Cleaner air, healthier life {Review and Giveaway of Purlife}

When we moved back from Scandinavia a few years ago, the one big difference that struck me was how easily my kids would fall sick here in Singapore. The dense population, the outbreak of diseases in school, the easily-spread germs, the air pollution, the haze - all of these accounted for how common it was for my kids to come down with an illness or two. When this happened and they in turn spread the virus to each other, you bet it gave me a bad headache.

Last year was one of the worst. Not only did we have to battle with hand foot mouth disease, measles, coughs, fevers, stuffy noses and sore throats, we also went through a rough patch when the baby came down with pneumonia not once, but twice. Yes, twice in a year, which isn't very common for an infant. While the first might have been measles-induced, the second was likely due to the house moving and breathing in all the air particles amidst the packing, renovating, shifting and unpacking. After we recovered from that, I set my mind on one thing - to have a cleaner, safer home for the kids in the hope of keeping them in good health.

So, one of the first steps was to install air purifiers in the new house and we did that with the help of Purlife, a purification company that is based in Singapore and specialises in indoor air quality. In this post, I will be sharing with you our review of Airclear 50, an indoor air purifier from Purlife, and three lucky readers will also get to win one set (each worth $499) for their homes.

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INSTALLATION

When Purlife first mentioned that they would be coming over to 'install' the purifiers, I was half wondering if it was going to be a complicated and time-consuming process. It turned out that what they needed to do was to first check the air quality using an air quality meter, record the readings, look for a good spot to place the air purifier - which measures 672mm (H) x 402mm (W) x 243mm (D) - plug it in and then let it do its job. Yup, that's it, it was totally hassle-free and took a matter of minutes to complete.



Depending on the size and layout of your house, you will require more than one purifier to keep the air quality of the entire house in check. Usually, one room will require one purifier but if you have a huge room, it might require two. For me, I chose to have one each in the living room, master bedroom and the girls' room. The boy's room, which also doubles up as the playroom and storeroom, felt a little too cramped so we did not choose to install one here. In any case, we spend minimal time in this room as compared to the rest. So if you have a limited budget or don't intend to purchase one for every room, do prioritise on which areas are in more dire need of cleaner air. These will usually be the spots that you and your kids spend the most time in when you are at home.

HOW IT WORKS

The Airclear 50 is equipped with a 3M™ HEPA Filter which has a pollutant removal rate of up to 99.97%. This ensures that it has an extremely fine filtration and traps tiny particles down to 0.3 microns in size. It cleans the air efficiently within 15 minutes and ensures that the air quality readings are well within the recommended levels.

It works with a noise level as low as 26.5db and features a smart sensor and auto speed mode function to work based on the air quality. Personally, I find that while the noise level is negligible in the day, it gets too loud at night for the kids if left in the 'Auto' mode. So, we much prefer to leave it on at just the minimum strength of (1 or 2 bars).


There are readings on the front to indicate the current temperate and moisture level. In addition, the purifier also gives off a backlight which can vary from red, orange to green. Red symbolises that air quality needs to be improved, orange means moderate while green says that the air quality is now at the healthy level. Note that these are just indicative and slight changes in weather or even people passing through might cause the light to changes its colour, so don't get too worried about it. What I appreciate is that while it might be able to function as a night light, you have the option of switching off the backlight simply by pressing a button so that the room remains dim even when the purifer is turned on. There is also a timer function (1h, 2h, 3h or 4h) for you to make use of should you wish for the purifier to be turned off after some time.

According to Purlife, the Airclear 50 is also supposedly be easy on the pockets and according to a 8-hr daily usage calculation based on Singapore Power’s Home Electricity Audit, using one of these purifiers will cost you less than $3 a month. Of course, the more you choose to install, the higher the charges will be so it's up to you to decide what is worthwhile for your family.

CHILD-FRIENDLY DESIGN

With three kids in the house, one being an inquisitive toddler who likes to lay his hands on everything he sees, I have to make sure that our home is a childproof as possible. The Airclear 50 has been designed to be as child-friendly as possible and that is something of relief to me.

Weighing 8kg and with a sturdy base, it does not topple over easily even if the kids accidentally knock into it. Before you think that the purifier is not portable and hard to move, it's really not. The sides have handholes which make it easy to grip so you can shift the purifier around whenever you are cleaning the house or when guests are coming over.


