Kent’s Aura Air Purifier review: This Air Purifier claims to get rid of all PM 2.5 particles in your home. If the latest WHO report is believed Delhi might no longer be the world’s most polluted city in terms of air quality. But it is still a grim picture if you look at the daily numbers for PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles. Delhi continues to cross the annual 10 and 20 micrograms per cubic metre mark (WHO guidelines) in both PM 2.5 and PM 10 pollutant matter on a daily basis. The only people benefiting from all this seems to be companies selling air purifiers, cashing in on the near paranoia among some Delhi residents. My husband is one such person, and we now have a Philips Air Purifier in our home, which is judiciously used every night. The air purifier market will only grow in a place like India, given that we don’t seem to have any long-term policies to deal with pollution. Kent is among those who have launched air purifiers in India. The company claims its new Hepa Air Purifier range will remove PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles thanks to filters that have “the efficiency to catch and trap indoor carcinogens particles like PM 2.5 particulates (removes up-to 99.99 %), Pollen, Allergens, Surface adhering Mold, Fine Dust and clinging odors like Cigarette smoke, foul smells or pet odour.”

So can an air purifiers really improve the air quality in your home? Here’s what I thought after using Kent Aura Air Purifier. Features: Effective Room Area : Up-to 270 sq. feet |Noise (DB) <= 60 dB (A) | CADR (CLEAN AIR DELIVERY RATE): 180 m3/h | Power Consumption: 45 W | Dimensions 350 L X 180 W X 482 H | Separate indicator for Air Quality So how does it work? The Kent Aura Air Purifier uses HEPA filter technology to clean up the air in your home. Kent insists their HEPA filter can get rid of PM 2.5 particle, which are seen as the most dangerous pollutants. The Air Purifier also has an ioniser built-in to remove particles from the air, along with allergens, dust. You can choose to switch it on or off by pressing the button. There seems to be some dispute on how effective ionisers really are in cleaning the air. However the HEPA filter by itself is good enough for those who are particularly sensitive to dust, pollen, etc. This Air Purifier is around 1.5 feet in height, 7-inches wide and can be placed easily around the house.

Although if you have a bedside table, you might have trouble creating some space for this. small air purifier for dustAlso note that this one doesn’t come with a remote.air filtration for gas turbines The Air Quality indicator showing the PM 2.5 levels in the room.best air purifier for wood stove Kent’s Aura Air Purifier also gave us an additional indicator device which tells the PM 2.5 level in your room. This device (roughly the size of an alarm clock) can be placed anywhere in your room; however this device was only given with the review unit, and is not part of the final sale kit. In my house on some mornings, the PM 2.5 levels were listed at north of 400 in this device and that’s scary; by the evening this number was down to 200s (no air purifier used).

The fluctuating levels notwithstanding, this number doesn’t look good. Also according to the indicator, the 70’s range for PM 2.5 is still in the green zone. If you want to re-evaluate your entire life-decision of why Delhi, the Air Quality indicator could be a big help. Kent’s Aura Air Purifier is not too noisy. Given that my husband placed the earlier air purifier right next to my side of the bed, I’ve grown to hate the sound and blue light emitting from these things. This one has quite a few lights emitting from it, although you can choose the fan level. In the auto-mode, it keeps the noise to minimum, which I like. There’s also a child-lock mode button in case you are worried about children tinkering with it. You can also set it for an 8 hour period before going to sleep at night, and the Purifier will switch off after that time. The Air Quality indicator showed the Kent Air Purifier took around half an hour to bring the PM2.5 level down from 400 to 200 in a closed room.

