Some of my favourite gadgets completely challenge how I think about things. A while back I got a Meater smart cooking probe. Suddenly, I understood how cooking, something I do nearly everyday, actually works. My mind was blown. Dyson sent me a Pure Hot + Cool Air Purifier to test out for Pancake Tuesday. While that might sound odd, it has once again blown my mind.
Air Purifiers In Ireland
We’re a funny old bunch in Ireland. I remember attending my first big consumer electronic trade show in Berlin and asking “why are there so many air purifiers”. It turns out it’s a massive market that just never really got going in Ireland. I’d wager it’s down to us being somewhat of a skeptical nation. “Ah sure, I breathe the air everyday and I’m fine” kind of mentality.
But Irish interest in air purification is growing. Looking at Google Trends data over the past five years, there’s a clear increase in people searching for air purifiers. From May 2020 there has been particular growth and it makes total sense. With a global pandemic, people are both at home more (even those not working from home) and are more conscious about the air we breathe.
Even pre-pandemic, due to increased mobility of people in general, air quality has been on the agenda for some time. In December of last year, Dublin reached air pollution levels akin to those of the smokey coal era. It’s no joke either with air pollution causing over 1300 premature deaths in the country every year.
You’re still more likely to be in the bucket of people who’ve never considered buying an air purifier. However, now that I’ve got one I don’t know whether to be scared about what I’m learning or happy that it also fixes the problem.
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Air Purifier
The Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Air Purifier packs in plenty of features and this particular model is probably the most useful one for Ireland.
Fan Heater
I live in a one bed apartment in Dublin’s City Centre, beside a very busy arterial street too. The apartment has storage heaters. This means they gather energy overnight and releases it as heat during the day. They’re somewhat unpredictable, but usually only run during the Winter months. The reason the Dyson was perfect for me is because, while it can cool, this particular model can also heat. A feature we’ll get much more out of in Ireland.
It also cools, but you know…we won’t need that much. Good to know though.
Bladeless
I said fan there, but this might be a bit like how people feel when vegan food is labeled using meat terms. The Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Air Purifier isn’t a traditional fan. As is often the case with Dyson technology, like the Dyson Corrale, they’ve looked at the solution on offer and completely reengineered it.
The result is a gorgeous looking piece of kit for your home, packed with technology to improve your living space. One of the standout features being that there are no blades. Obvious bonuses here for parents and pet owners along with those who just like cool looking gadgetry.
Air Purification
This is where the Dyson, not too literally, started to blow me away. You can monitor your home’s air quality in two ways. Either in the Dyson Link app or through the small on-device screen which gives you a quick overview.
Sensing Technology
As I mentioned earlier, we tend to take air quality for granted in Ireland despite the fact it’s degraded significantly in recent years. For me, the most important feature on the Dyson is the sensing technology.
Using three different sensors, the Pure Hot + Cool Air Purifier can detect:
- PM10 level
- PM2.5 level
- Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
- Temperature
I didn’t have a clue what all of these (temperature excluded) were, but I’ve looked it up. However, I’m not a doctor or actually in anyway trained beyond the ways of a Google Search.
What Is PM10?
PM10 measures particles in the air measuring 10 micrometers or less. These are impossible to see and are more or less a gas. Despite, or rather because of, their size they can be very harmful to your health.
What is PM2.5
As logic would dictate, these are indeed particles in the air measuring 2.5 micrometers or less. Given their size, PM2.5 particles can penetrate deep into our lungs and cause harmful disease.
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Because of where I live, this was the most interesting to me. Nitrogen dioxide is generated, typically, by the burning of fossil fuels. Basically, cars, trucks, vans and busses when it comes to what my machine can measure. I was interested to see if there would be spikes during peak commuter times and indeed their was. That pollution gets in somehow!
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
I had no idea what this was until I did some research. Another search trend right now is for people asking about “mould”. Black mould is a massive issue in many Irish homes with poor ventilation. While this is just one example of a VOC, the Dyson can detect this in the air and filter it. Another fantastic feature given the health impacts that VOCs like mould can have are grave.
