The DARK TRUTH about Air Purifiers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- For millions of people in North America, air purifiers have become a signature household item. This billion dollar industry keeps growing by the minute, promising us one of basic human needs - clean air. But, how did we go from having a general concern about the air we breathe… to this?
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Script: Marieli Aixa
Editor: Matthew Veal
Project Manager: Lurana McClure Rodríguez
Host: Levi Hildebrand
Want to work with Future Proof? Suggestions? Hate mail? Get in touch with the project manager, Lu: contact@befutureproof.ca
I am not normally one to comment. But I am an expert in air cleaners. I am an Environmental Engineer (PhD) who conducted her research on respiratory aerosol transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic (including air cleaners). While that one study you shared may have had conflicts of interest, there are so many that do not. My advisor conducted research in the 1990s during her PhD that showed that air cleaners were effective at decreasing tuberculosis in bulk air in a room. Indoor Air Cleaners are one of many layered strategies that should be implemented to reduce spread of airborne diseases indoors. The biggest issue I've seen are air cleaners that say they reduce VOCs but actually just produce ozone, which is bad to breathe in. There is also a lack of 3rd party testing for air cleaners that would more objectively show their effectiveness. As long as you buy a HEPA certified air cleaner with a high CADR, you are good. Though it is important to size the units properly for your home.
If you would like an opinion on air cleaner brands that are reputable, please let me know and I'd be happy to share!
Thank you so much for your insight!
Best comment
@@tehyas4622 Yes please, I'm looking for one for my pollen allergy!
Get this comment to the top, stat.
I bought air purifiers for my house when last year's wildfires were giving me debilitating migraines. It made a big difference. I know it won't solve all of my problems, but it helps me stay pain-free.
Same here Canadian wildfires caused the NYC area to look like apocalyptic setting in a horror movie with unsafe orange sky's and air, so on that my air purifier did help quite a bit.
As someone with allergies, I've known about air purifiers for ages. They're handy devices, especially for helping keep dust down, and the right one at least helps cut down the issues of smoke from forest fires within the place. But yeah, it's absolutely insane just how much the air purifier market has exploded, and how so many of them are hundreds of dollars for something to feel good...
Personally I'm just looking to get one for the future. When I eventually move out, I'll have to live in a studio in the city. Which will get quite nasty air whise. Especially since I like to keep my windows open.
make Corsi-Rosenthal Box ( A fan and some hvac filters taped together). Effective, cheap and scientifically proven to work.
I have a friend that live in Washington. SHe has multiple air purifiers to deal with all the wild fire smoke. The air gets near unliveable at times with all the smoke
Competition is good, makes it cheaper for you to buy
@@butapioka Yeah, but oversaturation leads to a significant amount of inferior products that look nice, but are actually garbage. With no regulation behind the industry people are effectively buying placebos.
Well, the question I was hoping to be answered - "do they work" - wasn't answered. Instead, this is just a rant about how companies rushing to fill a need are somehow bad for doing so.
that's most of this channel to be honest.... a lot of videos just boil down to: "ya this product is really nice and useful, and people get a lot out of it... but consumerism is bad so we're gonna make a clickbait video about how reusable water bottles and tote bags are destroying the planet"...
EXACTLY how I felt. I kept watching thinking okay, so...are they bad, are they good, is it worth having one...... and nothing!
5:13
@@SAMc_Createsthat boils down to the reason it got popularised in the first place, but does not answer all the other legitimate and seemingly beneficial reasons people are buying these for.
The title is clickbait and this video could've been 3 minutes long. He really doesn't know what he's talking about
Honestly there isn't a lot of technology behind air purifiers. You don't have to pay thousands for them. Pretty much just a fan, a 3M HEPA filter, and some duct tape and you'll have effectively the same thing (maybe won't look as nice).
this is called a Corsi-Rosenthal Box
anything with "and some duct tape" at the end of it is gonna be awesome
@@LeviHildebrandYT yea you should get one its like over 50% effective against pretty much everything. I have one in my house. :en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsi%E2%80%93Rosenthal_Box#cite_note-23
Corsi rosenthal box with pc fans = quiet and cheap to run
There are companies that sell ready to go kits like clean air kits for those that don’t want to diy
@@thomaslund-molfese5321 People have been strapping filters onto the back of box fans for many decades before those two idiots with PhDs claimed to invent it. I know plenty of people with woodworking shops who've been doing it for decades.
Imo this video has no information content. What is the truth now? Is it that the air is getting worse and purifiers are necessary? That was not answered in the video. Is it that air purifiers are overpriced chunk that don't actually have any effect? That wasn't shown. Is it that cheaper models are as effective as expensive models? That wasn't talked about. Is it that air purification is a big market? Yes it might be, however compared to what, and for a good reason or not?
