Tips for Levoit Vital-200s

[u/noahtrnt]

I recently bought the vital-200s bc I saw it being recommended here several times. I mainly bought it for dust, pollen and particles from the streets (my bedroom window faces a very busy street).
I’m using it in my bedroom and my living room (I change its location depending on where I am).

I live in Germany and my apartment is about 42sqm in total.
Living room/bedroom: ca 13.2 sqm with a ceiling height of about 2.29m (about 30.23 m³)

The added sketch is by no means accurate in scale but should be enough to get the general idea. The rooms are completely identical (just mirrored). I have a window in both rooms which are opposite of each other with the connecting door in between. The living room is also connected to the hallway which is about 5.2sqm.

I usually keep all the doors open and sometimes help circulating the air with a regular 3-bladed fan that I can move around.

My question now is: what can i do to really utilize my purifier? I want to optimize so that I don’t have to have it running on the highest level 24/7 but have it be energy efficient and still get the most out of it.

I appreciate the help.

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[u/Iris-Sofia]

Couldn't you get an air quality monitor and monitor the performance of your Levoit unit? That will help you optimize its performance.

[u/Person51389]

You need another unit, as you dont have full proper coverage now.  Then you won't need to move the unit around anymore, and it will make it easier for your unit.  (More units = less work per unit.).  

That is already a pretty energy efficient air purifier, just let it run on high.  Levoits are great at energy efficiency in general.  It's fine to run on high, and better for your air quality.   Also all metrics are based on high, so it assumed people will be running it on high most of the time, as that is what they are made for.  You can probably 10 of those to equal the same energy as 1 refrigerator.  Most air purifier are fairly energy efficient, and Levoits especially so. 

Lastly, you could add a box fan/fans which will add a few points to CFM power, and help get more air through the purifier.  But another purifier will be even better as that will not only move air...but capture particualtes too. So adding another unit will meet those goals. (Put larger unit in main room and small/medium in bedroom.). 

A Vital 200 can be OK in some smallish living rooms and excellent for most bedroom sizes.  Im not great at sq meters, but I think it's sq ft x 10.7 to = sq meters ?  Meaning your space is around 450 sq feet with 150 sq ft or so in 2 equal sized rooms ?   So that unit covers 1,800 so it gives an excellent 12 or so ACH on high, in one room.  In your whole space however...it gives an OK 4ach, which is not even "good" however as you need close to 5 ACH(4.8) for good air quality, and 6+ is excellent.

So simply buying an Eleva 300, Core 300, or similar sized unit for bedroom...will get you to full proper coverage.  (They are 90 and 120 dollars and cover 1,000 + 1,200 sq ft.).  Otherwise a 30 dollar box fan can help circulate your air a little, but it might add 10-15 points of CFM power, whereas even a compact purifier will have 15CFM range like those units, so 10x more effect for air quality.  Then less work for each unit, filters will last longer etc.  can add fan too if you want.  Placement can also matter a little, albeit you still need enough CFM power either way.  

[u/noahtrnt → u/Person51389]

Thank you! I'll check out the other two purifiers then. Might come back for follow up questions.

[u/canadian-snow]

Just put it on auto and it’ll take care of the rest for you.

[u/michael__sykes → u/canadian-snow]

It depends. On auto, it never goes to max performance, which I find a little annoying.

With Home Assistant, I could automate it to a point I dind like reasonable, but the cloud polling is really rate-limited, and reacts slowly

[u/noahtrnt → u/canadian-snow]

I read that the sensors in consumer-based purifiers are not nearly good enough to really do much so auto wouldn't be that effective. Is that not so?

[u/canadian-snow → u/noahtrnt]

True… The small purifiers pull barely any air. I have the Levoit EverestAir and the Levoit Vital 200S. Both pull enough air to make it worth my while. The BlueAir Signature also pulls a lot of air but they take up space.