Beat the haze: Air purifiers with extra functions

The haze season usually sparks a mad scramble among consumers as they rush out to buy the latest air purifiers.

While staying indoors and turning on the air conditioner can help, air purifiers play an additional role in helping to filter microscopic particles in the air.

Certain air purifiers can also offer additional benefits like built-in formaldehyde trappers.

Fight the haze with one of the following air purifiers that go beyond HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Absorption) filters.

1. LG R459WN Air Purifier

Filters available:

- Nano Silver Sterilization to provide anti-bacterial and anti-fungal benefits

- Anti-Bacteria filter to kill airborne germs and bacteria

- Filter Steps, which is an extra four-step filtration system to eliminate dust

- SMOG filter to help absorb haze-causing pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, and to rid odours

- Allergy filter to trap and kill dust mites, and rid pollen and mould

- Dust filter to control and reduce the amount of dust

- HEPA filter to eliminate pollen, PM2.5 fine particles, dust mites and bacteria

- Additional features: Its allergy filter has been proven to capture and kill 99 per cent of all dust mites within two hours of operation. This filter has also earned the British Allergy Foundation's seal of approval.

Pricing info: $399 for one unit (up to 39msq coverage).

2. Tefal Intense Pure Air (Air Purifier)

Filters available:

- Pre-filter to capture dust, human hair and animal fur

- Carbon filter to dissipate odours from food, animals, paint and tobacco

- HEPA filter to eliminate pollen, PM2.5 fine particles, dust mites and bacteria

- NanoCaptur filter to absorb and destroy formaldehyde

- Additional features: Patented NanoCaptur Technology that comes in the form of an additional filter (pictured above) that houses thousands of porous granules. These granules help to absorb and destroy formaldehyde, which is classified as a known carcinogen by the World Health Organisation. This filter also helps rid air of 99.97 per cent of indoor pollutants.

Pricing info: $399 for bedroom unit (up to 35msq coverage), $599 for XL unit (up to 80msq coverage).

3. Hitachi EP-A9000 Air Purifier

Filters available:

- Stainless steel coated pre-filter to kill bacteria

- HEPA filter to eliminate pollen, PM2.5 fine particles, dust mites and bacteria

- Washable deodorising filter

- Additional features: Comes with a built-in humidification system to control the amount of moisture in the air - perfect for when the air conditioner is turned on. It has two humidifying modes: The first increases the room's humidity to 50 per cent, and the second is a "Skin Moisturizing Mode" that increases the room's humidity to 60 per cent. The latter is supposed to help ensure skin stays moist and doesn't dry out.

Pricing info: $1,199 for one unit (up to 68msq of coverage)

4. Blueair 403 Air Purifier

Filters available:

- Particle filter that has a built-in three-step filter to eliminate 99.97 per cent of all particles like dust, pollen, bacteria, virus, pet dander and mould spores

- Smokestop filter that's equipped with 1kg of pure activated carbon to absorb and remove gasses like VOC (volatile organic compounds) and formaldehyde

- Additional features: Comes with a Blueair HEPASilent technology that uses a combination of electrostatic charges and mechanical filtration to eliminate impurities and particles that are smaller than one micron (such as pollen, bacteria and mould spores).

In a nutshell, with the HEPASilent technology, Blueair air purifiers are able to provide the same efficacy as traditional HEPA filters, but have lower energy consumption and emit less noise than traditional air purifiers.

Pricing info: $899 for one unit (up to 34msq of coverage)

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