I casually enjoy this channel, but this was my exact thought about this video. Probably the first one I've seen that never made a claim or answered any real questions. It just... exists.
exactly. no conclusion reached. ergo, a nonsense video.
Tldr of the video: the dark truth of air purifier companies is that there's a bad air quality so air purifier companies sell air purifiers
@@kingfisher_imperialistYeah that in itself is common knowledge, so this video serves no greater purpose then.
this channel is just ranting
Guess O' Hare really did find a way to sell air
I was about to say that I’m going to say that and send a link to the song I just realized it lol
Sure it’s just one tiny seed, but it’s all we really need, so we say let it grow 🌱
@@Sodaboy128furry spotted
Disabled folks and people with chronic conditions are the people I hear talking about this the most. Personally, I got very very sick last year when the smoke from the Canadian wildfires spread. And that was despite wearing a mask! Now that severe wildfires have been increasingly common, we should try to ensure that everyone gets better air. Especially with airborne diseases running unchecked, ant-mask sentiment, etc. etc. It would also be a boon for schools. Remember how sluggish classes would get during warm afternoons? I've also heard anecdotally of people going to conventions and struggling to breathe due to how packed the area was. We need to do more to take this seriously.
Taking particulates out of the air isn't going to fix over-breathed air with too much carbon dioxide in it. You need properly engineered building ventilation for that.
I live in Milan, one of the most polluted city of Europe, given its geographical conformation. This winter, every time I opened the windows, I could see the number of particles shown on my air purifier rising to concerning level. It was super reassuring to have one, and that's fucking depressing.
Damn
Our neighbours are all using wood stoves. The Pollution ist concerning and WE use Air purifiers. Migranes and breathing problems gone...
I live in Paris, also super polluted, by European standards. I'm struggling to navigate the machines available. Do you have any recommendations on what to look at in Europe? Most of the reviews are for the US I find.
As a kid in the late 90s and early 2000s, my dad was OBSESSED with making sure we had air purifiers that were fully working, clean, and well maintained. There was an air purifier store and repair shop near us. He'd bring us along sometimes. Both my sister and I grew up with severe asthma, so he was very particular about making sure our home was as good as it could be. That shop is out of business and my dad has passed, but air quality stays on my mind to this day. Hopefully, we start worrying about improving the natural environment rather than selling temporary fixes for our constructed ones.
Do you continue to use air purifiers? How's the asthma doing?
Out of topic, but your dad sounds like a great dad.
Best Dad ever!!!
Hello could you recommend a model/brand please?
Im sorry, but "Nobody knew what an air purifier was 10 years ago" is hyperbole at best, idiotic at worst. Air purifiers have been around and advertised on TV and other media for decades as solutions to allergies, dust, etc etc.
For real, feel like this channel is targeted towards people that have never researched anything and live on autopilot doing what their friends tell them to do?
Yeah, he should have said "Nobody cared what an air purifier was 10 years ago" and it woulda been more accurate lmao.
@@Triflixfilmsyou mean the vast majority of people?
@@willy4170 that's a very cynical view of life... Anecdotally, yes, most of my friends do research their purchases more than this channel would have led me to believe.
Yeah, I am staring at my Sharper Image air cleaner that has to be at least 20 years old. LOL
I love my air purifier as someone with breathing issues
Me too! Wouldn't live without them.
Which air purifier would you recommend?
There is something left out on from this video, STENCH. In addition to the HEPA filter in air purifiers (which likely will help with dust mite and pollen allergies), many also have a layer of a carbon filter for absorbing odors. Not everyone wants to cover odors with fragrance and also there are some people who (to varying degrees) can not tolerate fragrances. Many people who live in an apartment can tell you that not only do sounds travel in from neighboring apartments but also smells such as cooking and smoking.
You can make a pretty good air purifier for about $30-40. Better than most of the crap on the market, just think about it. Get a 20 inch box fan and a HEPA filter and tape the filter to the back of the fan.
If you want to get a little bit fancier with it, get 4 filters and build a box out of them and then put the fan on top (so that the air blows up) which will channel air from all directions through the filters and upward to disperse. These companies are fleecing you for what is ultimately a very simple product!
You can also go even cheaper with MERV13 filters. Healthy Home Guide has a video discussing research papers that show the superiority of homemade filters relative to the expensive ones in this video. Not to mention that the homemade ones draw way less power and are much quieter
who wants that ugly thing sitting in their living space though?
You really did a disservice by not making it explicitly clear that a fan and a filter is all that's required and failing to mention the Corsi-Rosenthal box option.
Cheap, easy, and effective!
He may have never even heard of it, like me. I researched the hell out of air purifiers about 2 years ago (not because of the pandemic, but because I lived in Manhattan and have sinus issues) and had never heard of this until now. While a lot cheaper, it takes up a lot more space, it's ugly, and it's probably pretty loud which are all things people don't want in an air purifier haha
Yes! This simple device is a godsend during fire season.
