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I have been using SamoAir for about 4-5 months now. It’s in a corner of the living room, just monitoring the air quality. I don’t look at the numbers anymore, just the colours. Green is good (>40), orange is ok (<40 – >75), red is bad. When I see red, I turn on my air filter. Anything below red I don’t anymore. 40 would be considered bad in Europe, but standards have to shift here I guess. Wish I could auto turn on my fans, when it reaches red. Anyone got suggestions on how to do that?
I don’t think there would be an easy way to do that. What I would do is collect data about the conditions in your living space – how long it takes to clean the air with a filter on, how long it takes for the air quality to deteriorate after turning off the filter, etc. With that data, create a schedule where the fans turn on and off automatically with a timer.
Considering that Smart Air says using the same filter for 3-4 months before replacing, the cost is low even if the filter is running all the time.
I have three of these, one cannon. It died after 5 months. I generally replace the filters every couple of months. I ran the cannon 24/7 about half the time, when not 24 hours it ran from morning to bedtime.
I contacted the company and the American was very gracious re: my problem but suggested that it was the (dirty) filter being on too long that caused the motor to die. Both reps from the company stated that my issue was very rare.
So my point is, if in fact my dirty filter caused the engine to die, than perhaps following their suggestion may not be the wisest decision.
Who knows, maybe I just was unlucky.
I use an insanely over-priced triple filter machine. One thing i wonder about the smart air users is why don’t you place a washable “mesh” filter over the existing filter? Mine catches alot of the shit before it gets thru to the expensive-to-replace HEPA and charcoal filters….
Hey guys,
DJtrekker, that was me! Sorry the fan stopped working!
I’m not an expert on pollution or engineering, so I’ve been learning as I go along. Along the way, I’ve done tests and discovered that carbon can remove VOCs and that, if you turn off your purifier and keep the doors and windows closed, the room air still gets almost as dirty as it was before in just one hour.
Another thing I’ve been learning is that using a filter too long can put more pressure on the fan motor and make it more likely to stop working. But it sounds like in your case that wasn’t the issue. Another hypothesis is that running it 24/7 makes the motor more likely to stop working.
I should be clear about one thing: I have empirical data to support how often to change the Original DIY filter. I do NOT have longevity data on the Cannon yet. As I point out in the the longevity data post, it’s not clear how well the Original DIY data would map onto the Cannon. On the one hand, the Cannon pushes more air, so the HEPA shouldn’t last as long. On the other hand, the Cannon has a pre-filter, which extends the life of the HEPA.
For now, I can only make an educated guess about how often to replace the HEPA on the Cannon. My guess is about three months at 8 hours a day–at most four. In the next few months, I’ll complete a longevity test on the Cannon and we’ll have a more solid empirical answer!
(I should also point out that the big companies give the same estimates for HEPA replacements whether you’re in China or Switzerland. I think it’s necessary to have some data from the ground on China because the air is far worse.)
Hope that helps!
Thanks Talhem,
I now don’t run the cannon at night. Hopefully will be fine. The other fans, run 24/7, no problem.
Question, my wifey was searching the website and said something about Charcoal Filters now?
@Charlie or Matt, or anyone else
It was mentioned that the Samo Air does not measure the 2.5pm. Is there another alternative for this that would be cheaper than the Dylos?
One thing i wonder about the smart air users is why don’t you place a washable “mesh” filter over the existing filter?
They have an optional inset which is exactly this (which I believe Thomas called the pre-filter above). I didn’t use it previously but now I am, washing it every week may prolong use of the filter but I will still probably change filters at the same interval. I think the testing they’ve done on how long filters last was done without this pre-filter though.
@Charlie or Matt, or anyone else It was mentioned that the Samo Air does not measure the 2.5pm. Is there another alternative for this that would be cheaper than the Dylos?
I don’t. I thought that the SamoAir measured pm2.5 but I haven’t heard of a low-cost alternative that does. There are a lot of devices like this on Taobao but it seems equally likely that a more costly device like this, also made in China, isn’t actually measuring pm2.5.
Carbon?
You’re right! I was reluctant to roll out carbon filters for a long time because I hadn’t seen any real-world tests of commercially available filters, so I spent months and thousands of dollars on testing equipment to do those tests myself.
