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Comment by Ataraxic

3 years ago

Looking at the wattage comparisons, the article talks about the "Wirecutter recommended air purifier" but seems to go out of its way to not mention it by name. Why?

Second, I don't believe this air purifier, or really any recommended air purifier is going to use 45 watts for any extended period of time. The main power draw is simply the fan and a fan using 45 watts is going to be extremely loud.

Secondly, I think there is an argument to be made for an air purifier quickly reducing particle count and then switching back into a lower noise mode.

The suspicious CADR numbers do require more investigation on the wirecutter side though.

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Ataraxic

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mbrubeck  3 years ago

> Second, I don't believe this air purifier, or really any recommended air purifier is going to use 45 watts for any extended period of time.

The article says it is comparing to the Wirecutter's current "small space" pick, which since April 2022 has been the Levoit Core 300:

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-air-purifier...

The Wirecutter measures it at “34.6 watts on medium (and 31.8 watts on low).” The manufacturer's specs give a “Rated Power” of 45W, which might correspond to the “high” setting:

https://levoit.com/products/core300-true-hepa-air-purifier

45W for high is reasonable, but the other modes are weirdly inefficient. Even the low power mode uses several times more energy than medium on the filter I have in my living room. Maybe it's using the extra power to mine bitcoin.

gigaflop  3 years ago

I interpret that the lack of names (WC pick 1, 2, etc) is to keep focus on the core message, and to not give out free advertising.

While I happily admit to use of certain products, I don't want to serve as a billboard for them.

  • Ataraxic  3 years ago

    Sure totally, it just makes it harder for me to verify _their_ numbers though.

    Someone else replied to me and said it is the levoit core 300. Their fan does seem weirdly inefficient, but comparing the high mode of the levoit model to the ikea isn't really the right comparison imo.

mlyle  3 years ago

> Looking at the wattage comparisons the article talks about the "Wirecutter recommended air purifier" but seems to go out of its way to not mention it by name. Why?

He probably wants to avoid possible legal harassment by the manufacturer. It's not material to his point against Wirecutter, and it would poke one other party with resources to annoy him.