Corsi-Rosenthal boxes are an excellent option _if_ you only care about large or inorganic particulate (dust, pollen, etc.). If you want to reduce VOCs (and if you're trying to promote general health rather than panic-reacting just to specific threats, you do), you need charcoal filters too. That can still be done in similar fashion, but the cost of activated carbon is significantly greater and DIY solutions will start costing as much as a similarly effective (yet simple and reasonably priced) commercial options.
All of that is going to pale in efficiency compared to solutions built into your ventilation (air exchange) systems, because they don't spend electricity re-filtering the same air over and over. Purify the incoming fresh air, expel the stale. That's especially important with expensive carbon filters, because most of the VOCs in your home/office (particularly the harmful ones) are from _within that space_ - at least so long as you're not near heavy industrial air polluters. Exchanging that air reduces VOCs even if you aren't filtering them or your carbon is completely used, and you get longer life out of the carbon filtration you do have. (The VOCs bind to the carbon until it all is inert; more VOCs through the filter = faster filter failure.)
RTINGS actually posted a video just after this one saying the CR box is the best air filter! th-cam.com/video/RjN205kkwoY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=8thISrPNrTMgv5gz
Shortly after getting a parrot that gives off dust, I purchased a Honeywell HEPA filter, and have it run for 12 hours a day. It solved my wife's asthma problem. He, and the filter machine, are now 34 years old. Both parrot and filter are still in perfect working condition! Thanks, Honeywell. All the machine needs is changing the filters and a drop or two of oil onto the motor's shaft. Model 64000 for those who want to know.
If my filter can’t make my farts smell good I don’t want it 😤
give me eucalyptus farts or give me death
@@LeviHildebrandYT 👍🤣
Get a heavy carbon and HEPA filter. It’ll make your fart smell like the HEPA filter. I tested with my own silent-butt-deadly farts.
That's because your farts are a war crime.
A humidifier can do that. It's gonna smell like someone farted in a garden, or clean linen, or an eucalyptus forest. You get the gist!
I credit my air purifiers for keeping my at risk spouse safe from COVID infection. Strategically placed fans, air purifiers, ventilation (open windows ) and high quality mask are effective tools when someone in household is sick. Bonus it helps with dust, cat hair and the various smells (including my neighbor's regular pot usage.. hallway reeks, no smell in our apartment).
So what exactly is the dark truth? I was expecting some big exposé about how they're evil and actually killing you. But it sounds like they're a functional product but it's "bad" that the market has them at both lower and higher price points...?
The dark truth about Future Proof (finding an interesting enough topic to release a 15 minute video on weekly is quite hard). I wish they'd do less videos as their good videos are great but many are duds
Those of us with allergies have known about air purifiers years before COVID. Dealing with dust, pets, smoke and vog purifiers have been a necessity for me for years.
I bought one 10 years ago (and very much knew what they were) and quickly found out that if you have forced air heating or central air conditioning, a nice whole house filter (that is changed regularly) will give you similar results.
Yeah, this was my thought too. Would it not make more sense to upgrade/filter the overall ventilation of ones home so as to have the air get cleaned before it even enters ones home, rather than purifying it after it's already entered one's home? Like, just put HEPA-filters on the ventilation? 🤷♀
My air purifier has a built in dehumidifier, before I purchased it I had re-occurring mold problems due to high levels of humidity since the ventilation in my bedroom sucks.
This created mold all behind my wardrobe and bed and it was a never ending battle with spray bleach and repainting walls.
As soon as I got my air purifier/dehumidifier 10 months ago (it's on 24/7) I no longer have mold.
I don't know if it's related or if I'm overthinking but I had really bad sleep paralysis episodes and now I rarely get them so for me air purifiers are a God send.
What brand
I live in Thailand. And gosh!!! The mainly reason I got one is because of the pm2.5 issue (fine particles pollution) On certain months and certain regions it becomes worst people do get sick form it especially in the northern part of Thailand. When I look up on pollution air quality map. I do envy people of North America. You guys have great air over there.
I too glad this technology existed. We even gotta wear a mask when we go outside to protect our lungs.
What do they know about clean air privilege. DUH
I've got a small one i keep by my bed to reduce dust and allergens. It helps me breathe better while i sleep, and as a bonus acts as a white noise machine. It was maybe $100 at Canadian Tire, $75 after instant rebate from Efficiency Nova Scotia. I didn't know people bought them for general home air quality.
I have an IKEA Dajlien model on my nightstand. The white noise is soothing and I don’t wake up with a stuffy nose either.
as someone who live in a very, very polluted city with aqi up to 200+, i have 6 hepa air purifiers at home. it makes an absolute difference in my household because we can't open the windows to air out the house.
