homemade air filtration device

**starsapphire** · 06-27-2008, 11:13 AM

We live in California and I posted a few days ago about the wildfires here and how smokey the air is. DH and I were watching the news about them last night and they showed a sattelite image of all the smoke. Its covering most of the top third of the state! The smoke is worse than ever here, its just horrible. Visibility is really, really bad and the sky is gray. Its just like living in fog and the sun shines through it with an eerie orange glow. It smells bad and its making everyone sick. I have asthma.

I was reading the local paper online yesterday and there was a Youtube link on there on how to make a homemade air filtering device and all you do is get a 20 inch by 20 inch A/C filter (a brand that says it will get rid of smoke), tape it to a standard 20 inch box fan and let it run. We went to Home Depot and bought two 20x25 inch because they were out of the 20x20's so there's a bit of overhang on our fans but thats okay. They were out of a lot of filters and ALL the stores around here are also completely out of 'real' air filtration units.

We taped one to our box fan and one to our new-to-us freebie cooler unit on wheels and let them run all night. Let me tell you they are really saving us. They are helping sooo much, its so nice to be breathing cleaner air in the house. It doesn't smell like smoke in the house now and I am breathing better and we slept better. I poked my head out the door this morning just so I could see what the difference is and its a big difference. We can see the color change on the filters on what its filtering out. What a relief to be breathing cleaner air! And $17 dollars for two big 'air filtration devices' is really cheap!

**ktsmama** · 06-27-2008, 01:09 PM

Glad you found a little relief!! I will be praying for your area to clear and no more fires.

**starsapphire** · 06-27-2008, 01:23 PM

Thanks! It really is nice to get a break from the smoke. It's been a week now and it really does get to you. I've been headachey and feeling sick all week and the filters are helping alot.

**starsapphire** · 06-27-2008, 04:20 PM

Here's a sattelite image of the fires and smoke. This is Northern California.

**starsapphire** · 06-27-2008, 05:27 PM

Here's a traffic camera photo of the highway approx. 10 miles north of where we live.

Now, its sunny and 89 degrees today. What you're seeing is smoke. And this picture doesn't do it justice.

**StaceyS** · 06-27-2008, 05:36 PM

I'm in Northern Nevada and boy have we been smoky! Today is the first semi-clear day.
Anyway, is your box fan in the window, or inside the room? If it is in the window, do you point it out or in? Sorry, but I'm trying to get my mind around the concept.

**starsapphire** · 06-27-2008, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by StaceyS

I'm in Northern Nevada and boy have we been smoky! Today is the first semi-clear day.
Anyway, is your box fan in the window, or inside the room? If it is in the window, do you point it out or in? Sorry, but I'm trying to get my mind around the concept.

Ah so you know my pain!
The fans are just sitting in the room. I could put one in the window but the box fan isn't the same size as our windows and I'd have to figure out how to seal the rest of the opening around it off. Too inconvenient to take it out/put it back in all the time since we lock up the house when we leave. If I put it in the window, I'd have the air blowing in.

I've just been keeping the house closed up and running the fans, and I just put the A/C on a little while ago. Its a little window unit mounted directly in the wall. The idea is to filter the air that's already in the house with the converted fans, rather than using them for pulling outside air in or vice versa.