Air purifiers from Levoit, Dyson and Philips have sold out online at Courts and Gain City, with most of Gain City’s Levoit and Dyson range gone and Levoit’s S$199 Core 300S out of stock at both, as the haze held Singapore in the unhealthy range for a 10th day. At 5am on Wednesday 14 October the 24-hour PSI on the National Environment Agency’s haze site ranged from 106 in the north to 146 in the west, with central and eastern Singapore at 143.
Plenty is still available. Courts, Gain City and PRISM+ all had purifiers from under S$200 available to buy online on Wednesday morning, and KN95 masks were in stock at Guardian.
What has gone at Gain City and Courts
Gain City’s online listing shows these purifiers as out of stock:
- Levoit Core Mini, S$78
- Levoit Core 300S, S$199
- Levoit Vital 100S, S$219
- Levoit Core 400S, S$299
- Levoit Vital 200S, S$319
- Levoit EverestAir, S$499
- Dyson HushJet HJ01, S$499, in both colours
At Courts, the Levoit Core 300S (S$199) and the Philips PureProtect Quiet AC2220/10 (S$379) are out of stock online.
What is still in stock
At Courts, the Tefal Compact PT2220 is S$149, the Philips Series 9000 AC0950/10 is S$318, the LG PuriCare 360 Hit AS60GHWG0 is S$399 and the Levoit Sprout is S$359. The Levoit EverestAir, sold out at Gain City, is still available at Courts for the same S$499.
Gain City still has the Acerpure AC2-AC333 purifier fan at S$199, the Cuckoo AIR-Q purifier and dehumidifier at S$249, the LG PuriCare AeroHit AS35GGW20 at S$299, the Dreame AP10 Pet at S$649 and the LG tower AF25CATM at S$899.
PRISM+ sells its own range direct. The Aura is S$199 (usual price S$229), the Vortex S$249 (usually S$269) and the Vortex Pro S$279 (usually S$399), though the Vortex Pro in Pebble Grey is sold out.
Masks
Guardian has Air+ KN95 masks at S$5.85 for a pack of five in sizes S and M; size L is out of stock online. The 3M 8210 N95 respirator, sold at S$2.10 a mask in boxes of 20, is out of stock on Guardian’s site.
Sizing a purifier for the room
NEA’s haze guidance measures purifiers by their clean air delivery rate (CADR) for smoke, the rating that matches haze particles. The smoke CADR, in cubic feet per minute, should be at least three times the room’s volume in cubic metres. A 3m by 3.5m bedroom with a 2.6m ceiling holds 27.3 cubic metres, so it needs a smoke CADR of at least 82 cubic feet per minute, or 139 cubic metres an hour.
Singapore retailers mostly quote CADR in cubic metres an hour and do not say which test it comes from. The Tefal PT2220 is rated at 198 cubic metres an hour and the Philips AC2220/10 at 420. If those are smoke figures, the Tefal covers a room of up to 38 cubic metres and the Philips up to 82. NEA also advises a purifier with a HEPA filter, and notes that purifiers fall short of their rated performance when doors and windows are left open.
Why the air-conditioner is not enough
NEA’s guidance treats fans and air-conditioners as tools for cooling and circulating air, not for removing haze particles. Window units that draw air from outside should have their outdoor intakes closed. Taking fine particles out of a closed room is the purifier’s job.
