All about Air pollutions, Xiaomi air Purifiers and Filters

Haze has been an ongoing problem in many countries in the Southeast Asia region, and Malaysia is one of the worst affected. The haze crisis grips the region nearly every year during the dry season, when agricultural land is illegally cleared by burning in Indonesia. During the haze period Malaysian skies will be a smoky grey for most of the months.

Get the latest API (Air Pollutant Index) readings from official site - http://apims.doe.gov.my/v2/

How does that affect our health?
First, we need to know some facts that most of us may not be aware of, even we are unconsciously every few seconds of our lives.

As the air that we breathe is almost invisible to us, we may not be aware of the ubiquitous killer that had threatened the health of our families, for both in-door and out-door air.

There are various threats present in the air that we breathe.

Where are air purifiers deployed?

We spend majority of our times in-door

Quality air purifiers have never been more important for good health. The tight seals that make your home comfortable and energy efficient also trap indoor air pollution. From cooking fumes and cleaning vapors to dust and pet dander, there is a wide variety of vapors and particles that pollute indoor air. Statistics from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have shown that the air inside your home can be five to ten times dirtier than the air outside, and more importantly, Americans spend an average of 90% of their lives indoors.

Since we spend so much time inside, it is important for us to learn how to reduce or eliminate this dangerous chemical from our homes.

Type of filters

Different air purifier filters target different types of air pollution, and what they target depends almost exclusively on the type of filtration technology they employ. HEPA air purifiers are the most popular, and they are perfect for eliminating household allergens such as dust, animal dander, pollen, and other particulate. They are not very good at capturing ultra-fine particles like viruses or eliminating foul odors, organic compounds, smoke, or chemical fumes. Because different air purifier technologies have different strengths and weaknesses, many modern air purifiers combine two or more filter or media types in the same unit. 

The Xiaomi standard filter filter utilizes a HEPA filter along with a thick bed of activated carbon to help eliminate dust, pollen, and dander as well as things like smoke, odors, and chemical vapors.

• HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) Filters set the standard for air purification. By definition, a HEPA filter removes at least 99.97% of all particles as small as 0.3 microns.HEPA filters allow only very small particles to pass through them. Allergens such as pollen, animal dander, mold spores, and dust get trapped in the filter. The main disadvantage of the HEPA air purifier is that you have to periodically change the filter. The main advantage: if it is HEPA certified, then you know it works well for all common particle allergens. However, not all HEPA filters are created equal. Size matters: the more square feet of HEPA filter, the more particulate it will be able to remove. The size, material, and construction of the actual filter media all play a role in the air purifier's performance and may account for why one HEPA filter is more expensive than another.

• Activated Carbon Filters are rarely used alone to purify the air, but they are often used in conjunction with other filters. Activated carbon/charcoal filters excel at adsorbing odors and gases and neutralizing smoke, chemicals, and fumes. When carbon is treated with oxygen, it opens up millions of pores. There are so many of these tiny pores and fissures that one pound of activated carbon has a surface area of 60 to 150 acres. This huge surface area makes it ideal for adsorbing gases and odors, providing an enormous surface area for potential bonding with chemical/vapor molecules. The larger the carbon filter, the more chemicals it will be able to absorb and the longer it will keep on working. When it's full, when it can adsorb no more chemical molecules, it has to be replaced. 

Among the 3 different types of Xiaomi air purifier filters, they are generally available as:

a) The green Standard Edition is ship as default filter with the generation 1 purifier, and is available separately as add-on items;

b) The blue Particulate Removal Edition is ship as default filter with the generation 2 purifier, and is also available separately as add-on-items;

c) The Formaldehyde Edition is sold separately as single item, and is not included as default filter in Gen 1 or Gen 2 purifiers;

Air Purifier Air Exchanges  
Most quality air purifiers operate efficiently and quietly in a one room environment. To be effective, an air purifier must have a motor and fan powerful enough to properly circulate air throughout the space. Once the air is pulled into the unit, it is filtered through various types of filter media, and clean air is released back into the one room environment to start the cycle all over again. The amount of time it takes an air purifier to cycle through all of the air in a room is referred to as an "air exchange."

The more air exchanges per hour (ACH), the better air quality in the room. The number of air exchanges is determined by two things: the cubic feet (volume) of a room and the cubic foot per minute (CFM) output of the air purifier. All air purifier manufacturers list airflow ratings (in CFM) for each fan setting at which their machine operates. Ideally, you want to set a goal of 4 to 6 air exchanges per hour. There is no such thing as overkill when talking about air exchanges.

Proper Placement of an Air Purifier  

As a general rule, it is more difficult to filter the air in a large and open space, and this is mainly due to inadequate air circulation. Large living rooms and family areas, especially those with abnormally high ceilings, present a challenge to effective air filtration. Our rule with larger rooms is to attempt to direct the purified air exhaust from the air purifier to the vicinity of the rooms inhabitants. Inside a room, be sure to keep adequate space around the air purifier, typically 18" or more. Most units intake air from multiple sides, and restricting this by placing the air purifier against a wall or piece of furniture will reduce efficiency.

In the bedroom, place the unit 6-10 feet from the headboard of the bed with the directional registers pointing at the bed. This is often far enough away to avoid feeling a draft but close enough that cleaned air is reaching you.

Most air purifier manufacturers implement a bottom to top airflow, meaning the air is pulled into the machine at the bottom and released towards the top.