Regardless of the time of year, air purifiers have become a necessity. Severe pollution in winter, extreme dust in summer and pollen at other times of the year make breathing challenging throughout the year. Set up a good air quality monitor at home or in your car and you will know what I mean. Even on days when breathing seems easy (relatively), PM2.5 levels are much higher than the prescribed limit of 60 μg / m³. Prolonged exposure to anything higher can lead to serious health problems, from mild irritation to permanent consequences. There are many air purifiers on the market that claim to purify the air, but we are here to test how well they do and how long it takes them to do it. The first air purifier to be tested is the Philips AC3059 air purifier.

Manufacture and design of Philips AC3059 air purifier

The Philips AC3059 air purifier uses a completely new design compared to what was on the Philips market until last year. Instead of a rectangle, this year’s Philips AC3059 Air Purifier is a cylinder, drawing air from the bottom and expelling it from the top. Above is a small circle embedded with a display and control panel. The design of this control panel is actually Coat Smart, Philips packing in all the relevant controls, with relatively little area. The power cord is tightly wired to the body and unfortunately, this thing has no wheels or carry-handles. You even have to pick it up to move it from one place to another in your home, and it’s a privilege to have a stiff, reassembled grip in an otherwise smooth plastic cylinder. Fortunately, it’s not too heavy and it comes from someone who refuses to lift weights in the gym.

Philips AC3059 Air Purifier Filter System

The Philips AC3059 Air Purifier removes the old 2-filter rectangular combo for a single 360-degree. This filter contains both the HEPA filter and the activated carbon layer, which together come together to remove volatile organic compounds such as not only particulate pollutants but also formaldehyde, benzene fumes and more. While the 360-degree design helps improve the amount of air drawn in, the downside of a composite filter is that if one of the filters reaches the end of its life, you’ll need to replace the whole thing. There is also a pre-filter in the shape of a cover that allows the filter to be sealed in place, but in our experiments, we did not find it to be very effective. After 3 weeks of use, when the filter is opened at the bottom to reveal it, a large bunch of dog and human hair stuck in the HEPA filter can be seen. Fortunately, HEPA filters are more effective when stuck a little as opposed to being brand new.

Philips AC3059 Air Purifier Performance

We tested the Philips AC3059 Air Purifier in three rooms measuring 120 square feet, 160 square feet and a large 220 square feet room. Surrounding test conditions were fairly poor, with high levels of contaminants all around, where the AQI reached a maximum of 500. If you are confused, here is a short lesson about AQI. The Air Quality Index is the result of a complex equation that causes different pollutants, with different weights assigned to each of them. Most countries define the AQI formula for themselves, and cap the AQI 500 using India. To measure air quality, we use Kaitera Sensedge, an industrial grade air quality monitor that provides AQI numbers based on Indian standards. To test the effectiveness of any air purifier, it is placed in one corner of the room, the sensor is placed diagonally in the opposite direction. Here’s how air filters perform in a medium sized room.

The Philips AC3059 Air Purifier was of course very effective when used in our smallest test room, bringing PM 2.5 levels to safe levels within about 20 minutes of launch. The largest room in the house, however, takes much longer. Even if a door or window cracked, the small room was quickly re-cleaned, however, even the slightest hint of a crack in the door severely slowed the progress of the Philips AC3059 air purifier in our largest test room.

Another interesting aspect of using an air purifier is that it turns out that you cannot use it in a fully sealed room. Doing so will result in severe CO2 build up, resulting in drowsiness and lethargy. It is important to keep CO2 levels low, which means opening doors and windows periodically, which increases the number of pollutants. In my case, I had the Philips AC3059 air purifier running all day and all night and had the most notable advantage when sleeping.

Conclusion

The Philips AC3059 Air Purifier is an amazingly effective air purifier that has been tested for air quality during the worst times of the year. Although the official price is Rs 32,995, it can be as high as Rs 24,000 on various e-teller platforms. The new design tends to be more minimal and functional. The air purifier capability of Philips AC3059 air purifier makes it a good recommendation, remember it is an air purifier that can be very loud. So we recommend running it in your bedroom for an hour or more before you go to sleep, so that when you finally decide to retire, you can keep it in quiet mode.