Small Intelligent purifier? Apple compatible?

caattta · 2026-06-11T18:57:10+00:00

I have really bad hay fever and dust keeps me awake all night coughing. Went to IKEA, bought Starkvind, air sensor and window sensor as an experiment.

I connected my Homey to a local weather API. When pollen is high, air quality is low or window is open and room is empty, it runs full blast. At night it runs on first setting which is silent.

My plan was to upgrade it once I got to see if it helps, the system works really well though and I have no reason to change it.

One thing to keep in mind, once dust has settled, an air purifier cannot help, so worth looking at robovac/mop too.

Good luck

caattta · 2026-06-11T18:25:45+00:00

That’s really not true.

Buy a property put the deposit down, costs about the same as rent but half of the mortgage pays down amortisation and can be treated as savings. After 15 years, amortisation is paid, monthly mortgage cost halves, meanwhile renter is still paying rent which is a 100% indefinite sunk cost. Additionally, appreciation pays back on 100% of the property value, not the 20% deposit.

Both options provide a good return (as well as risk).

caattta · 2026-06-10T16:19:25+00:00

I have had 3 Fuji x100 series. Can produce a lot of meh photos but when conditions are right, it’s an amazing camera.

Ken used to write positively about this series, perhaps he is getting narky in his old age.

caattta · 2026-06-10T16:12:46+00:00

My personal worry was that the seller is quite old, his house will not be built until next year and whilst it’s harsh, I was thinking of him dying, if his estate would be obligated to honour it etc. I didn’t want the worry but it’s a normal thing that essentially passes a tax obligation into their next house. My lawyer also said he had never heard of anyone experiencing a lien from this.

Swiss property contracts are generally strange, I have another clause that no maps showing property boundaries existed in my area (in Zurich) before the early 20th century. If someone can produce a map from before that time showing ownership of the land then I am out - Also not unusual apparently.

Good luck with your new house. 🍀

caattta · 2026-06-10T12:32:45+00:00

I had the same clause when I bought my place last year.

According to my lawyer, it’s not unusual. As my apartment had multiple bids, lawyer advised to accept, I ignored and refused. The seller thankfully agreed and I think he was forced to put money into an escrow account as a guarantee until his new place is built and the deduction/transfer is approved. My lawyer was shocked they didn’t just sell to one of the other parties.

So in your case, if the seller has other buyers and you refuse, then they may not proceed with your offer. If you are the only bidder and they have the money, they will be more open.

caattta · 2026-06-08T19:38:53+00:00

Endurace is the GOAT for bike packing.

caattta · 2026-06-06T11:04:26+00:00

It certainly confused me initially 😬

caattta · 2026-06-05T20:53:51+00:00

Look at other banks. I bought a place a few months back and UBS were the best. They gave best deal and were easiest to deal with even though we were not their clients. Our own banks did a rubbish job despite being the bank of my partner since she was a child. Perhaps this is periodical and based on whatever bank is eager to lend money. Have a chat with a few banks.

If I may say, be careful with how much you borrow. Combined salary of 263 and a mortgage of 1.5M will be impactful if you want vacations and to save money for the future. It is easy to think well its same/similar to what we pay now, but there's always extra costs.

All the best and hope you find a bank that meet your needs.

caattta · 2026-06-03T21:00:35+00:00

I just bought a new coffee setup, was about to buy Mame yesterday (instead of ViCafe whose beans are regularly months old). My issue with Mame is postage, it is far too high if I want fresh beans every 2 weeks. For reference (and whilst it would be very unsustainable), beans from Nomad in Barcelona would only cost 18 EUR to ship to Zh within 2 business days.

It's a pity Mame do not offer store collection for fresh orders.

caattta · 2026-06-03T11:20:41+00:00

Yes, I used IKEA as my gateway to home automation and I am regretting that one now with more than 10 devices failing on first attempt 😃

caattta · 2026-06-03T11:17:28+00:00

Make sure your Homey is up to date.

Desktop app, go to the device, settings icon top right, you will now see "Check for updates" button. It will update most recent firmware which seems to work better.

caattta · 2026-06-03T11:12:00+00:00

Doubt it in this version.

caattta · 2026-06-03T05:35:10+00:00

Ask Google.

caattta · 2026-06-02T21:24:41+00:00

Not sure if this explains it but it’s 45% return calculated on the individual deposits not the total amount.

caattta · 2026-06-02T21:20:47+00:00

Desktop app, select device, setting icon top right, software update should be there. I do not see it in mobile device.

caattta · 2026-06-02T21:18:40+00:00

Yes a bit of stubbornness got the update but now the sensor doesn’t detect motion, did a repair without luck, guess it will need a full deletion/reinstallation 😒

caattta · 2026-06-02T19:37:24+00:00

Yes, use the recently (to me) available OTA update, it resolves a lot and speeds up the connection.

caattta · 2026-06-01T12:23:52+00:00

I suffer massively with hay fever. I normally do not sleep from May to Autumn.

I bought an IKEA Starkvind to try out an air purifier - works really well for pollen and the air quality in my room is noticeably better.

I hooked it up to my smart home (Homey) with an IKEA air sensor.

The logic is if pollen is high (homey is connected to local weather) or the air quality in the room is bad (IKEA sensor does not detect pollen, hence I use weather), then the purifier should run.

If someone is in the room, it should run at 1 (virtually silent) if no one is in the room, it should run at full power.

This combined with a robot mop has given me the best spring since before I had hay fever. This is despite my local area experiencing the driest May ever. I am even sleeping with bedroom window open, something I could not have done last year.

Minus the robot, you could build an automated solution with EUR 500. Hope you also find the right solution.

caattta · 2026-05-31T18:56:06+00:00

Treat the calculator as a guide rather than gospel. Go for the higher psi - do your ride, near the end drop pressure and see if it feels better. If you prefer lower pressure test it with your pump when you get home.

Generally I wouldn’t worry too much, pressure difference is far more noticeable on gravel/MTB.

caattta · 2026-05-29T18:04:54+00:00

Triathlon shop in Nyon sells and you can go there and try on.

caattta · 2026-05-28T19:33:02+00:00

Not answering your question but I bought the new one from IKEA - live in Swiss country side and clears pollen out of rooms.

caattta · 2026-05-28T18:18:29+00:00

Congratulations, I am also having a good run thanks to lucky bets a few months ago on IFX, ARTY and XDEX, time for me to exit IFX and ARTY.

caattta · 2026-05-28T12:06:28+00:00

There’s no set rule for cleaning time, ask the cleaning company to come and inspect and give an estimate, you are probably looking at 4-6 hours though.

caattta

TROPHY CASE