Dyson Humidifying Air Purification Fan PH04 Experience: Is 1+1+1 really greater than 3?
Many people say that Guangzhou is livable, at least not as often as the north suffers from sandstorms and smog. However, as a southerner, I have different feelings. Except for the sticky and humid back to the southern sky, even winter is not very friendly to my dry and sensitive skin.
Despite this, my rough guy can still tolerate the dryness of the southern winter, but recently I started to consider purchasing an air purification device.
Firstly, because my home just finished a renovation not long ago, I am really worried about my mother's method of "putting some grapefruit peel" to remove formaldehyde.
Opening windows for ventilation is of course a better way, but during the epidemic, I lived on the lower floors and had some worries. A Harvard University study showed that the death rate of the new crown is often consistent with the high population density and high pollution of PM2.5 aerosols, and the virus may survive longer in the polluted air.
▲ Picture from: dwnews.
At the same time as a technology media editor, I am also very aware that home air purification equipment can be said to be an "IQ tax minefield." So I took a Dyson Humidifying Air Purification Fan PH04 for a period of time to see how it behaves in the end.
Iconic design language, a versatile "furniture"
Dyson and Apple are often regarded as two companies with similar temperaments. To a large extent, they both have a unique design language, and both have founders who pay great attention to design.
An industrial design blogger once summarized the three characteristics of Dyson products: pragmatism, industrial grade, and refinement. And on this Dyson humidifying air purification fan PH04, Dyson's iconic design language is still continued.
The black and gold body, the rounded arc, and the classic fanless structure, the transparent plastic water storage box and the smooth metal material remind me of the through-type transparent plastic parts of the Dyson vacuum cleaner, which reflects the design While showing its beauty to consumers, it also shows how it works.
Compared with the Dyson TP09 air purification fan that we have experienced in the summer, PH04 looks like a "short and fat" version of TP09, which also makes the PH04 look more refined at home and can better integrate into various decoration styles. Become a versatile "furniture".
As for the wind performance, PH04 is basically the same as TP09, and the 7th gear or lower can maintain good quietness at home. However, blowing air in winter is not the main task of this device. Dyson also took this into consideration and added a diffusion mode to let the wind blow from the back, which can be said to be very intimate.
The matched remote control can control almost all functions of PH04 very conveniently. The practical properties are full, but the workmanship and texture are not as exquisite as a fan. This is one of the few slots of PH04.
The built-in magnet of the remote control can make it stick to the top of the fan, so you don’t have to worry about losing it. Compared with the remote control, I still prefer to use the Dyson Link app to control the fan on my mobile phone. After networking, I can not only adjust the wind, humidity, airflow direction, wind angle and other functions at any time and anywhere, but also check the indoor air quality in real time.
Although the LCD screen on the PH04 is also very clear, it still cannot be compared with the large screen of a smart phone. It is limited by the screen size. You need to switch between different air quality values such as temperature, humidity, PM2.5 and so on in the PH04. On the mobile phone, you can see multiple values at one time, and you can continue to monitor the change curve of various indicators at different times.
Is 1+1+1 really greater than 3?
Dyson's design is still online, but if it is really worth the price of 6,590 yuan, it depends on the performance of the PH04 in the actual scene.
Compared with ordinary air purification equipment, PH04 has multiple functions. It integrates air purifier, humidifier and fan, which can save a lot of space in the home. Is 1+1+1 really greater than 3? So I did some tests on this device in different scenarios.
What I am most concerned about in this weather is actually the humidification function. Although the winter here is not as good as that in the north, the air humidity will often drop to about 30%, and my skin will soon be chapped and peeled, so I also need to use humidification to improve the air humidity.
But when I activated the automatic humidification function of the PH04, I thought it was something wrong with the equipment, why did not water mist come out? But the humidity value in the room is indeed rising significantly.
In fact, this is because Dyson uses an evaporative humidifier, the principle of which is to expel water molecules through a fan after accelerating the evaporation of water. And the humidifier that usually sees white mist, uses the high-frequency vibration of ultrasonic waves to break up the water into particles and diffuse into the air. Although evaporative humidification does not seem so "intuitive", it can prevent magazines such as mineral particles in the water from being discharged into the air, and the body feels more natural and comfortable.
However, the dimension of evaluating the humidification function is not limited to the humidification effect. After all, water can easily breed bacteria. If it enters the room with water vapor, the gain is not worth the loss.
It is reported that PH04 uses a PTFE tube made of a highly reflective material developed by Dyson engineers. It is reflected multiple times in the tube through short-wave ultraviolet rays to kill 99.9% of bacteria. Then, when the water flows through the evaporator net, it inhibits the bacteria. The silver wire woven mesh can further inhibit the growth of bacteria.
