HEPA Air purifier(s) for fine dust

onionlikeapple · 2025-01-08T16:17:32+0000

Hi all.

I’m getting far enough into the hobby where I’m finding myself more and more concerned about dust collection.

I have a shop vac with a cyclone attached which I use to attempt to get most dust at source. However there is still a fine layer of dust across most things in the garage.

The garage also doubles as a home gym, so want to it to be as safe as possible for whoever in the house might be using the gym after my doing whatever in the workshop. It’s roughly 21m squared in size, and I use the workshop in a hobbyist capacity.

I’ve seen the Record Power air filter box which I’m tempted by. However, we have a couple of the HEPA air purifiers at home that don’t get a huge amount of use. How close would those air purifiers get to matching the RP solution? I would get the RP, and will do if it’s necessary, I’m just becoming increasingly aware how much everything is costing me.

Not sure if its worth mentioning, but its 2 of these Philips air purifiers.

And as an secondary question, if I’ve been sanding in the garage, how long do you reckon it would be until it’s safe for someone to use the gym, providing all the above accommodations are in place eg shop vac, air filter of sorts? Appreciate that’s hard to put an exact number on.

Thanks!

Inspector · 2025-01-08T16:49:14+0000

To answer the secondary question. There are lots of inexpensive particle counters that you can use to measure the outside air quality to get a baseline and then monitor the air in the garage for each activity. That will tell you when you need to put on PPE and when the levels are low enough to remove it. Just don't put the counter directly in the dust making stream like at the end of a stationary belt sander. It will overwhelm it and clog it up.

Pete

onionlikeapple · 2025-01-08T16:53:06+0000

Inspector said:
To answer the secondary question. There are lots of inexpensive particle counters that you can use to measure the outside air quality to get a baseline and then monitor the air in the garage for each activity. That will tell you when you need to put on PPE and when the levels are low enough to remove it. Just don't put the counter directly in the dust making stream like at the end of a stationary belt sander. It will overwhelm it and clog it up.

Pete

Thanks for this Pete. I've just had a look on Amazon and the like, and the cheapest counter I'm seeing is ~£90. Was that the sort of ballpark price you were thinking of with the particle counters?

Inspector · 2025-01-08T17:09:40+0000

They seem to be cheaper here, in the $50Cad range in some instances. https://www.amazon.ca/VEVOR-Profess...-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

You could try direct from China and pay even less. Temu, Aliexpress, etc. Or get a better one for about what you pay for the Amazon ones.

The object is to know roughly how much dust is in the air so you aren't guessing.

Pete

onionlikeapple · 2025-01-08T17:11:47+0000

Inspector said:
They seem to be cheaper here, in the $50Cad range in some instances. https://www.amazon.ca/VEVOR-Professional-Formaldehyde-Temperature-Thresholds/dp/B0D5CBQZ91/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=1A18E4XGUVPRR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9qJt8SjSznY5nwer_TXgxcswZNQ5nJPOs5FFdvuPaSSkvF3wz2nwkvRYuRGhWVDNTJbdupKc3iQbLdnlwJ5kfQHB_NEydTh5wOCML1Ca1MUWgCvL2dbEuL5YZWvaLDXH1QCIOsATPb78kjXhrx1X52VfvjHkdC7ylp87AthhDycDVRAcXbDX79DHPGjfAtJgJVHtHk9JLu-8H63clRH3k5pbRn-1fXsEe96cWOuCt0jOtJS3z4BrwNRRWlbdLzyFnx0smsJTes3OUUUO1ICoFYsF27Ta5BGT1IyMweLBwUI.GAl1yMxvPdS7TKnV-TAZ1sIo39r9vmEr1daGLvOvu20&dib_tag=se&keywords=particle+counter&qid=1736355654&sprefix=particle+counter,aps,284&sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

You could try direct from China and pay even less. Temu, Aliexpress, etc. Or get a better one for about what you pay for the Amazon ones.

The object is to know roughly how much dust is in the air so you aren't guessing.

Pete

I'll do some research on what that looks like in the UK price wise.

Our air purifiers have a - somewhat simple - air quality LED on it (red = bad, purple = getting bad, green = good), and I'm wondering if thats good enough for this job too.