Air Purifiers are as rare as hens teeth at the moment, but Dandenong JB Hi-Fi still has a solid amount of stock.
Note: this unit is only suitable for rooms around 5×5 metres maximum.
5 Way Air Purification
UVC Light to kill germs & bacteria
TiO₂Technology to Destroy germs & bacteria
Replace filter indicator
Replace UV C globe indicator
Combination filter cartridge: True HEPA filter & carbon odour filter
$20 box fan from bunnings and $10-30 hepa filter (can get in bulk from amazon US or if u want something fast ion420 replacement filters are a good square size and neat), duct tape, done
Also i saw this model for $80 on ebay yesterday not sure that price is that good?
How big are the ion420 filters?
Approx 30cm square, exact dimensions on their site
Do you know of any that are like 50x50? I've got a 50cm box fan at home that I could use.
@Omk4r123: Amazon 20 inch furnace filters should be the go. Or look for a bigger purifier that had reasonably priced filter replacements and tape it on. It doesnt have to be exact or a perfectly closed system
@Lancel_Bracken: Anyone found stockists of the ion420 replacement HEPA filter in major cities? Price?
@Hazza: If you're in Melbourne, Andatech has them in stock for pickup: 9 Trade Place Vermont VIC 3133
@serapax: I am in Canberra, hence why I am so interested in this with all the smoke around. But nice to have stockists in all major cities listed, for others looking for them. Anyone found a stockist in Canberra?
Will never be as good as a proper air purifier… BUT! They will still be quite effective, readily available and cheap :)
That being said, I did steal a brand new Daikin that was $450 for $40. Right place, right time :)
$20 box fan from bunnings and $10-30 hepa filter, duct tape, done
No you're done when in a week the fan clogs up with dust.
Most air purifiers with similar capacity are $300+, so could kill 10 fans and still be ahead.
Not sure how this would be any worse than the more expensive prebuilt units…
Besides,you can easily vacuum coarse dust off the pre filter. Fan wont get dusty at all. That is kind of the point of the filter.
Less air pressure through the filter, that being said, as a cheap solution the idea is brilliant (which I've advocated in the past)
@kronicmacstigator: For sure, but the advantage is i find the tone of the fan much more pleasant than my dyson pure air (which was the only purifier i could find when the smoke was really bad, argh)
Prebuilt units have pre-filters and fans designed to not allow air particles to get in the mechanism.
Clearly you don't know how it works
Care to elaborate?
@brettd: The HEPA will filter the dust/particles before hitting the fan so the fan cannot clog up with dust. You could simply add a dust pre-filter too if your that worried about dust clogging the HEPA/fan.
@Hazza: Cheers this is what I thought, big enough fan and pre filter and who cares about pressure drop.
@Hazza: IME if you put the filter ahead of the fan in the airflow like that it will get clogged up almost as quick as the fan would had you done it in reverse. HEPA filters aren't supposed to be used on their own like that. It's supposed to have some pre-filtering of large particles.
Unlike most copy-pasting this stuff, I've actually tried building them.
@umexcuseme: No as you simply put a dust pre-filter infront of the HEPA as I previously mentioned, if your environment is that dusty. The replacement ion420 filter pack is a 3in1 (pre/dust filter, carbon and HEPA) for $35 so its all there anyway. You got most of the way, just add the pre-filter and your done. The genius in this is there is no building, just duct taping lol.
@Hazza: I see. Yes that filter would work fine then. Other than your comment most people have been suggesting to just put a HEPA filter on from the US (which don't have any pre-filtering), which is what I did, that's why I thought I'd chime in.
@umexcuseme: Yeah agreed. As long as you get a big/powerful enough fan, using the pre/dust filter as well as the HEPA will be fine and will simulate a proper air purifier well IMO.
Has anyone got a source on somewhere in Aus can get a similar filter easily to do the same thing? Don't want to wait couple of weeks for Amazon US delivery like need something today.
Yeah, I'm looking at 20 inch x 20 inch filters for my 50cm box fan, they're all coming from USA.
Airepure make/sell suitable ones but 60-80$$$
I'm thinking of trying out a car cabin air filter that can filter PM2.5?
It probably won't have a sufficient clean air delivery rate (CADR) to clear out a typical room. Plus, if you tried, you'd go through filters at a rate of knots.
Is a 20$ box fan powerful enough to pull enough air through a hepa filter?
Sure seems to be! Albeit a pittance of the regular air flow. 50cm version would be better but too much $$$ for this ozbargainer
ohh so we should just adsorb carcinogenic cancer causing particulates and smile?
P2.5 pollutants are a real thing & Air Purifiers have been a thing and commonly used for many years by allergy suffers all around the world.
@ExtraSalt: ANYONE who thinks HEPA air purifiers are rubbish clearly know nothing about engineering!
@kronicmacstigator: I didn't say HEPA filters are rubbish, I'm rubbishing these items to do as they claim. Unless you're sitting in front of it 24/7 you're still going to be breathing in 'bad' air
@Danstar: Actually, in a sealed room with a proper purifier they drop, in particular, PM2.5 with-in minutes.
@scatman00: It'd take ages for oxygen levels to drop enough, there is always airflow anyway. When I say sealed, I meant shutting the internal door of the room you are in.
While doctors and medical experts agree that these machines could provide people with clean air, they are unsure whether air purifiers actually help in controlling the incidents of respiratory attacks among those who are prone to such diseases.
Doctors are particularly concerned about one specific kind of these machines: Ionic air purifiers. These purifiers produce ozone as a by-product. Ozone is known to be a harmful lung-irritant, which causes throat irritation and severe chest discomfort.