I have 2 HEPA air filters in my house. It really cuts down on the dust in the air and very little dust settles on surfaces now. I got them when the wildfires in Canada were sending their smoke.
Simple and cheap DIY air filters made with MERV13 filters and a box are better than all the expensive ones! They don’t capture as high a percentage of particle per pass, but because they process air way faster they end up being multiple times more effective for all particle sizes. Plus, they usually pull way less power and are quieter.
Healthy Home Guide made a video (Hepa filters are a scam) summarizing a bunch of research papers showing this.
- Im a new dad!
-Hands the baby an electric screwdriver
… a drill?
weirdly I don't think I've ever been advertised or encountered the "air purifier protects you from illness" pitch. I've only ever seen and used them as products to help with allergens and as pet owner aids.
This video pointed some important things out - but apart from that it didnt really add much. I kept waiting for the "dark truth" part where you dive into the tech for example or actually uncover anything of additional value. And then the video ended : /
Did you miss the part where they're profiting off our need for clean air? lol
no one's forcing you to buy an air purifier. opening your windows or just breathing the "status quo" air is completely free, and as you've mentioned, here in NA, it's not a health issue for the most part.
@@LeviHildebrandYT ...so?
@@LeviHildebrandYTthat's really not much of a dark truth rather than just business logic. OP is right, misleading title is misleading.
@@LeviHildebrandYTthat's not dark, that's just our every day reality now.
I have an air purifier because I mistakenly purchased one thinking it was a dehumidifier. In the end I kept it and been using it daily 😅 good for allergies I think
It made living indoors with animals possible for me and my kids so I think so.
Thanks for showing me that Dyson model. Now I’m just looking at my poor man’s levoit in pure disgust. 😂😂
I got my Dyson (after much debate about the price) and I wish I had gotten it sooner! It has made such a huge difference and I can finally breathe in our house (in the woods and 2 inside cats). We had an older one from a brand that I can't remember and while I thought it was good it really wasn't. Check if you have a costco they usually have them on sale a few times a year. You have to order them online $350 a few months ago; so ask a friend that has a membership :) or check on the Dyson site they have referb ones for $275-$300. My brother got a refurb one and said it literally looks and acts brand new only thing was the box was dented and had a few scratches.
@@katiesmith8900 I hope you know I’m showing this to my levoit. I hope it feels terrible now🙃
I have a ton of animals and am allergic to everything in nature. My air purifier made it possible for me to breath indoors. I just got it last year. I was very skeptical. But it totally works. And I use it in the kitchen because we don’t have good exhaust there. I don’t have any of the big fancy ones. I don’t even know ow what type it is. But I will never let mine go. So much dander and dust in there. It taught me how absolutely filthy my whole house and life is 😂😂
I used to sell (or try to sell) air purifiers for $2,000 a pop in people's homes. And this was a decade ago. I do not miss it
Having my air purifiers on or off makes all the difference for someone with asthma. Its very very noticable when the PM2.5 specifically is elevated so I use filters that target that size. The industrial air conditioning systems where I work do a great job but its that bike ride home that kills me when its bad out so I just lay down with some clean air for a little.
Just my annecdote, I use levoit but have bought on sale for less than 70 because its ridiculous.
I’ll be honest started watching your videos yesterday. I went through the entire catalogue and I’m now caught up…. From one proud Canadian to another, I’m flippin addicted to this channel. Keep up the great work!
As a license hvac contractor your best shot if you have central air conditioner I recommend get a media cleaner it’s a big filter that last up to 12 months and pair it with a UV light. Have years of good feedback from customers with allergies or if there’s mildew on ductwork.
Thanks for your insight!
Air purifiers are great at reducing virus particles in the air. I made a CR box and had a small smart air purifier in college and it really helped me not catch COVID from my roommates (when combined with vaccinations). I don’t know what my family would’ve done without them during the wildfire smoke.
I teach in Asia and most classrooms have air purifiers to protect the kids from the bad pollution and reduce the spread of airborne illness. I’m surprised you didn’t cut more into dyson for irresponsibly marketing an air purifying mask that basically does nothing during a pandemic.
I know you probably used The Lorax to appeal to more people, but I immediately thought of Spaceballs when you mentioned air as a commodity.
The best thing I ever did for interior air quality was 1) get rid of as much carpet as you can 2) the carpet you keep, get a good vacuum and vacuum often 3) clean my air ducts 4) use the highest Merv air filter your furnace is speced for. Then of course use a few chemicals as possible to keep the house clean. 5) get rid of scented candles and those wall plugins.
Fun fact, you can get a box fan, and a 20x20 HVAC filter and tape it to the back of the fan.