Together, these measurements generate the aggregated Air Quality score, displayed in the app. You can also dive down into individual measurements too.
Filtering
Sensing all this stuff is one thing. What about clearing it up? The purifying technology in the Dyson is just as impressive. Also, because of their incredible engineering background, they bring a certain amount of authority and trust into the situation too. From their product demos I’ve seen that Dyson sometimes carries out their legally required tests and then goes even further to the higher level of testing they believe should be mandatory but isn’t.
Once the Dyson detects impurities in the air, it kicks into action. Sucking air in, filtering it and then passing it back out into your room. The filtering process involves the air passing through many different layers of cleaning to eradicate the different particles detected. A carbon filter removes gases and a glass HEPA filter removes 99.95% of allergens and pollutants as small as 0.1 micrometers.
Living With The Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Air Purifier
With the Dyson in my apartment for a week, what do I think?
The Good
I love it. Like I said at the very outset, I love technology that lets me know more about how things work. We can only truly start to care about things once we understand them. Every second of your life involves air, yet we often do very little to care for it. The Dyson was my window into what the air in my home is like. But what did I learn?
Well, for Valentines I bought a painting kit for me and my partner to have a bit of craic with. The Dyson actually picked up on the paints in the apartment as VOCs. That’s how sensitive it is. The sensors taught me a lot.
- Scented candles pollute the air a lot
- Cooking causing massive pollution in the apartment
- Outdoor pollution does impact internal air
That’s what I’ve learned in just a week with the machine. I can’t wait to find out what else triggers the Dyson to start cleaning the air knowing that previously it would have gone undetected and ended up in my lungs.
The Dyson Link app is great, offering both controls for your fan and insights into your air. You can also connect to an Amazon Alexa, though no support for Google, at least in Ireland.
The Downsides
There are really only two negatives that I can think of.
Volume
First of all, is the volume. It’s not a quiet machine when “goes turbo” which is what we’ve started calling it in the apartment. This is typically when cooking and the machine is set to “Auto”, basically cleaning the air as quickly as possible.
The flip side of this is that Dyson actually states the running volume of the machine is 62 decibels while the highest I’ve had it running is a little over 50 decibels. Also, if you’re a concerned remote worker, the noise is exactly the kind of background noise most conferencing technology and headphones removes.
The Price
Ok, like a plaster, just pull it off and get it over with.
The Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Air Purifier will set you back just under €600. And that is a massive amount of money, there is no two ways about it. It’s also important to note that buying the machine is pointless unless you’re willing to swap out the filters when the Dyson Link app tell you to. These cost in or around €80 and if you’re running the machine for 12 hours, you’ll get a year out of the filters.
The machine is designed for single room use. I’ve just tested this in our living area with an open kitchen but will be moving it to the bedroom too to learn more about the air in my home. But the idea here is that you really should buy one for the most popular rooms in your home. Typically the bedroom and the living room.
How can you justify the price? Well, it’s as simple as facing reality. We spend this kind of money on smartphones, TVs and other gadgets that, if anything, are more likely to negatively impact our mental health. This piece of tech is designed to improve your physical health. With you spending more and more time at home right now, it’s absolutely time to consider investing in an air purifier. Being totally honest, I’ve been a bit shocked at how quickly indoor air quality can deteriorate from just cooking dinner.
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Air Purifier: The Verdict
I won’t shy away from this being the upper end of investments for your home. What’s changed for me since getting the Dyson is understanding the air in my home, that I’m breathing every second of every day. I can see commuter times raising lower air quality and cooking filling my apartment with a harmful atmosphere.
Now, having a machine that cleans it gives me peace of mind. If you don’t have any respiratory issues, count yourself lucky. One massive endorsement for air purifiers in general is that they are listed as a recommendation on Asthma.ie.
If you’ve been thinking about the air in your home more and more, I personally believe this will be a great purchase for you. If you’ve haven’t thought about it, it’s time to consider it.
