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Grad Student Rigs Cheap Alternative To $1,000 Air Purifiers In Smoggy China
An anonymous reader writes "University of Virginia grad student Thomas Talhelm was living in Beijing on a Fulbright Scholarship during the winter of 2012-13, when air pollution was so bad scientists likened it to a nuclear winter. Those who could afford it were resorting to an expensive solution: air filters costing up to $1,000. Talhem built his own on the cheap, getting comparable particulate count results, and has started a company that both markets the product to middle class Chinese and shows others how to DIY."
He got similar results to a $1000 product, and told everybody how to do it.
That is newsworthy.
I suspect there are a lot of people in places with a lot of air pollution who would really like to have this.
Kudos to this guy.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Wouldn't it be simpler to strap the air filter to the smokestacks where the pollution is emitted? Nah, that'd never work.
It would be cheaper for everyone to just fix the pollution problem by putting heavy restrictions on emissions. Seriously, $1000 dollar air purifiers to remove the debris put in the air to save $0.05 on scrubbers is stupidity of the highest order. In a lot of cases the scrubbers are already on the factories because Chinese law requires them, just doesn't require that they be in operation. In about a year China could dramatically reduce this pollution to western world levels with simple installing or activating scrubbers on smoke stacks.
This continues to show China is a pay for play game, in that you are well connected enough in the communist party and laws and environmental rules just don't apply and it doesn't matter if it kills the little people.
Well, he went as far as confirming he was getting the same particle counts.
He's not saying "I just invented something revolutionary", he's just sticking it to the people selling over prices kit.
And in my book, that gets applause.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Almost all air purifiers are nothing more than a fan blowing through a filter. Thanks to fans and filters being commodity items, there are many retail HEPA air purifiers on sale for close to this guy's price. The article is little more than a cherry picking fallacy.
Next up: Man rigs cheap alternative to $500 Denon patch cable.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
How very un-American! He could have sold it for 800 bucks, and instead he hands it out for free!
He's been living in Commieland for too long!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Hermes Conrad: I order you to dispose of that toxic waste properly, or bribe me. Either way, it'll cost you $500.
Bender: 500 real dollars? That's an outrage! Professor, I can take care of that waste for only $499 and one hundred cents.
Prof. Hubert J. Farnsworth: Hmm, I know that's a rip, but I'll pay for the convenience.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
In China? Not really. If you're being conditioned that following the rules is good while thinking for yourself is bad and can even get you in trouble, you eventually end up with a mindset like that.
But don't worry, they're already exporting that success model. We're getting there. And, frankly, when I look around me, how people pay for "services" that hardly qualify as a service because they're too closed minded to even fathom how they could do it themselves for free and at little if any expense and effort, I dare say we're already there.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
He managed to attach a square filter to a round duct; that's NASA-level ingenuity right there.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
Probably could combine a HEPA filter with a charcoal filter to get both particles and volatile chemicals.
Like this:
http://www.instructables.com/i...
Or:
http://www.amazon.com/Rabbit-A...
Lots more here:
http://www.grainger.com/catego...
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Oftentimes, life gets in the way.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
What un-American??? Seems like he took a leaf out of Benjamin Franklin's book. When Mr. Franklin discovered a more efficient wood burning stove he didn't patent it for the purpose of making sure it would be widely accepted. His design is still being used.
I'm sure people knew how to do that. What they didn't know was that by doing that they could match the results of a $1000 solution. They're no doubt thinking "It can't be that simple, there must be a trick to it". So they sell a pre-made unit at low cost.
So Franklin was against the American way of life too?
Won't somebody please think of the Founding Fathers?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Comparable particle counts HOW? right up against the filter? What about over time? Zero details except you MUST go to his workshop for $33 to find out... Fishy...
I have a rock that keeps tigers away, My most recent tiger count shows zero so it's as good as a $10,000 tiger cage.
Need real data, full information on how the test was done and for how long. Anything else is made up BS or misinformation.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
China.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
If you take a look at his site, it has all the data, comparisons with commercial purifiers, timeframes, and all the other details you are saying are missing. http://smartairfilters.com/index.html#data
It's not like they provide NO information. You can check out their website for FREE and see that the reduction test was done in a fixed size room over fixed time and plots the particulates over time. http://smartairfilters.com/ind.... I won't kid you, it's marketing material, but their graphs are totally better than the ones I've seen on your Tiger-Rock. They also mentioned in TFA that the $33 is for parts costs. Probably just another trick from these shysters.
A lot of ideas are obvious once somebody announces what the idea actually is. Honestly, I think that people who would criticize the inventor simply because of the idea's apparent simplicity or obviousness are being rather snobbish, if you ask me.
But hey.... some might find it comforting to think that such values, which might otherwise seem outdated in today's word, are still alive and thriving in our society.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
He's using the same rated filer and pushing air through it, so it would be expected to have the same count.
Also, the info is on his site.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Just guessing now, but maybe he is talking about basic skills everyone should have like, simple plumbing, carpentry, cooking, gardening etc.
http://www.acetonestudio.com
Yes, same thing but he uses a fancy looking fan instead of a cheap old (in the US) box fan. He even uses a particle counter to measure the result just like the MD in your second link "from a university" (the University of Michigan) did. I'm posting the UoM link below; it contains a link to the Youtube video you posted.
"Build a do-it-yourself air purifier for about $25"
http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/sinus-hepa-0630
The difference in this case so far as I can tell is that instead of showing people how to make an air purifier for the price of a box fan and a furnace filter, he's trying to start a company to manufacture and sell the things.
I have a couple of these at home and yes, they work great.
Replying to myself just to add:
1. Instead of taping the filter onto the outflow side of the box fan, tape it onto the inflow side so that the filter protects also the fan itself from the dust in the incoming air.
2. I first used Filtrete "Elite Allergen" but then switched to the cheaper "Ultimate Allergen Blue" for better air flow. Both work well though.
I don't know much about HEPA filters, but you, Sir, have just sold me on your tiger repellent rock. Where can I order one?
Yes, I'm sure nobody in all of China already has an inexpensive HEPA air purifier.
I'm sure someone in China does have an inexpensive HEPA air purifier. I am not sure what your US Google search has to do with what people have in China though.