98% as effective as an air purifier
The problem with a box fan is it may end up just sucking air from around the fan and not from the filter due to it not being a high static air pusher.
If you want to test, lay it on the ground, then feel what happens.
I did this and can confirm that it works. My box fan filter gathers dust very quickly. The results are clear.
Future Proof and Technology Connections = the only channels you need in your life !
me watching this video: hmm interesting whats the dark truth about purifiers?! ok...hmm...yea ughm...alright soo, do i get answer for my question?.... ahh well lets wait...ok WTF was that?! howd i wasted 12 min of my life just listening to EMPTY YAPP?!?
I would have gone with the Spaceballs canned air reference, personally. 🤣🤣
Nah air purifiers are the goat even doctors use them in their office
doctors arent immune to propaganda
Doctors do a lot of stupid, anti scientific things.
My doctor smoke, what should I derive from that.
I mean that's why they never said air purifiers are bad. They were discussing the consumerism around them and the industry as a whole.
@@Kabodanki You need to smoke the brand that 4 out of 5 doctors smoke.
A Maui wildfire add came on while watching this. I love conveniently timed ads.
Why no reference to the Corsi-Rosenthal box? DIY and save money!
Because people have been using box fans with filters strapped to them for decades before those two idiots decided to say they created it.
@@grayrabbit2211 But the video didn't mention the idea, or the configuration.
@@mindstalk It's because it's not a product you can actually buy... Their target audience probably would find it to be too difficult
As someone who live in the country with Air Quality Index above 200+.
This technology save our lives
this is just a market research video of a grade schooler... is this channel going down? no more substantial issues you want to cover?
I paused this then ran an errand, when I started playing it it ran a air purifier ad 😂
This felt less like an informative video and more like a thought piece. Maybe due to the choice of title because it seems like your main point wasn’t really about air purifiers but about the fact that we now have the very real problem of air quality.
Anyway I don’t really feel like I learned much but I do agree that it sucks to not have clean air as a default.
My window ac unit seems to filter out most of the fire smoke pretty well. I remember going outside one evening and the whole town was covered in it while, I could not feel it in the house which was nice.
Yes! My HEPA has been a saviour since covid hit the scene. You really don’t realise how much junk is in your air until you change a filter. Yikes. They should be in every public building - hospitals and schools at least!
Well, that is 11 minutes I won’t be getting back.
I don't understand the point of this video. Air purifiers work, and this video doesn't dispute that. So it's just essentially whining how now there are too many options (with some overpriced ones) because the product has grown too popular? What's the "dark truth" exactly? Are you trying to claim that it's made up that air purifiers won't help you when you indoor air quality sucks because of wildfire?
Anything that got too popular are always going to have overpriced options. It's not like cheaper air purifiers went away. You can also just duct tape a box fan to a HEPA filter too if you want.
I love my Smartmi air purifier. 😊Got it on Amazon a couple of years ago. Thanks for this video!
20 years ago, I had purchased an air purifier. The cost of the filter refills, at that time, was more than the cost of the machine. I eventually had to stop using the air purifier, as I was unable to find the filters anymore. Needless to say, I no longer use air purifiers
It sounds like a scam to make the filter refills so expensive! I have models like that too, and I just wash the filters in the shower even though they are not meant to be washed.
I bought one a year before covid (and it was pretty cheap) to address some dust, and it still works, still I clean a decent proof from its filter once a week or two using my vacuum cleaner :D
As someone with ADHD, I've done my fair share of air purifier research a few years ago. I bought a Xiaomi Air Purifier 2 because I'm into smart home stuff and like to monitor my air quality. I came to several conclusions:
- Air purifiers only work if they're moving air, however most "auto" or "silent" settings don't move any air
- They're loud! At least when you have them set to the right speed to do something. I have a DC motor fan which is MUCH quieter than the air purifier fan whilst moving the same amount of air.
- If you want to remove smells you need activated charcoal filters. However, if they get oversaturated they start to release stuff like formaldehyde back into your room. You can often tell by this weird sweet but off smelling odor in your room.
- Filters are expensive to replace. I believe mine cost 40 euros per filter and you're advised to replace them every 6 months. For reference, the Air purifier with a filter cost me 120 euros new. I don't do that anymore though, just vacuum the dust out.
- They don't really reduce the amount of dust in the room, because mostly I have mine in auto mode which is silent and doesn't move any air.
- A basic air purifier is fine if you don't need fancy PM2.5 monitoring or remote controls. It's just a fan and a filter, nothing special.
I wouldn't really recommend them to anyone unless you're ok with the noise or live in a seriously polluted area. I live in a major city with leaky windows right next to a big road, so it's a must for me.
TBH, I can't sleep without the white noise of the air purifier.
