The $200 air purifier I bought for my garage was a total waste

I got this nice air purifier back in March thinking it would help with the dust and fumes from all the boxes and pallets I bring home from the warehouse. Spent about $200 on a decent unit with a HEPA filter and everything. After two weeks I noticed the air didn't feel any different and the filter was already dark gray. Turns out garage spaces are just too big and leaky for these things to work right, you basically need a commercial grade unit that costs like a thousand bucks. I ended up just opening the big garage door more often and using a box fan with a standard furnace filter taped to the back for like $30 total. Has anyone else tried those DIY box fan filter setups and actually seen a difference in a dusty space?

3 comments

3 Comments

linda_reed2d ago

That box fan with a furnace filter setup is sort of a garage classic at this point, but I wouldnt go expecting it to turn the place into a clean room or anything. My brother did the same thing in his woodworking shop and he said it catches the big dust particles for sure, but you still get that fine layer of sawdust on everything after a few hours. The thing with those is they pull a lot of air but they dont have the static pressure to really scrub the air in a big space like a garage, so you're mostly just stirring stuff around. I guess if you're just trying to make the air a little less hazy when you're sanding or moving boxes around, itll help some, just dont expect miracles for thirty bucks.

stellat462d ago

My buddy tried that and said it actually cleared up his workshop pretty good.

holly7092d ago

Box fan filters are actually one of those things where the internet hype got way ahead of the reality lol. Its like every time someone has a dusty garage or workshop the first thing people shout is just tape a furnace filter to a box fan and call it a day. But the airflow vs static pressure thing is a real issue, those box fans just push air around more than they actually trap fine particles. Reminds me of how everyone thought those cheap air purifiers off amazon would solve their allergies but really they just move the dust from one spot to another. At least the box fan setup is only thirty bucks so its not like you lost anything trying it out.