Moving to China...air purifier questions

[HoraceMann]

I will definitely be buying an air purifier or two. Are there good ones readily available at a reasonable price for filtering the particulate from the air that seems to be the greatest problem?
If so, which brands/models would you recommend?
If I buy in the US and bring with me, will I run into big problems with the power conversion issues...or will they run properly?

What are your experiences/recommendations?

Thanks...

[mysharona]

http://www.iqair.com/

are available in Shanghai, don't know about other cities but I would imagine so. I believe we paid $1500 for ours several years ago. Used ones are often for sale, check with departing teachers.

One from home would work as long as you had the transformer but who needs that stress. I have blown out several appliances over years that I brought from home, who needs the stress?

[wntriscoming]

Blue Air and Alen Air purifiers are also available. I highly recommend air purifiers for every room. Last thing you want is permanent damage to your lungs (or your child's) because of the air in your home.

Alen Air will do a free evaluation of the air in your home with no pressure or having to buy their product. They deliver for free and when you need filters replaced, they bring them to you with a bankcard reader, so you don't even have to have cash on hand. Very good service and they are always helpful. They often give discounts beyond what's listed on their website to teachers at the beginning of the school year.

[PsyGuy]

Air purifiers are indeed available and if you live in Beijing of Shanghai you really need one. Check with your school or landlord though as many apartments come furnished with them already.

I would not recommend bringing one from the States not only is the electric current a factor, but the filters do need to be replaced and your unlikely to find them available. If anything goes wrong with it as well, you may not be able to get it repaired and likely the warranty will not apply out of country.

[mamava]

In Beijing you can buy Blue Air, Alen, and the top-end IQ as well as a Chinese brand called Yadu. As for reasonable, any that are tough enough to manage the pollution here are pricey...the IQs can run up to $1000 USD per unit. If you are single in an apartment you can probably get by with one. We live in a compound house with 3 bedrooms and we have 3, but we really should have at least 4. Beijing is very very dry--it really wears on your skin and cracks your wood furniture so humidifiers are a must as well. Many machines are both cleaners and humidifiers. We have been running Yadu combo machines 2 hours a day for 5 years. They've held up well, but in the past couple years we've had to change the filters and have them cleaned a couple times a year.

I wouldn't bring them from the States, you can find them anywhere here and since we're 220 you'd need converters to use an imported one. They are essential, though.

[HoraceMann]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply. This is actually my greatest fear in moving to China. I have respiratory issues as it is, and am concerned about the pollution. Even though the issues I have here are environmental and not man made, I have had great success and seen a huge difference in my well being when using purifiers versus not using them. I pray that the use of purifiers will allow me to work in my "city" without issues.

[senator]

Horace:

Don't be sensitive about this question:

WHY would you go to China if you have respiratory problems?

I worked there for 7 years but Xiamen was very clean, NO factories nearby.

But all of the big cities I visited frequently were often bad.

Maybe you are going to a smaller city?

I hope you are not going to Beijing, man.

[PsyGuy]

@HoraceMann

Where are you going? if your going to a major city like beijing or Shanghai, cancel your contract and look for a new job. Really if your respiratory problems are that bag, Beijing/Shanghai will kill you. The filters help inside but you will have to go outside eventually, and even inside they dont make the air close to what you would have back in the west.

Last year a friend had to be hospitalized for secondary drowning, the irritants in his lungs were so bad he nearly drowned in his sleep from his body trying to flush the irritants from his lungs.

[mamava]

Beijing is strange, to be sure--I know people (and children) who have come with resp. problems and been fine, and others who have come healthy and been very bothered by the air.

If you are taking a job, you should ask what, if anything, your school does to manage the air quality. We have huge air handlers at our school and the air quality is monitored constantly and it's very very good. It's harder to keep it as good at home because windows leak, etc. but then you have to figure that if you're serious about it, you need to stay indoors a lot. People purchase air filters to wear, they're about $100 for biking to and from the store/work or running. It's definitely a challenge.

[emilyhurd]

mamava, Do you run more than one air filter in your house per day? I'm trying to figure out how effective it would be to have one air filter/purifier for a 2BR apartment or if I should definitely plan on getting one per room.

[wntriscoming]

Emily, I'd suggest more than one. We have one in each room. There are units that purify different sized rooms. We have our large-space air purifier in the living room, and smaller ones in each bedroom.

[HoraceMann]

My respiratory problems aren't that bad...though definitely an allergy sufferer. Mine respiratory problems manifest as a bad sinus drip and the resulting cough. That said, the cough can get bad at times when the exposure to the particular irritants that are problematic for me are at high levels. I will be going to one of the larger cities near the coast. I've spent a month in Beijing before in the winter time, and really did not feel any ill effects, but I spent most of my time indoors. I do not take part in a lot of outdoor activities...at least not in the city. I imaging that I will be spending the majority of my time indoors and will try to get out of the city environs as much as possible.
I plan to be in a newer apartment. I am hoping the quality of the construction will be good enough to allow me to keep my living environment relatively free of particulate contaminants.
I am being so naive to think that I will be able to live in a major Chinese city if willing to be proactive and realistic about what I can and cannot do to make my living environment "livable"?

[PsyGuy]

@HoraceMann

I think your being naive. If walls kept out the crude no one would use filters. Your going to need them. "Good construction" in China is an oxymoron, its China, they dont make anything to last. Besides its not the construction its the air exchanger, it brings air from outside, dirty air, and heats or cools it. You cant avoid it

[HoraceMann]

Thanks all...
PsyGuy, I was referring to mamava's comment about the the quality of the construction coming into play when determining if the air purifiers would be effective. If I am in an apartment that is fairly well constructed (no air leaks through windows and doors and something approaching an "optimal" ventilation system...whatever that might consist of (I hear that there are many newer apartments being built with very good air filtration systems)...would I be naive to believe that I could keep the air in my living environment relatively safe?

[wntriscoming]

Yes, you would be naive to think that. It may be better than the air quality outside, but it will still be bad. Get the air purifiers. Better to cough up the money than your lungs. :D