@@teenygozer when dat asmr hitting different
i live in a city that has an average of 15x of 2.5pm dust particle concentration suggested by WHO. I will never stop using air purifier in my home.
What was the "dark truth"?
To replace our dark dirty air filters.
the industry that preys on your downfall bro????
there was none. this was a loosely constructed topic with a biased perspective against the consumerism of air purifiers. far lower quality than his usual videos. just browsing through the comment section will tell you about all the ideas and information that was completely ignored.
@@LeviHildebrandYT That's like saying farmers prey on your need for food.
If manufacturers were deliberately making air worse, then you could say 'prey'.
@@mindstalk Many manufacturers are deliberately making air worse though.
Low quality air isn't a problem that's "always been there", the need for air purification has been created by a lack of regulation, and now people need to shell out in order to solve it personally.
The solution shouldn't need to be "buy a product" it should be regulation of corporations.
Bought a $400cad Coway Air Purifier at my previous house due to mold and copious dust buildup, had terrible respiratory issues and headaches. After having the purifier on for a week my issues went away and did make a huge difference in air quality. Moved into a brand new build and still use it to this day, worth it in my books.
TH-cam videos can cause a full on existential crisis. Gotta be careful with those TH-cam videos. 😂😂
Right! I saw the thumbnail and thought, “We can’t have ANYTHING!” Lol
I'm currently in the process of making my own air purifier using 5 computer fans, merv 13 filters, foam board, and a 12v DC power supply I had lying around. In total it is about $75 including the first 2 filters, and each filter is $15 which is the main advantage for me aside from the quiet operation
My birds produce lots of dander and my partner has pollen allergies, a simple air purifier I thrifted years ago really works wonders.
My wife has bad allergies and we live in an old 70's house with nothing but hardwood floors so the dust in our house is wild.
We ended up accumulating 4 of the wifi Levoit purifiers and they are excellent. We have them setup on timer schedules so they run full blast when we are at work, back down to a medium setting in the evening and mornings and then the one in the master bedroom goes to night time mode (near silent) late at night and the ones in the kitchen, living room and my office all ramp back up to high speed.
The amount of dust they capture is shocking but it 100% explains why we genuinely just wake up feeling better in the morning. Also, huge bonus points to the one in the kitchen (Core 400S model) at being an absolute champ at not only significantly reducing the amount of smoke/haze when cooking on the skillet but also cleaning all that out of the air really quickly. We used to have that lingering smoke from bacon and other stuff like that on the skillet and it would just linger as a haze for 20 or 30 minutes after cooking but the purifier in the kitchen running full blast when it detects the smoke from cooking makes a huge difference.
Air purifiers are awesome. Do you need a $1200 dollar unit? Absolutely Not. This topic needed more research and a script with better writing.
At least I can just listen to FP. The stock video and stills imagery don’t actually add anything to the information. So I can still get things done ! Thx FP!
I really want to support this channel, because I am all about voting with my dollar and buying sustainable products, but I think there needs to be a critical rethinking of the approach to videos and the scripts. What was the purpose of this video? Air purifiers are bad because more people are buying them and the industry wants you to buy them? Where is the "dark truth"? There needs to be more homework on the topics you're approaching and a more cohesive message or point to these videos. This video taught me nothing other than :1) sales of air purifies have skyrocketed; 2) there's an range of brands that sell purifiers at a ton of different price points. A more expensive purifier isn't inherently more or less "future proof" than the other, so what's the message here? Air purifiers are bad? You just said you want one because you have a baby at home. There needs to be some proposed alternative or solution.
Some digging into the topic would have revealed the industry's biggest secret. Home central AC systems already have built in "air purifies" (filters) that are much more efficient than the stand alone ones. They push the filtered air into every room of your house with an AC duct, rather than just one room, and move a lot more air while doing it. So, want better air quality in your house? Buy a new filter for your central AC unit and replace it regularly. If you're worried about fine particulates buy a better filter like a MERV 13. Don't want to run the AC? Just run the fan setting. No new product purchase necessary, just replace the filter you already have.
Good comment
So unironically my microwave can detect a fucking submarine.
i don't get it, what's the "dark truth" the only dark truth in the entire video is the conflict of interest in the article on covid-19
Yeah, and even then dozens of independent and peer-reviewed studies without the conflict of interest agree with the results. So even that’s not really a dark truth, but just cherry-picking evidence for a sensationalist clickbait thought piece disguised as education
"getting too close to people paying for bottled air" there's a product I see at every Walgreens in the pharmacy section that is literally oxygen in a can, "as seen on shark tank"
I guess I don’t understand what the dark truth was here.
Is that an industry boomed from disasters, and it has been deemed a necessity.
I got an air purifier ad while watching this video. Oh hey there TH-cam AdSense Algorithm!
which part is the "dark truth"? the radiation filtering one?