When I finally got the data, it showed that the carbon filters were removing VOCs (and formaldehyde, which I’ll be writing up soon). After seeing the data, I started shipping carbon filters from Smart Air.
A couple things to remember: carbon mostly gets smells and gases like VOCs, not particulates in general, so you still need a HEPA (in that post, I show a test of what happens when I tried using carbon alone). Those gases are the most common in homes with recent re-modeling, new furniture, or smokers, so I recommend carbon for people in those situations.
Do particle counters measure PM 2.5?
I’m so glad this question came up because I’ve been testing different particle counters lately, and this problem has been on my mind. Many particle counters claim to measure PM 2.5. None do. Not a single one.
Laser particle counters measure a certain particle size and ABOVE. Most laser particle counters measure .5 microns and above. Some go down to .3. Very rarely do I see very expensive machines that claim to get to .1 microns. Government pollution monitors actually sift out particles 2.5 microns and above, then measure the rest of the particles smaller than that.
That means that the measures overlap, but they are not equivalent. When I get time, I’ll write up my tests comparing the government machines to machines that claim to measure PM 2.5. But here’s the takeaway: On average, the particle counters were off by 40 micrograms. 40! That’s twice the WHO limit.
Now, I’m not saying these machines are worthless. They’re incredibly useful, and they are highly correlated in a relative sense with the government machines. The problems come when:
1. Manufacturers call it PM 2.5, which misleads consumers. (I understand why they do this. It makes it much easier to people who don’t want to learn a new system. I’ve made the same mistake in the past!)
2. People interpret the microgram/AQI numbers literally. In reality, my tests found their numbers can be off by more than twice the WHO limit of safe air.
Hi Ian,
I haven’t tested the Samoair, although my strong hunch is that its results would fit the pattern of the four particle counters I’ve systematically tested.
Also, I’m thinking of starting a kickstarter to raise funds to test all the particle counters out there and publish a guide to how accurate they are. I get a lot of questions about particle counters, but there really isn’t a Consumer Reports out there about them. Plus, a lot of people want to know if cheap particle counters are effective.
Hi Ian, I haven’t tested the Samoair, although my strong hunch is that its results would fit the pattern of the four particle counters I’ve systematically tested. Also, I’m thinking of starting a kickstarter to raise funds to test all the particle counters out there and publish a guide to how accurate they are. I get a lot of questions about particle counters, but there really isn’t a Consumer Reports out there about them. Plus, a lot of people want to know if cheap particle counters are effective.
That’s a good idea. I would contribute to that.
Hey everyone,
I have a question that may be simple, forgive my ignorance.
I downloaded the app for the aqicn site, and there is one measurement called the Ozone Aqi that I am not clear on. Usually it’s the pm 2.5 that most worry about, but what is the Ozone Aqi?
I wonder about this because once in awhile even if the pm 2.5 and 10 is low, the Ozone aqi is very high, and I wonder if that is a high risk concern that would warrant taking precautions.
JD
Hey everyone, I have a question that may be simple, forgive my ignorance. I downloaded the app for the aqicn site, and there is one measurement called the Ozone Aqi that I am not clear on. Usually it’s the pm 2.5 that most worry about, but what is the Ozone Aqi? I wonder about this because once in awhile even if the pm 2.5 and 10 is low, the Ozone aqi is very high, and I wonder if that is a high risk concern that would warrant taking precautions. JD
Ground level ozone is an air pollutant: Air Quality Guide for Ozone
Where do you guys order replacement HEPA filters?
The best place to get them is from the official Smart Air Taobao store. Filters for the normal fan are 80 rmb.
So one of my fans bit the bullet yesterday after about 4 months. I usually left it running (low) during the day unless I knew I was going to be gone 8+ hours. I took it apart and didn’t get very far w/o tools, but I can tell there’s still power going to the motor so it may be salvageable. Guess I’ll touch base through taobao and see if they’ll help me out…I was planning to buy new filters before I left at the end of the month too :\
Hey there! Thomas here from Smart Air. Fans do kick the bucket now and then–no fun! We might be able to get a replacement from the factory for you. Send Esther an email: [email protected]
Charlie/Ray if you see this, mind posting a link to these mesh filters you’re describing?
Sure, here’s a link to their Taobao page which has everything: Smart Air on Taobao
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