If the levels were lower, like say in the say range of 100-170, the air purifier worked faster, and levels would be at 20 in under 90 minutes. So does having an Air Purifier really help? As someone with three asthma patients in the family (father, brother, and now my three-year-old niece all living in Lucknow), I realise that clean air really matters. A severe asthma attack is never a pretty sight, and there are a variety of factors that can offset it; too much dust at home, the onset of spring, winter. HEPA filters to some extent can get rid of allergens, pollens, dust, and might be a good idea to get Kent’s Aura Air Purifier if you or someone in your family has asthma. Air Purifiers can give temporary relief to those who do need that clean air. But where PM 2.5 particles go, the picture is not entirely clear. Personally I don’t see an air purifier as a panacea for our air quality problems, given that we can’t spend our lives inside a closed room. Nevertheless, with Indian cities being where they are, devices like the Kent Air Purifier can help improve the air quality, at least in your bedroom.

Also read: Panasonic F-PXL45A Air Purifier Review: Can this help you breathe clean?Home > Home & Appliances > Non-Kitchen Appliances > Choosing an Air Purifiers Choosing an Air Purifiers Reviews Air Purifier: Should you buy one? While we all grew up learning about the dangers of air pollution, the issue has reached grave proportions in recent times. I live in Delhi NCR, and a recent survey conducted by Greenpeace found the air quality to be extremely unhealthy in the city. The survey claimed that the particulate matter 2.5 levels were found to be four times the safety limits prescribed in India and 10 times as prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The situation in other cities across India, and several cities globally, is not remarkably different. While we have newspaper reports, surveys, and the government reports to make us realize the gravity of this situation, there's also the silent assassin lurking within the comfort of our homes - indoor air pollution.

While our daily food intake is about 2 kg and water intake is 4 liters approximately, we inhale about 13.9 kg of air daily in about 24,000 breaths. Ironically, while we take utmost care for the hygiene of the former, we largely ignore the latter. Since we spend a lot of time indoors at home, there is a need for effective measures to combat air pollution and ensure healthier breathing. I talked to Dr. Ashish Jain, senior consultant, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Max Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, to learn if it is imperative to control air quality indoors. He said that since the level of air pollution is reaching new heights, it is becoming very difficult for people to lead a healthy life, let alone patients with respiratory diseases. The quality of life for the ones with allergies, skin diseases, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorders (COPD), Asthma, and other respiratory disorders is impacted severely with poor indoor air quality, which is also a cause for distress.

So, essentially, good indoor air quality can help prevent such hazards from occurring or worsening. The insight convinced me to try a Phillips Air Purifier for a couple of weeks or so to test if they are really designed to fight the most common, yet equally harmful, pollutants at home. The Philips Air Purifiers come with patented Vitashield IPS technology with multi-level filtration that the company claims can remove up to 0.02 microns pollutants keeping the air 99.97% allergen free. The first two filters separate the large particulate matter in the air like pollen and animal dander, while the last filter extensively clean the finer impurities in the air eliminating harmful gasses. The result is fresh, odorless, and supposedly free from any allergens indoor air. I tried the model AC4372 which according to the company is ideal for an area of 753 sq. feet, essentially a living room or a lobby. It's also the top variant in the range of air purifiers by Philips. The purifier features 4-step LED indicators showing air quality level, advanced filtration system, silent sleep mode, and 5-step fan speed settings.

The silent sleep mode is pretty useful to turn off the 'fan' noise. The AC4372 has a clean air delivery rate of 341 cubic metre/hour and is available for Rs 49,995. Philips also offers 'more affordable' variants as well. The AC4025 is ideal of 393 sq feet but does not feature the LED indicators or fan speed settings. It boasts of a clean air delivery rate of 127 cubic metre/hour and comes with a price tag of Rs16,995. It is the cheapest Philips Air Purifier in the market right now. Between these two variants, there are two other models AC4014 and AC4072 priced at Rs 28,995 and Rs 39,995 respectively. While both serve an area of 592 sq feet, they differ in some features here and there. The units are nicely designed, and look pretty sitting in the corner of your room. Yes, they take up a little space, like those halogen heaters these days. The build quality is solid too, something you can expect from Philips. While it's not easy to judge pollution-free air, but if I trust the LED indicator on the purifier, the air quality in my home has improved drastically.