Home air purifiers effective for improving indoor air quality?
- Thread starter Renegade
- Start date
I know, this is in response to an old post, but facts are facts and may help someone else.
Climate in Mumbai:
1) Monsoon (Jun to midSep): continuous rains, day as well as night temperatures hover between 25 and 30 deg C. One can live without AC; however, the humidity is >70% during daytime and >90% during nighttime. Peak humidity is just before sunrise when it may touch 99%
AC not required, however dehumidifier will work wonders to make it comfortable (I don't use any AC though in this season, except when sun shines and makes the temperature hot above 27-28 deg C).
2) PreWinters (midSep to midDec): no rains hence day temperatures rise 30 to 35 deg C since low cloud cover; night temperature remains around 25 to 30 deg C; Humidity drops slightly due to sunshine but still daytime >50% and nighttime > 70%. Day time AC is required by people sensitive to heat; nighttime AC is required by people sensitive to humidity.
3) Winters (midDec to midFeb): not really textbook winters, but a pleasant weather. Day time temperature between 25 and 30 deg C, nighttime temp between 20 and 25 deg C. Humidity drops further and daytime humidity would be around 40-50%, whereas nighttime humidity would be 50-70% (temperature and humidity highly dependent on the amount of cold dry winds blowing in from north India). Frankly AC is not required, but some Angrez ki aulads in India can't do without AC on 16 deg C.
4) Summers (mid Feb to Jun): the temperatures keep soaring up and humidity keeps plummeting down. Day time temp 30 deg to 40 deg C, nighttime temp 25-30 deg C. Humidity drops further, daytime mostly <40%; nighttime mostly >60%. You do require AC. And if you have humidity sensitive equipment like wooden items, paintings etc then you need a humidifier during daytime.
Human beings comfort range is quite narrow, as posted by others also:
22 to 27 deg C temperature (depends on how much wind is blowing) and 40-60% humidity.
The function of AC is exactly the above, condition the air to maintain a temp of around 24 deg C and around 50% humidity.
(Folks if you prefer lower temp on your AC, you need to get your blood pressure and body fat levels checked)
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Tracer_Bullet
Herald
This is wrong. I am in Mumbai and have a sensor too. Mumbai summers are terrible because of high humidity.
Right now in my room relative humidity is at 74, and it can go above 80 when it really sucks and you need ac/dehumidifier to clear it out.
dehumidifier increases room temp by a degree or so, so acs are better for that.
Humidity is lowest in winters(60s at night in room), then it starts increasing mid summer(80s), say from around april and reaches peak in monsoon(90s). But felt most in summers. Also night humidity > day time.
It does vary day to day, esp winds might bring a change, but this is the general pattern in my room.
With respect to humidity, it varies quite a lot within Mumbai region.
The island city (south part) definitely has very high humidity because it is surrounded by sea on three sides.
Contrast that with Powai/Central Suburbs/Thane/Navi Mumbai which is quite far away from the sea and hence has lower humidity. (my figures)
I have confidence on my stated numbers regarding humidity because I have two guitars, and both of them show the effect of low humidity (wood contracts and increases string action) as well as high humidity (wood expands and decreases string action).
Regarding your point about humidity being felt most in Summers: the reason is moderate humidity coupled with high air temperature (dry bulb temp). This causes a very high dew point. Or if you prefer very high wet bulb temperature. Wet bulb temperature is what our skin feels. Rest of India, say Pune, has extremely low humidity in summers, thus even though dry bulb temperature could be >40 deg C, the moment you come in shade and wind blows, the sweating cools the skin (= in other words low wet bulb temperature)
Perhaps this thread requires a graph called psychometric chart to explain all this: https://xp20.ashrae.org/SupplementalFiles/PHVAC9/SI_No1.pdf
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Tracer_Bullet
Herald
Dunno about navi mumbai/thane, i live in suburbs. Perhaps what you says is true as we go further away from sea, dunno.
Humidity is pretty high here from mid summer (although last few days it has reduced a bit maybe due to winds).
Early summers are nice when its not too hot and humidity is low.
I know for sure that humidity does not keep decreasing in summers here. Its just the opposite and then later rain comes and humidity spikes even more.
I am measuring it everyday ( i use dehumidifier too ).
Summer worst period is in 80s. Rain worst is in 90s.
You must be on western suburbs then, it has almost the same humidity as the south. Especially because of the hills (national park).
A nice real time geographical info: https://www.msn.com/en-in/weather/m...0=&weadegreetype=C&ocid=ansmsnweather&zoom=11
Observe how the humidity declines as we move away from the coast. And if there are hills then the leeward side has a sudden drop (e.g Thane, Lonavla)
You must be on western suburbs then, it has almost the same humidity as the south. Especially because of the hills (national park).
A nice real time geographical info: https://www.msn.com/en-in/weather/m...0=&weadegreetype=C&ocid=ansmsnweather&zoom=11
Observe how the humidity declines as we move away from the coast. And if there are hills then the leeward side has a sudden drop (e.g Thane, Lonavla)
Tracer_Bullet
Herald
This is really nice. wow 16% in Pune, i have never seen that low throughout the year. That low you will need humidifiers instead. Ideal RH i think is 40-60.
Indoor humidity with windows closed also can be higher than outside.
Although with windows open, i still don't really get the same, its usually a bit higher.
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jaswanth2703
Contributor
I have asthma and triggers are dust, cold etc will air purifier help me? I get asthma in middle of night or morning after waking up.
Tracer_Bullet
Herald
Winters are the worst for this for me.
I have asthma too and this year was much better with airpurifier. It definitely helps.
Sneezing allergies almost never happen now unless i go out. This was a big headache earlier.
I always had one nose blocked at night in winters, not anymore.
Also helps -
Drinking warm water at night instead of cold water also helped in my case. Some how this was also a trigger for asthma.
Wash bedsheets, pillows, pillow cover, curtains - atleast in winters say once a month.
Regularly clear floor of dust with vacuum cleaner.
Clean up fans.
I also use a dehumidifier at night but this is only relevant for humid areas.
If its too cold at night, maybe look for heaters. Mumbai isnt that bad and dehumidifier heats up room enough for me.
Asthma symptoms are still not 100% gone in winters because air outside my room is still bad, but its like 10-20% of before.
For a long time i did not know why i had so much trouble in winters, turns out winters have maximum pollution.
An air PM2.5 sensor can also help in giving feedback of air quality. Generally ones that come with AP arent good.