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How much are you willing to pay for an air purifier?

WION
New DelhiWritten By: Priyanka Sharma PahwaUpdated: May 20, 2022, 10:44 PM IST
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Dyson's latest air purifier promises to leave the air around you squeaky clean. Does it deliver?

Here's a question for you, do you wake up coughing and sneezing every morning? If the answer to that is a resounding yes, then you're one of the countless victims of allergy season.

Breathing clean air has now become a luxury for most of us. Pollution levels are rising globally but in India, the problem is more severe than ever before. A Lancet study recently found that pollution led to more than 2.3 million premature deaths in India in 2019.

So, what do we do? Do we lock ourselves in a room, shut the doors and windows and hope to take a deep, fresh breath of air? Think again. Poor indoor air quality is now becoming a menace that we all have to contend with. The onslaught of allergy season is leading to more respiratory issues among urban professionals than ever before.

Enter the air purifier. Over the last five years, air purifiers have transitioned from being a luxury to a necessity. Homes, offices, hotels, spas, schools and other institutions are all stocking up on air purifiers.

Dyson has been making inroads into the Indian market with its sleek, expensive products across segments. Its air purifiers make big claims and have become fixtures in upwardly mobile homes and hotel chains given their steep price tag. 

The company's latest air purifier, the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 promises to combat the elements in the air around you. Let's get the exorbitant price tag out of the way. The Dyson is priced at a whopping 52,900 rupees and is one of the more expensive offerings in the segment.

But does it live up to its claim and the heavy price tag? Here's our review.

Desgin 

In trademark Dyson style, the air purifier looks nothing like an air purifier. The plastic unibody is sleek and elegant. The golden grilles at the bottom are removable and house the air filters. It comes with a LCD screen which provides you all-important details about fan speed, filter life, and of course the Air Quality Index or AQI inside the room. You'll be shocked to know that the air quality inside your bedroom isn't great either!

There is a power button to switch the purifier on or off on the body of the TP09 but I would suggest you make use of the sleek remote to operate the air purifier from a distance. Or better yet, sync the device with the Dyson Link mobile application which will help you control your device from anywhere in the house. This worked well for me especially with a toddler running around. 

The Dyson TP09 blends seamlessly into the interiors of your home and its slender body doesn't come in the way.

Syncs with the Dyson link app

The Dyson Link App is a useful one, especially if you like to control your devices through a common platform. It senses any Dyson product which may be nearby and pairs with it easily in around 5 minutes. From that point on, you can use the app to increase the fan speed, switch your device on or off and even get a sense of the AQI inside your room over a period of time. This will give you an idea of how well the air purifier is working.

Pro tip: take all statistics with a pinch of salt since they may not be 100% accurate. This is the case for all air purifiers across segments.

Does it clean the air in your room?

The Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde claims to capture ultrafine dust and allergens. All this sounds great but how do we know if it's actually working? Dyson says the new purifier comes with a Formaldehyde sensing technology. 

Let's break it down for you. Essentially, Formaldehyde is a colourless gas pollutant, released by furniture and wooden products containing formaldehyde-based resins like plywood and fibreboard, insulating materials and do-it-yourself products such as paint, wallpapers, varnishes and household cleaning products. 

Dyson claims its filter can catch all that and destroy the enemy -- in this case Formaldehyde.

I have been using the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde for more than three weeks. The review coincided with the worst allergy season I have experienced till date. As someone who pops allergy medication daily, I am glad to say that the frequency has considerably reduced when inside the house. On weekends, when I am confined to my room, I hardly sneezed or coughed, much to the relief of those around me.

However, once I stepped out, my allergies came back to haunt me almost instantly. And that has always been the primary argument against air purifiers -- that they trap you inside a bubble of semi-filtered air making it difficult for you to adapt to the miserable air quality outdoors.

But this argument is hard to sustain. Why not give yourself the luxury of clean air if you can afford it?

Another significant observation: this air purifier was able to capture dust from surrounding furniture. While no home can be eternally dust-free, I did notice an improvement in corners where the air purifier was placed.

Let's talk about the "Cooling" feature. It is more of a gimmick given the potency of Indian summers; you can use it for targeted cooling for those hot afternoons when your air conditioner just doesn't cut it.

Another pro tip: keep windows and doors shut tight for the air purification to be optimised. This rule applies to all air purifiers across segments.

Should you buy it?

Should you buy an air purifier which costs more than 50,000 rupees? Depends on your budget. The high price tag alienates a huge section of the population from investing in good-quality air purifiers and this is a challenge that brands need to address in the future. 

While most brands have added air purifiers to their portfolios, Dyson's technology is superior to most which is why the price tag raises eyebrows. Go for this air purifier if you or your family is prone to allergies. 

After all, you cannot put a price on being able to breathe clean air, right?