I have a nice and cheap air filter - it's a fan with a filter. 99% of it's job is to keep the cat hair levels below 'apocolypse'. 😂
They're... Good though? Some of your worries about air purifiers is that you haven't done the research? (Which when this channel is close to investigative journalism is slightly odd) Sure, they all differ, but you could say the same about vacuum cleaners.
Also a huge tip for items like this. Buy it second hand! People get these on impulse and sell them for more than a 50% discount
Yeah I've noticed that while this channel has a lot of Ws, sometimes they hate on things that can be genuinely useful, even though they might have unfortunately become a TikTok trend. Like the video hating on smart watches but only focused on Apple's watches for some reason and a lot of people genuinely like or need smart watches for anything from staying off their phones more to helping them stay healthy or even alive. Not every trend is worth hating, feels kind of reactionary 🤷♂️
heyoooooo, this video isn't about whether or not air purifiers are good (we think so, and Levi even said he's looking to buy one!), more about why they've risen in popularity and the industry's motivations. the dark truth is these people profit off our poor air quality, not that these products suck lol. also, thanks for the tip - looking for these second hand is definitely the way to go!
@FutureProofTV but much like the "Problem with Etsy" video recently. The actual focus is shifted to a point of irrelevance. There was a complaint about it being too expensive, even though the budget ones are great for most households, too much information to ingest, even though it's basically a fan with a 99% particle filter.
It's just odd? This seems so downbeat rather than focusing on the benefits of items like this. The focus could have been more so on the sad consequences of unnecessary air pollution while complimenting that it helps those with allergies, giving them a much more comfortable life
What do you mean "Hopefully you're not too depressed?" 😂
Be aware that many air purifiers have ionizer feature that produced ozone, which is very bad for you and can mess up electronics.
indeed, many "made in china" unregulated air purifiers may have a feature that produces exceeding amounts of ozone for residential homes
I have severe annual allergy issues, just about every day of the year, worse when I lived somewhere that was almost all carpet. My quality of life immediately and dramatically improved by getting a basic Levoit several years ago. Running it on low for a couple hours, maybe a few times a week is enough to clear most of the allergens. I've never even had to replace the filter, just take it out occasionally and clean it (there are tutorials online for how to do so, for those of you wanting to reuse filters and save money). I bought one for each of my immediate family the next Christmas becuase it helped that much; made visiting my brother more bearable, as it cleans the majority of the dog smell of his apartment, when he remembers he has a purifier.
I own 2 coway airmega filter, I’m interested to hear what you have to say about it lol
It feels like with air conditioning and air purification, we’re slowly becoming aliens to our own planet
No Spaceballs reference? SHAME! SHAME!
Yeah... I was ready for some Canned Air.
In Seoul air quality became huge issue during 2010s. People already started to wear single use masks even before covid. I had dust allergic reaction and the air purifier became uncompromisable need. I moved to Stockholm and feel thankful for clean air that I don't have to worry about. I really hope the world come to a senses and start taking care of the environmental issues.
@FutureProof This video had very little meaningful content, especially regarding how long it was and how dramatic the title was. It would have been much better suited for something like a TH-cam short. Usually, your guy’s videos have some layers, making the time investment of watching the video potentially worth it. This one didn’t. It is very frustrating to a viewer to be baited into investing their time to watch a video with a dramatic claim, to not get much in return for their time.
Frankly, nearly all major air purifier brands never advertised that their products would remove COVID-19 particles from the air. It felt like you guys were grasping at straws to find more substance here. In addition, you guys insinuated early on that this isn’t a health need for North Americans (your target population here) who do not have respiratory-related health concerns. Then, had one of your major talking points be that all of the competition and advertising that results from capitalism exist in this industry? That is not much of a surprise.
Finally, it’s inaccurate to say that the industry is profiting from our need for clean air (what I believe your primary point to be). As again, you guys already conceded that this is not a need for the vast majority of North Americans. Yet you made the comparison to the bottled water industry as though the severity of the two situations are similar when they, indeed, are not even close in our current world.
This content was not of high quality for how much there was and I feel that you guys have done much better in the past. My goal here is to provide some meaningful critique.
Just a shout-out to Temu making a guest appearance around 8:50, you go, corporate monster
The microwave story is actually a bit incomplete. The microwave oven was invented to revive cryogenically frozen rats. The magnetron used in radar systems is fundamentally different from the microwave in your microwave. Tbf it's a small difference, but its like saying cars are trains are the same because they use internal combustion engines to move big loads.
Actually, it isn't. The microwave oven existed before that, sold since 1947 under the name "RadaRange" after what was indeed a discovery made by Percy Spencer while working on radar magnetrons in 1945.