Wires lying on the floor are a safety hazard for my kids and other than a risk of electrical shock, there is a very high chance that they would trip and fall, especially the toddler who doesn't watch where he goes nowadays. The Airclear 50 comes with a wire holder at the back so you can easily wind the excess wire, tuck it in neatly and keep it out of sight.


Which kid doesn't like to press buttons? My toddler, who loves to play with remote controls, was elated to see that the height of the purifier suited him so well that he could easily press every single button whenever he liked. Thus, it was a good thing to know that there is a child lock function and once you press this button, the child will not be able to change the settings. That is, until one day he realises how to turn off the child lock setting. Well, hopefully he won't be so much in love with buttons by then!




THE RESULTS

In terms of air quality, which needs to measured with a meter, it can be very hard to determine the exact benefits brought about by the use of the purifiers. In order to get comparison statistics, what Purlife did was to check and measure the air quality before the purifiers were installed and then do a second round one month after use. Below are the reports for each of the rooms.

Girls' bedroom

Master bedroom

Living/Dining room

Of all the readings, I'm most concerned about PM2.5 - particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in size - since it can be easily inhaled into our lungs and go into the respiratory system, which can in turn lead to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. Children are at increased risk because of their developing lungs, high activity levels and are thus more likely to have asthma or acute respiratory diseases.

We have a perennial issue with the smoke haze due to forest fires in the region from time to time. Do you remember how severe it was in 2013 when PSI levels skyrocketed and hit over 400? I recalled how the whole city was shrouded in smoke and even when I had closed all our doors and windows, it didn't mean that we were not getting exposure and I felt like we were still breathing in unhealthy air all the time. While I'm keeping my fingers crossed that such serious cases will not recur, the fact that our home is now equipped with good quality air purifiers keeps me feeling more prepared and assured. As you can see from the readings, the air quality in every room of the house, including the PM2.5 level, is now kept within healthy levels as recommended by NEA.

So after three months of using the purifiers, I decided to open up the filter just to take a look. By the way, it is recommended that you change the filter every year. When you purchase the Airclear 50, Purlife covers you for the replacement filter after the first year and includes an air quality check. Subsequently, a new filter and air quality check costs $89 per annum. When it is time for a filter change, the button will light up so that you are notified immediately.

So, back to our filter, can you believe how much dust and dirt was trapped inside in just a short period of time? Yup, just because you don't see it doesn't mean that it isn't there. I was surprised to see how dirty it was and it made me shudder to think of how all these particles could have easily gotten into our bodies, my kids' bodies. Ewww. Anyway, to clean the filter, all you need to do is use a dry wipe to get rid of the dust.

Besides the Airclear 50, you can also use the Driveclear50 in the car or for very tight spaces in the house too. It helps to eliminate smoke and pet odours and gets rid of 90% of PM2.5 particles. Measuring 200 x 186 x 75 mm and weighing 0.7kg, it is compact and fits easily in most spaces.

For me, you know what's the best sign that our health has improved this year? Well, check this out, we haven't made a single trip to the clinic! Yup, that is something worth celebrating after all the ordeals we went through last year. Not just that, we also haven't had the need to take any medication, not even for any coughs, colds or fevers. Yup, not me, not the primary schooler, not the preschooler, not even the toddler. Although I can't say that all of the credit goes to the air purifiers, having cleaner, purer air at home is definitely one of the reasons why we are now leading a healthier life.

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Good news, again! I have an awesome giveaway for you and yes, I'm giving away not one, but THREE sets of indoor air purifiers (Airclear 50) from Purlife! To participate in the giveaway, leave a comment in this post with your name, email address and tell me why you wish to win. Indicate on the Rafflecopter widget that you have commented and to increase your chances of winning, you can choose to carry out the rest of the options.

This giveaway ends on 8 June 2359hrs and is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook or Instagram. The winner will be picked randomly, announced here and contacted via email. Best of luck, people!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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This post is part of the "A Happy Home" series where I share all about our new Scandinavian-themed house, the renovation process and some tips and thoughts. Moving is never easy but it comes with an indescribable sense of joy in building up the house of your dreams. Remember, home is where the heart is and nothing is more important than being able to build memories with the people you love.


Disclosure: This is a sponsored review and A Happy Home has been equipped with air purifiers from Purlife for the purpose of  writing this post. All opinions are our own.