Air Defence

Life-gas devourer maintenance

I value my lungs, and specifically their health and optimal function. This precludes me from consuming air with a high number of particulates in it, both intra- and extra-muros. In addition, I don’t own a car, which is potentially a mobile clean space of air, and travel by bicycle or foot. This post describes my strategy for keeping the air passing into my lungs clean..

Intramuros

Within the walls of my concent, I can seal myself away relatively well, but am still at the mercy of the building’s filtration system. Like a lot of people who use the NYT’s Wirecutter, I have a Coway Airmega Mighty AP-1512HH from 2018. No WiFi, but it does have an ioniser.

When it tells me I need to change the filters, I’ll vacuum and wash the primary filter. When the air quality worsens (sustained above 80 AQI), I’ll pre-emptively vacuum the primary filter as I find this makes the filter more sensitive. I’ll also disable the HVAC’s fan, to stop it drawing extra air in from outside.

Extramuros

Growing up cycling in London, I’m used to poor quality air, and have valued the masks from Respro. I’ve also enjoyed the MSA Millennium respirator, but whilst it can be worn under a bicycle helmet, it is quite heavy. A recent find is the Airinum Air Mask Active, which has excellent head straps (above and below the occipital), and a frame to hold the mask from my face. I think it’s one-size fits all is a little small, but overall it’s fine for commuter cycling.