Healthy Food Delivery : We Tried It: Aura Air Purifier

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

We Tried It: Aura Air Purifier

Even with the relatively clean air where I live in Minnesota, I wonder about my home’s indoor air quality. Smoke from wildfires hundreds of miles away, fumes from construction projects, chemicals sprayed on neighboring yards, my own drywall project … who knows what’s in the air I breathe?

Here’s what I do know about: The potential harmful effects of air pollutants, from a nagging cough to asthma symptoms to long-term lung conditions.

You can do two things about air pollution. First, increase your awareness of indoor and outdoor air conditions. Second, clean the air inside your home. The search for cleaner, healthier air inspired us to try the Aura Air.

What is the Aura Air Purifier?

To clean indoor air, the Aura Air purifier employs a system of filters, sensors, one UVC LED light and a recirculating fan.

A prefilter snares large particles such as dust, pollen and even pet hair. The unit’s larger ray filter targets the contaminants you can’t see. This filter, resembling an old automotive air cleaner, includes a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, a carbon filter to absorb volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and foul house odors, and a zinc-lined copper fabric filter with virus-killing properties.

The UVC LED light kills pathogens in the air; this technology is increasingly common in air-cleaning devices. The Aura Air’s Sterionizer element converts oxygen molecules into positive and negative charged atoms, which can reduce the spread of airborne pathogens.

In clinical trials performed in Japan, the Sterionizer reduced influenza H1N1 virus levels in the air by 92 percent after 30 minutes of exposure and 98.9 percent after 60 minutes. Rather than buying a separate air ionizer, the Aura Air purifier is an all-in-one product.

The Aura Air handles about 600 sq. ft. of living space and retails for $500. There’s also an Aura Air Mini, a battery-powered portable unit, for hotel rooms or smaller work spaces. If you’re curious about air quality where you live, enter your zip code at airnow.gov, a site created in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

How We Tested It

I tested the Aura Air purifier device in my home for several weeks. Once plugged in, the device goes to work immediately cleaning the air and informing me about the quality of the air I’m breathing. That’s one of the manufacturer’s main goals, and it makes the indoor air quality monitor a valuable feature.

“We want to inform and provide a solution,” said Roei Friedberg, CEO of Aura Air, in a recent Zoom video interview. “As we work to build a new standard for indoor air quality, we know that information is an important element of the process.”

The Aura Air wall-mounted cube weighs about 12 lbs. and measures about 15 inches across. I mounted it on the wall outside my bedrooms and home office, securing it easily with the included hardware. Then I plugged in the unit, downloaded the app and connected the device to my home network.

Once I entered my WiFi password, the small light on the Aura Air turned green and it began to work. I know that because I could hear it — it was louder than I expected. The Aura Air’s fan works hard to pull air through all its filters. The sound reminded me of a small window air-conditioning unit.

But while I explored the app and the unit settings, I noticed the Aura Air became quieter, as if it shifted down a gear or two. With the unit in Auto Mode, it will cycle as needed from low to high. I discovered I can manually set it to any mode (including Silent Mode) and program a Night Mode to quiet the device and turn off the indicator light.

With the app and my connected Aura Air, I have access to loads of data about indoor and outdoor air quality. Information about particulate matter, VOCs and the overall air quality index is important to those suffering with asthma or allergies. The Aura Air monitors CO and CO2 indoors, and it reports on nitrogen oxides, ozone and sulfur dioxide in the outdoor air. It also works as a smoke detector.

Final Verdict

The product is easy to set up and use. It provides helpful information about indoor air quality, allowing users to see it working in real time. The Aura Air purifier works as promised.