great question for the workshop on Sunday. I don’t know much, but I know that different particle counters use different methods for determining particulate values. Something like a Dylos DC1100 (which costs about $200) uses a focused laser beam to detect the quantity and size of particulate matter. Cheaper (lesser) detection devices use different technology, but I don’t know much. There’s some more information on the Dylos here.
Not related to AIR, but definitely related to pollution/contamination: Soon, we can use bluetooth enabled spectrometers to analyse molecular structure of our soil and water and stuff via iphones! 😛 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/903107259/scio-your-sixth-sense-a-pocket-molecular-sensor-fo
They’re like 5x their goal atm. I’m buying one. It looks awesome. McDonalds, and like… China… fear our knowledge of what’s in our everything!
This workshop does look cool. I’m interested, but can’t ensure Sunday freedom until closer to the date..
Thomas here. Good question! I wrote up a description of how different machines measure particle counts:
The government machines actually suck in a cube meter of air and filter out the particles, then shoot carbon 14 beta particles through it. Laser particles measure how much light the particles in the air deflect onto a sensor.
Laser particles measure how much light the particles in the air deflect onto a sensor. < To measure the particles per sqm., and spectrometry measures what those particles actually are 😀
Leaving it a bit late, and possibly stupid question, but if a couple attend can they both watch the presentation, or do they each have to buy a filter (his and hers matching set) ? 🙂
This went really well and they ended up moving a few dozen DIY filters yesterday. To anyone who wasn’t there or is still interested, you can order them from the Smart Air Taobao Shop.
Charlie did you get the SamoAir?
It shipped 8 days after I ordered it but it hasn’t arrived yet. Depending on how useful or interesting it is, I will probably author a quick review of it on the blog. If it sucks I am most likely ready to order a Dylos 1100.
Awesome! So glad to know that’s in the filter and not in your lungs.
I’m actually just about to post results of 90 days of a HEPA longevity test Gus is running. So far, we’re 90 days in, and there’s no noticeable decrease in performance. So my conclusion from the data is that they can get pretty gross looking and still work!
I’ll be posting the test on Particle Counting:
http://particlecounting.tumblr.com/
That strikes me as counter productive unless your vacuum cleaner is fitted with a Hepa filter to the same standard as your air cleaner.
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