I like this quote the most:
If you don’t live in a particularly polluted city or have any respiratory disorder, I didn’t find in research a strong reason for you to need an air purifier. Keeping the house clean, vacuuming carpets and dusting surfaces is usually sufficient.
We live in a pretty clean country (other than right now, which is probably a good time to buy some shares in companies who make these items), and unless you stay indoors 24/7 sitting in the room being 'purified'. You're still going to be sucking in 'bad' air
@Danstar: It's all about reducing exposure time while you are at home or in the car (if you have a car air purifier, which I do).
That being said, I've modified my friend's air purifiers to stop them producing ion's.
@kronicmacstigator: All good, just my opinion which I stand by.
I imagine most people who buys these (who don't actually suffer from any sort of breathing disorders) don't let their kids go on the playground, go to kids birthday parties in case they 'catch a virus', etc. etc.
@Danstar: Back when (still am, but LONG TERM break) I was a courier it felt like I was smoking a pack a day of cigarette's. I got a car air purifier and I went from coughing up a lung twice a week to being able to get straight out of the car and hit the gym.
I have a dust mite allergy which I developed in my late teens and air purifier's have been a great help. The worst hygiene habit I have is doing the surgeon's wash before I prepare/cook my food. You don't have to be a germ-o-phobe to use an air purifier.
@brettd: Every six months or so, I definitely did not use a hepa filter. Didn't want to wear out the blower fan.
You're already smiling 24/7 all day, every day from ear to ear, if you haven't noticed how blind you are about everything and saying yes please : ) can i have more.
What? LOL
Knackers profit from a plague
Google search found these, both for $89. Low stock on both sites though.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Heller-HAP60-Compact-Air-Sense-P…
https://www.dicksmith.com.au/da/buy/heller-hap60-compact-air…
I just had a thought. Has anyone thought about changing the dust filter in their return air vent for their ducted heating system with a HEPA and running it fan only? Or if you have reverse cycle ducted even better as you can filter and cool. Surely this would be better than a portable air purifier/HEPA box fan that can only do a room. Or would the flow restriction/pressure drop be too great?
HEPA filters restrict quite a lot of airflow. You need something with a high static pressure in order to push the air efficiently through these types of filter. So after installing your filter, you might notice a significant drop in pressure and the amount of airflow through your air conditioning (and loss of cooling efficiency).
Yeah it would be mainly for the odd few hours per day when the bush fire smoke is at its worst and I am not using the heater anyway being summer, so I wouldn't care about low airflow or cooling efficiency. But I understand it would put more load onto the fan motor so it wouldn't be viable as a 24/7 thing. The HEPA filter in my vacuum isn't super restrictive so I am thinking this kind of lowest rated HEPA filter (17 MERV) would still allow the fan to operate moderately without damage. I am making some enquiries with a commercial supplier of HEPA rated filters so if I end up making up a custom filter I will let you know how it goes. I would also run it without the dust filter as its only a temporary thing while the smoke is around, so it will come down to the level of restriction difference between the two filters.
I looked at this but way too restrictive for a straight changeover. You can stuff your system. Its like running a system with a clogged filter
Yeah I thought about this, and will try and test how much extra restriction there is. If it is too high then I will lessen the filter coverage on the return air vent to say 80-95% of the surface area to allow better airflow and less load on the fan, while still filtering some of the air passing through. Since it is recirculating the air already inside, it shouldn't matter as it can just run longer to clear the same amount of air. Obviously the path of less resistance will take more of the air thus more of the particles but should still do a decent job compared to a portable air purifier/HEPA box fan trying to do the whole house. Maybe doing this, plus a couple of HEPA box fans in the bedrooms would be the only way under a few thousand dollars to do a whole house effectively. Thoughts?
Any idea how often filters need changing
100 days is often quoted in the air purifier manuals. Some have an indicator on the display to show used amount.
So around 3 mths. Cool thanks
Got an Ionmax ION420 3 in 1 Replacement HEPA Filter for $30 and did a quick spare cardboard box measure and cut to make this with the Seville floor fan I already had. Sealed up well with duct tape and it is pulling air through the filter well. Left it on for a few hours yesterday and no overheating or strain.
Great DIY!! If you had to guess what would you say is the reduced airflow vs no filter? Around 50%?
I have to pull it apart tonight to flip the filter so I will do a scientific test by putting my hand in front of it and vibing it out. Unless you can think of an actual test I can do with stuff around the house. Maybe an object on string and see how far it moves?
Haha.. I am fine with whatever you come up with. Hand in front or object on a string, no problem.
@Hazza: Slight loss in wind power. Noticeable to the hand but when I stand on the other side of the room I still feel the air move like I did without the filter on.
I'm also only using it on the lowest power as I don't want it too loud. When I go to max power it definitely still blows well.
Love it! I used same filters, my interpretation though from manufacturer is that filter is meant to go the other way? The black side (other side) is the pre filter.
Isn't the pre-filter separate? He might only be using the HEPA?
Na its got these velcro tab thingies that attach it that should be visible if it was just removed.
I did the same thing after i built my 2 dodgys LOL much cursing was involved. Had to ruin my duct tape sculpture
Whoops, I didn't really pay much attention to that. There is definitely a black filter on the inside. Will deconstruct and flip it tonight!
All done, thanks for the tip.
Verified here: https://www.appliancesonline.com.au/public/manuals/ION420-Io…
Looks like there's quite a bit of stock of this around, for now. Looks pretty simple but with a HEPA filter should still do the job.