HEPA Air purifier(s) for fine dust

[Delaney]

I’m still in the “I’m not sure if I’ll like this hobby” phase of woodworking, so ideally this is a budget minded purchase.

But also don’t want to mess up my future heath because of this, so just trying to find the right balance.

I guess that me saying I’m not sure how much money I have to fund the dust collection. After some SketchUp sessions last night, the stud wall is going to cost ~£300. After that, I’m going to need to wait a bit before revisiting dust collection, but at least both the gym and workshop will be usable.

Bare in mind, if you buy a good condition used air scrubber, if you don’t end up using it, you’ll be able to sell it for mostly what you paid, so unlike a wall or buying new, you have made an investment rather than ‘spent money’.

 

[onionlikeapple]

Bare in mind, if you buy a good condition used air scrubber, if you don’t end up using it, you’ll be able to sell it for mostly what you paid, so unlike a wall or buying new, you have made an investment rather than ‘spent money’.

Totally get that, and I think an air filter/scrubber is on the table at some point. I think it’s just I’m coming to the conclusion that having the workshop and gym together is a health hazard, even with the filter, so the wall is being prioritised.

Filter is certainly the next purchase though. I think my shop vac can live for a while longer with the table saw before getting a dedicated dust collector. I’ll just be more diligent blowing the saw dust out the garage door after every session.

 

[onionlikeapple]

Air particle counter arrived today. The big number is PM2.5. Accuracy is obviously as point of contention here, given it’s a brand-of-the-week Amazon model, but the LEDs (red/purple/green) on the air purifier seem to roughly match that of the counter.

The first reading with no air treatment came in 48.9µg/m3. The second reading, after using the air purifier for 10 mins, comes in at 32.2µg/m3.

Whilst neither are exemplary, the second reading matches up with what our kitchen reads, roughly. So an air quality level I’m probably happy with.

That’s not as bad as I was expecting, especially after having done some work in here earlier. The garage has a ~7mm gap under the garage door, and I’m wondering if that constant airflow is enough to clean the air to a point where it’s mildly clean (just throwing out some thoughts rather than anything concrete).

I also moved some gym weights around and what not, and that number stayed roughly the same whilst the air purifier was on.

Wondering now if keeping up on cleaning, wearing a mask whilst working, using the blower, using the air purifier/getting an air filter, is enough to keep the air quality at a reasonable place. Will have a sleep or two on it. Nice to have some peace of mind for now though.

 

[Chris West]

I’m not understanding how a small air purifier is going to cope with the amount of fine dust you are going to generate.
These are domestic appliances no?

The two main ways to control dust is at source and with a secondary ‘air scrubber’
Plenty of used JET air scrubbers on ebay etc.. that have 2 or three stage filters that can filter as low as you need.
I would get the bigger model. They can recycle the air in your room in minutes (depending on the room size). In your case it could be in under a minute.
They are effective because they are very powerful and they move the air about.

These are industry standard bits of kit.
Persoanlly I’d stay away from anything branded ‘record power’.

How much dosh have you got to put on it?

I’m not understanding how a small air purifier is going to cope with the amount of fine dust you are going to generate.
These are domestic appliances no?

The two main ways to control dust is at source and with a secondary ‘air scrubber’
Plenty of used JET air scrubbers on ebay etc.. that have 2 or three stage filters that can filter as low as you need.
I would get the bigger model. They can recycle the air in your room in minutes (depending on the room size). In your case it could be in under a minute.
They are effective because they are very powerful and they move the air about.

These are industry standard bits of kit.
Persoanlly I’d stay away from anything branded ‘record power’.

How much dosh have you got to put on it?

The problem with these air purifiers is that really fine dust will not overcome normal air currents in a room in any location where the airspeed is less than 50 fpm. Purifiers like Record and the others do not have the power to move air at that rate more than a few inches from the air purifier itself. The only solution is to capture these tiny particles at the source and that requires lots of airflow at the tool - generally 1000 cfm. In order to get 1000 cfm at the tool, it probably requires 1200 to 1300 cfm at the extractor if there is much ducting between the dust extractor and the tool.