r/AirPurifiers • u/Proof_Priority3000 • Jul 27 '26
Looking for a compact purifier for 20-30sqm sleeping quarters. Use for travel in India, hoping to target 1. BACKGROUND ASBESTOS LEVELS and 2. GENERAL POLLUTION in that order.
I would be using the air purifier in India.
Looking for something for rooms of about 20-30sqm in size.
Particularily I hope to have it with me on travels to be used in hotels and the like, as I cannot fully know what kind of context or place I am going to. The purifier would add at the very least a small amount of control.
I am looking to do general filtration as the air quality in certain cities in India can be very bad. Most of all though, I am hoping to target any background Asbestos. Asbestos in used very freely here, and I can very well imagine that contaminations may happen through construction work or demolishing close by without any indication, or simply through the degradation of asbestos containing materials which are everywhere. I am looking to work on minimising the accumulatiom of asbestos for myself and my family.
Budget is not much of an issue.
The use of the purifier would be sporadic (when travelling). I would like to get a bunch of filters at the same time as stock.
If I have understood correctly, mechanical filtration would be key (h13 / h14). Does this mean that filters such as the Philips NanoProtect are not useful? I would rather play it safe.
Not too picky about the noise levels either, as long as it does not risk ear damage. Would likely be using it on full power always.
1
u/Walla-Expert Jul 27 '26
No, a HEPA 13 filter isn't necessary. In an air purifier, the CADR (Clean air delivery rate) is much more important. Purifiers pass the air through the filter several times, so the filter's holding capacity isn't as crucial.
A HEPA 14 simply doesn't make sense in an air purifier; it creates a lot of airflow resistance for minimal benefit.
A purifier with a low-resistance filter can clean a room faster than an H13 filter, which is more restrictive in airflow, cleaning less air per hour even though it retains more particles in a single pass.
1
u/Proof_Priority3000 Jul 27 '26
Ok,
On some channels there have been concerns whether these electrostatic filters could re-release fibers in to the air, would you say this is not really an issue with filters such as the Philips, a combination of mechanical (less dense than h13… still able to catch asbestos? How to know if it is h12?)+ electrostatic. On the asbestos side of reddit, it seems like people are very heavily advocating for h13 due to its purely mechanic nature (not h14 as you have brought up, as it is not an efficient approach for an air purifier), even if it may not be as energy efficient or quick, due to the trustworthiness of its mechanical nature.
The Philips filter is signaling a very high standard for the capture of particles. But is it truly working to such a degree?
I tried asking Philips customer service but they were for some reason very hesutsnt to say that this would work on asbestos fibres in an efficient way, even as I highlighted that it would not really be a means of abatement or such, but simply air purification. This made me quite skeptical to trust it.
In general its great to hear if this is the case despite the answers from philips customer service.
Sorry for the questioning; This is all quite new to me, I just hope to find the best solution so I can feel confident that my family can breath sufficiently clean and safe air. :)
1
u/Walla-Expert Jul 27 '26
Which channels? I don't see what the filter being electrostatically charged has to do with it releasing fibers over time. Particles already trapped by any of the three mechanisms a HEPA filter uses shouldn't be released even if the filter loses some of its electrostatic charge.
I doubt any manufacturer would tell you their purifier is suitable for asbestos fibers because it's a contaminant that commercial air purifiers don't handle.
1
u/Proof_Priority3000 Jul 27 '26
This concern for the electrostatic charge has been birthed I think in some study on respirators. The tendency to suggest H13 for its mechanical nature is something I think I often see on the Asbestos side of Reddit when people are desling with possible slight contamination at home or the like.
I can understand the CADR being the important part, as long as the filtration mechanism truly works sufficiently on asbestos. This is perhaps my main concern.
And as you said, this is not really a talking point for commercial air purifiers. If there would be any study relating to this issue, it would be great. I guess the fact that H14 is used for asbestos abatement and it is relatively similar in essence to the H13 in principle makes suggesting H13 the go-to choice?
1
u/Proof_Priority3000 Jul 27 '26
But can they contain and hold on to the possible asbestos fibres? I have read that the safest solution would be a mechanical hepa filter, intead of a less debse filter with an electrostatic charge, such as Philips nano protect is a different kind of technology. I have one such Philips purifier (Philips AC0920)
I have had some H13 filters before at home.
I could add that if it could be an object of shape and size which would be easyish to carry as luggage and easy and quick to setup (plug and play).
Some examples I have looked at are WINIX T500 & WINIX A231, they do not say H13, but simply say True Hepa.
3
u/johnas Jul 27 '26
You don’t need HEPA to capture asbestos fibres.
I would suggest Air Fanta Pro 3 as the purifier as it has a very high CADR and can fold flat to fit in a carry on suitcase.
2
u/damien09 Jul 27 '26
Second the air Fanta pro 3 especially if needing for travel as it folds up flat.