In contrast James Lovelock's idea of reviving rats came out almost a decade later, independently.
haha this video reinforces everything i was saying to my Friends and family. i always told them something like "before you bought that overpriced dyson fan you didn't even know you had bad air quality in your flat, am i right"
I'm blocking this channel. I'm as anti-consumerism/anti-capitalist as they come, but all you ever produce is poorly researched reactionary leftish takes with sensationalized headlines. I have plenty of solid reasons to be mad at the world. I don't need to listen to you trying to fabricate new ones using whatever negative evidence you could cherry pick from Google in a day.
Meanwhile, your audience is tossing out solid advice and expertise off the cuff that's more knowledgeable and _useful_ than anything you deemed worthy of stating in a published video.
2:36 I thought I’ve left something on the microwave and went to see 😂
What dark trurh. Nothing was revealed
I must be an odd ball then according to your video, cause my 1st air purifier is in 2003, so according to your video of 10yrs ago that is unheard of; I am 20 yrs ahead; makes me feel like i live in the future while everyone else is living in the cave :)
0:03 hey I have that purifier
We've had air purifiers for like 20 years because my dad and I have bad allergies and my mom loves to have the windows open (especially while mowing the grass...). We used those static electric ones for years until they died. When I moved to Manhattan I needed to get an efficient one for myself since the AQ there is pretty bad compared to the rest of the US. I started to research them about 2-3 years ago and was baffled by the amount of info, just like you. I wanted an oversized one so it would definitely be effective, and Consumer Reports and a few other respected reviewers said that the Alen BreatheSmart series was the best. Their 75i model, which can clean 1300 sq ft in 30 minutes on the highest setting (95 CFM on the lowest setting, 350 CFM on the highest setting), was SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS. My apartments were a max of 600 sq ft, but I know a lot of these sq ft ratings for products are BS so I bit the bullet and bought it since I was making a lot of money .
It's your basic unit: plastic housing, touch panel, wifi connectivity (which absolutely REFUSES to connect to my Unifi AP, works fine with other APs...), and it's HUGE (bigger than a kitchen trash can)....but it's highly effective and it's whisper quiet. Even on "turbo" mode it's only about 57 dB (a "quiet library" according to the sound meter on my phone) or about as loud as a ceiling fan, on quiet mode it's 47 dB. The other reason I got it was to remove smoke/cooking smells from my apartment. Shortly after I had gotten it I had moved to a 1 BR apartment and had it out in the living room. I went to the bedroom, closed the door, opened both windows and smoked a bowl, blowing the smoke out the window. When I was finished, I went back into the living room, making sure to only have the door open for as little as possible, and the air quality indicator said that the air quality had gone from best to worst (there are 5 levels). It was about 20 feet from the door and another 10 feet or so from where I was smoking! I kept testing it more and more. Eventually I discovered that it was so effective that I could bring it into my bedroom with me, close the door, keep windows closed and just blow the smoke directly into it. The room would still smell, but about 30-45 minutes later you couldn't tell that I had smoked a bowl in there at all. I was definitely impressed. I'm in a much bigger apartment now (850 sq ft) in Miami, but I still have it with me. If I spray an aerosol can 30 feet away from it in a different room, within a few seconds the air quality will change from best to bad in a matter of seconds! While I think the thing is WAY over priced (even $450 seems like a lot), it's definitely effective. They do have two smaller models which are more reasonably priced. Their 700 sq ft model is only $250
This video wasn't very informative and contained no dark truths. Yes, some purifiers are overpriced and overhyped, with features you don't need or even want (ionizers). But "clean air" is not a made-up concern any more than clean water is, and there's no air equivalent for municipal tap water. Smoke is a real problem for many. Urban and suburban particulate pollution from cars is a real problem for very many. Airborne germs are a real problem and yes good filtration or ventilation do a help a lot.
More useful would be telling people to look at air quality maps like IQAir and PurpleAir, or to get home air quality monitors, to judge their non-disease needs, and also how to evaluate air purifiers. (If you're getting less than 1 CFM/$, you're getting ripped off.)
Got a couple air purifiers cause after the local super fire, i now get allergies, plus my yard though a little beautiful and kind of overgrown, about 3 trees wreck ky stuff.
Got a "small" unit for my rooms, and a big one for the rest of the house.
I have IBS. I assure you they work to clean the air lmao
Irritable bowel syndrome?
@@shadesofvioletcatIntermittent ball scratching
I bought a $60 Mooka air purifier when I bought my house 3 years ago, for a specific reason. It's an old house with an old fireplace in the living room. Every hot, humid, sunny summer day, the living room smells like smoke. The air purifier does a pretty good job eliminating that smell.
This one doesn't seem as well-researched as your others.
agreed
Knee-jerk reaction video
I remember we had our own fire issue here by New Orleans. The bayou sauvage swamp fire last year. Really set my asthma off