Dawnf Posted March 5, 2019 Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 I’ve looked through the threads here and I can only find some pretty old ones about air purifiers/cleaners. There seem to be some pretty good air filters out now that are floor models and about 1/2 the price of the Bailey ceiling/wall mounted units. One I’m looking at in particular is the AUSTIN air health mate plus. The filtration is as follows. True medical grade HEPA filter removes 99.97% of all particles larger than 0.3 microns; over 780 cubic inches of activated carbon impregnated with potassium iodide and zeolite filtration removes odors, gases and chemicals including formaldehyde and benzene. Has anyone used these floor hepa filters? Any recommendations? Thoughts? Just trying to eliminate even more dust and particulates. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted March 5, 2019 Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 hello, dawn, welcome to the forums! i have to confess that i stopped reading at "particles larger than 0.3 microns". as a secondary unit OK. but check out the size of silica dust first before buying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted March 5, 2019 Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 Hi Dawn! There's a few threads here somewhar with extensive discussion on air handling; Mark C. has some good takes on the subject. See "Dust Collection For Small Studio" ...try search strings "hepa" and/or "air and dust and Mark" At home/hobby level (where I am - there aren' tons o' clay moving through my studio), keeping the dry clay cleaned up, err, before it dries is key, also not agitating dry clay (especially steppin' on it), no sanding (inside), monitoring dust accumulation (wipe that down!), no fans ...my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted March 5, 2019 Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 For silica dust you need 99.9 or better efficiency because of the silica particle size, as Babs already noted. Keeping the dust from getting airborne in the first place remains a better bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted March 5, 2019 Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 Welcome to the forum. I would contact OSHA and ask about the particular make and model of machine you are looking at plus info about size of room etc. Sounds like they are using a P100 filter which is the highest rating for personal protection. OSHA phone number 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) Like others have said the air filter is the last resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnf Posted March 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 Thank you all for the input!! I felt like i was keeping a clean studio and still getting dust, therefore looking for a filtration system as well... but I’ll just have to be more dilligent, thorough and to do better to not allow it to get in the air in the first place. If I do end up getting a secondary filtration anyway I’ll let you know how it works. Thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 6, 2019 Report Share Posted March 6, 2019 This filter you are looking at is not what you want Several things wrong-1st is it a ground unit. The whole idea of most filters is they create flow in a space-Thats why they hang from rafters/ceiling Most are hung so they push air thru and create a flow thru, this is more like a drain sucking in -dumping to the ground which stirs more dust up. Second the filters get clogged pretty fast so at over $200 a replacement thats going to kill your pocket book fast I have written some posts on this subject -you will have to use the main page and from there go to the search function I have adapted a ceiling filter unit made by Jet they also are made by Delta tools which you can use way cheaper hepa filters. They are 12x24 size. You will have to adapt the filters to the units -tape or a metal collar whatever you come up with. I like a cheaper pre filter for the larger particles in front then the hepa then another filter -then the larger 5 micron bag that fits inside unit. This gets it all and is cheaper to change out the 1st 2 filters-the cheap one then the hepa. Find my pots on this-the baileys are just way to overprice for less than what I described -also consider the filter replacement costs over the long haul . The filter is just a fan sucking in air and either pulling it or pushing it thru a filter which needs to get changed often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbully Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 Hi All, Hobbyist here with a follow up question on this... I have a garage studio in Oakland California. The air quality here has been an issue with the wildfires and it's meant that the air has been unhealthy in my studio due to environmental factors (in addition to silica from my pottery). I keep the studio very clean and only wet clean but was considering getting the Austin Air Healthmate to help clean the air from pollutants and also from silica. Would something like this work or do I need to go as far as Mark C. with a ceiling filter unit? I'll be honest, I'm hoping for a more simplified solution! Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 22 minutes ago, lilbully said: Hi All, Hobbyist here with a follow up question on this... I have a garage studio in Oakland California. The air quality here has been an issue with the wildfires and it's meant that the air has been unhealthy in my studio due to environmental factors (in addition to silica from my pottery). I keep the studio very clean and only wet clean but was considering getting the Austin Air Healthmate to help clean the air from pollutants and also from silica. Would something like this work or do I need to go as far as Mark C. with a ceiling filter unit? I'll be honest, I'm hoping for a more simplified solution! Many thanks. As long as it's not stirring up more dust than it's filtering! It has a hepa filter which is nice, make sure it has some kind of prefilter though because the larger clay particles will clog the hepa quicker and the replacement filters for hepa are pricy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 do you use canvas on any work surface? if so, toss it and use something solid so that you can wash off the dust as it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 For the air pollution from the fires, I've seen people using furnace filters on box fans to clean the air, and they say it works pretty well. For silica, though, it's not going work unless you've got a HEPA FILTER. But if you're wet cleaning the studio well it shouldn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 Those Austin Air Healthmate cost about double than the system I have (filters under $40) whole delta or jet unit is under $400. The Austin Air Healthmate is a home unit not an industrial unit it look like. Wet cleaning for hobbist is enough I would say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 4 hours ago, lilbully said: Would something like this work or do I need to go as far as Mark C. with a ceiling filter unit? I'll be honest, I'm hoping for a more simplified solution! The Austin air is rated well. HEPA with prefilter, and activated carbon for odors. Most ground based units take air in low (positionally) and discharge high at a fairly low velocity to help with the potential to agitate and distribute dust on the floor. They work, and will improve your air quality. I mention the low high velocity thing because real design thought and testing goes into them. Using a furnace filter, depending on rating may help but likely benefits a whole bunch from thinking like an engineer. Furnace filters have merv ratings which is their minimum effectiveness. HEPA is in the merv 16 range but merv 16 does not mean true HEPA. There is a saying in the HVAC industry for spun glass prefilters (very cheap filters) we say they stop small rocks and birds. In other words not designed to catch much. Really cheap furnace filters (Merv 1-3 let’s say) don’t filter a whole bunch. MERV chart http://www.mechreps.com/PDF/Merv_Rating_Chart.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 1 hour ago, Bill Kielb said: There is a saying in the HVAC industry for spun glass prefilters (very cheap filters) we say they stop small rocks and birds. In other words not designed to catch much. Really cheap furnace filters (Merv 1-3 let’s say) don’t filter a whole bunch. People say they're using the allergen level furnace filters with the box fans, the expensive 3M ones, for the fire pollution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 50 minutes ago, neilestrick said: 2 hours ago, Bill Kielb said: People say they're using the allergen level furnace filters with the box fans, the expensive 3M ones, for the fire pollution. Hopefully MERV 9 minimum, 13 - 16 would be better. Should say right on the package though. The chart hopefully is helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted September 19, 2020 Report Share Posted September 19, 2020 The viral video going around said they have to be at least merv 13, but if you go to home depot they're completely out of every type, so obviously people were not paying attention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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