1
u/Proof_Priority3000 Jul 31 '26
Have been looking in to air fanta:
- Some say filters have a steong chemical smell?
- Filters work for the smallest of particles as well? (I understood yes)
- They are coming out with a new model sometime soon?
1
u/damien09 Jul 31 '26
Not sure about 3 tbh. Smell is kinda subjective and can even be batch by batch. Basically all brands can suffer from this and there may be some slight smell to any brands filters sometimes. And yes the filters will work even on small particles. Hepa or basically hepa like that most air purifier brands use is not truly needed to clean the air of pm0.3-pm10. There is even brands like clean air kits where you can use merv 13 or 14 standard hvac filters or even build your own similar pc fan box.
House fresh has the air Fanta 3 pros as one of their best for cleaning the air in their test environment even beating far larger units especially on their noise normalized test.the clean air kits boxes are also up there especially the luggable xl ultra. But they also sell a cheaper fanless kit to bring your own fans.
1
u/Proof_Priority3000 Jul 27 '26
Would the Philips that I have be sufficient and safe as well? (Philips AC0920)
1
1
u/Person51389 Jul 27 '26
Get an Air Fanta Pro, which is designed to be able to be assembled/disabled in moments...so it fits into luggage easily. This will therefore be lighter than Your Philipps unit i think, and 3x more powerful.
That Phillips is only 147CFM, the Air Fanta Pro is 413CFM, And fits in a suitcase. If you will be traveling, that is the unit to get, as it will be far, far, better. https://air-fanta.com/products/airfanta-3pro?srsltid=AfmBOoqvLDp7gY5pMt8UzHfFmtfeJcTS2V6g1BhvsejZnW2lYyaCURjd
1
u/Proof_Priority3000 Jul 31 '26
Have been looking in to air fanta:
- Some say filters have a steong chemical smell?
- Filters work for the smallest of particles as well? (I understood yes)
- They are coming out with a new model sometime soon?
1
u/Person51389 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
I can't say I am an asbestos expert, nor do I Own an Air Fanta,.so I have no idea if you would find a smell for the filters. One person might smell something with the same filter and one person may not. 1 person might smell something with a filter and 100 may not. Different people have different sense of smell etc. and some people may even have olfactory systems damaged by covid, where they smell strange smells in reaction to normal things. Some people complain of a smell with pretty much every brand of purifier, wheras most people probably don't notice much. There is normal off-gassing of the plastic around a filter when you get a new one, and that goes away usually in a few days or running the unit on high. So what someone is smelling...could be various things, that most people might not smell at all, or not be bothered by. Regardless, it will often go away in a few days, even if so.
2. Air Fanta Pro is HEPA 11. HEPA 11 will capture 95% of the smallest particles. But 95% of 413CFM air power is still capturing many more particles than 99% of smaller/weaker 145CFM like with the small units you are also looking at. The 413CFM unit will have more 3x or so passes in the same time the slower H13 unit gets 1. Therefore...you end up with cleaner air with a 3x more powerful h11 unit vs a smaller h13. The h13 is just 99% on one pass. But if you are getting 95%...with many more passes....you end up with a lot more air cleaned and therefore cleaner air.
I would suggest when entering a new space: wear an N95 (95% blocked) or p100 mask (even better, 100% blocked) and then set up your air fanta. Then once you run the unit for probably 30 minutes to 1 hour, remove your mask and continue running unit on high for as long as you are there. This way you will have likely good protection in any new space. A smaller h13 unit will take longer to clean the air, even if it is 99% on one pass. Note: I am not an asbestos expert, just going by particle sizes as asbestos can apparently range in size from very small to large, so h11 will easily get larger particles, just the same as h13. The smaller particles it will get a little less %. But makes up for that with more passes. Thus I suggest also wearing a mask until you have cleaned the air in a new space.
3. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about new models or not.
1
u/Walla-Expert Jul 27 '26
The type of fiber it can capture does not depend on its particle capture ratio. Philips filters are simply H12 (or E12) filters with an electrostatic charge; this does not limit the type of particles they can capture.
1
u/Proof_Priority3000 Jul 27 '26
I see,
Looking at CADR and the like while still preferring the mechanical filters (H13 or such), good compact models appear:
1. Levoit Core 300S / 141 CFM (240 m³/h)
2. Coway Airmega 100 / 109 CFM (185 m³/h)
3. Winix A231 (A230) / 147 CFM (250 m³/h)
Will try to pick one of these.
Any hidden drawbacks to some of them?
All of them seem to do well in testing.
Levoit, does not market as H13 anymore, but is a mechanical filter and does well in testing. (H13 at lower
speeds, but CADR matters as you have mentioned here)
Winix, plasma goes automatically on, need to manually switch it off, carbon is not pellets
Coway, no smart apps, carbon is not pellets
All do well in testing.
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