Next, let’s see if the "nose" of this device is not working well. PH04 has 4 built-in sensors. In addition to basic humidity and temperature, it can also detect formaldehyde, benzene, ethanol, acetaldehyde and other organic volatiles ( VOC), and particulate matter such as P2.5 and PM10.
In order to test the sensitivity of PH04 to VOC, I sprayed some toilet water near the device. The VOC value in the display instantly turned red. In the automatic mode, the wind became stronger and started to work. After about 3 minutes, it dropped to the normal value.
As for the most worrying formaldehyde content indoors, I found a new office that is being renovated. It shows 0.090mg/m³, although it is still a green safety value, it is also close to the national limit value of 0.1mg/m³ for formaldehyde content. 8 minutes after turning on the machine, the formaldehyde content has dropped to 0.029 mg/m³.
Such high purification efficiency benefits from the HEPA, activated carbon combined filter and catalytic oxidation filter in PH04.
The HEPA filter is made of 9 meters of HEPA borosilicate ultra-fine glass fiber after 200 repeated foldings, which can capture 99.95% of particles as small as 0.1 micron, and the combined activated carbon mesh can capture nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds Compounds (VOC) and other gases.
In addition, PH04 uses manganese-like potash material as the catalytic coating filter to decompose formaldehyde into carbon dioxide and water. Because the catalyst itself does not participate in the chemical reaction, the filter can be used for a long time without replacing it. Compared with pure activated carbon mesh, this This kind of catalytic oxidation filter can decompose formaldehyde more thoroughly.
This is because activated carbon has an upper limit of adsorption capacity. After the adsorption reaches saturation, it needs to be replaced. Otherwise, it will not only fail to continuously adsorb formaldehyde, but may cause the formaldehyde molecules adsorbed on the activated carbon pores to desorb and release again, causing secondary pollution. The PH04 machine reaches the H13 HEPA sealing standard, which can effectively avoid this situation.
Finally, I decided to give PH04 some extreme challenge. Under the premise of ensuring safety, I lit a mosquito-killing smoke sheet in an unmanned space of about 30 square meters to test its ability to purify dust particles.
While a large amount of smoke was released from the mosquito-killing smoke sheet, the PM2.5 of PH04 soared to the maximum display range of 999μg/m³, and the actual PM2.5 content should exceed this value.
After about 6 minutes, the PM2.5 value began to decrease gradually, and after 15 minutes it dropped to the “severely polluted water level” of 387μg/m³, and after 25 minutes the value became the “severely polluted water level” of 149 μg/m³. After 40 minutes It has dropped to a normal level of 23 μg/m³.
Although this extreme test is not as rigorous as the laboratory, and daily use will generally not encounter such a special situation, it can also be seen that PH04 has a good recognition accuracy and purification efficiency for fine dust.
PH04 also has a more intimate function. When the evaporator, filter and other parts in the machine need to be cleaned, the screen above the power button will automatically prompt, and the "deep cleaning cycle" button will light up, and you can press it. Automatic cleaning is so friendly to me who doesn't like (too lazy) to do housework.
How much is a breath of fresh air worth?
There has always been a problem of uneven quality in the field of household air purification equipment. In the past few years, in the random inspection of air purifier products by market supervision, the unqualified rate is generally 20% to 30%. Will pay the "IQ tax."
The price of Dyson PH04 is not low among similar products, is it worth it? It still depends on your usage scenarios and needs. If you want to monitor the formaldehyde content in real time and purify the formaldehyde as soon as possible after decorating your new home, PH04 can be said to be a more reliable choice.
In addition to its purification efficiency, the PH04 solid-state formaldehyde sensor uses solid-state electrochemical cells in monitoring formaldehyde, which will not dry out over time, the accuracy can reach 0.001mg/m3, and the cost is relatively higher.
The general portable formaldehyde detectors on the market use gel sensors. Although the price is cheaper, when the gel dries out, it will affect the accuracy of monitoring and may be interfered by volatile organic compounds other than formaldehyde.
If you don't want to pay the "IQ tax" on this issue, it's actually best to do more homework. We often use activated carbon bags, grapefruit peels, and green plants to remove formaldehyde, which cannot be said to be ineffective, but a very large amount is required to effectively remove formaldehyde.
Of course, a better way is to put the problem ahead, choose products that meet national standards when selecting furniture and decoration materials, and opening windows for ventilation is still one of the most effective ways to remove formaldehyde and other volatile pollutants.
For Dyson, "healthy home" has become the focus of its future development. From fans, vacuum cleaners to air purifiers, Dyson's technical accumulation is also transformed into different products according to user needs.
In the context of repeated global epidemics and more and more extreme global climates, the price of a breath of fresh air may be higher and higher.
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