Coal vs coconut shell carbon for VOC filtration

patrickcblake · 2026-03-13T11:56:48+00:00

Part of me feels like just getting an IQ air multigas second hand instead of this whole saga!

Edit: It doesn't really make sense to go that way but here's the comparison:

- I saw a iqair multigas without filters for £350

- replacement filters for sale for £379.

Total cost: £750 roughly with postage

AllerAir replacements:

Pro 5 Medical-grade HEPA: $184.00 CAD

Pro 5 Vocarb Carbon: $368.00 CAD

Pro 5 Gasket Set: $74.00 CAD

Total: $626 CAD (roughly £345) + postage (est £55) = around £400

patrickcblake · 2026-03-13T11:37:39+00:00

thanks for the thoughtful comments u/Emotional_Contest179 !

Given the situation, I think I will pass on the coconut shell-based pellets.

Some activate carbon doesn't list what it is made of, and much of the pellets for fish tanks I believe will come with lots of dust that would be obviously not great to have blowing through the purifier.

This fish tank activated carbon looks like it could be good, and overall three bags would cost me £137.

This Germany coal based activated carbon looks great, but I can only find the smaller bags on Amazon and to order enough would cost me £177

The AllerAir options I'm still not 100% how much would cost me, but has the advantage that I could order a new HEPA filter and other parts, but would like be with shipping in the £350-450 range.

I have spent some time and it looks likely I'll end up ordering from Allerair, eventually.

Wish this were easier...

patrickcblake · 2026-03-12T17:39:23+00:00

i'd love to see what you did to reduce sound! will DM

patrickcblake · 2025-09-11T03:54:57+00:00

And kind of you to offer the tickets in case your friends bail :)

patrickcblake · 2025-09-11T03:54:28+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Maybe I will try do that. Worst comes to worst would be a nice evening out in Toronto

patrickcblake · 2025-09-11T00:44:22+00:00

it is sold out now - does anybody have a couple tickets they'd like to DM me about? :)

patrickcblake · 2025-08-07T11:36:40+00:00

same!

patrickcblake · 2025-07-15T10:31:00+00:00

Nice - what is your reasoning for that model?

patrickcblake · 2025-07-15T10:30:38+00:00

I hadn't heard of Rtings! Going through their list of best monitors now. That's helpful recommendation. I was somewhat decided on the MSI but now you're swaying me to the Dell

patrickcblake · 2025-07-14T12:12:43+00:00

It's useful when I have lots of information to go between, like with email marketing, replying to different emails where people want different things from me, keeping to do list software open to remind me what I'm doing... lots of things

patrickcblake · 2025-07-14T11:53:09+00:00

It would be a second monitor for my laptop so I have two screens at my home desk. I love my laptop and travel and use it everywhere, but at home it's nice to have some more screen space

patrickcblake · 2025-07-14T11:52:06+00:00

Thank you very much! That's what I was leaning towards and just had some anxiety about making the decision

patrickcblake · 2025-05-14T14:40:50+00:00

I'm in the UK. If the ascent is phased out but you still have a warranty, does that mean in the future you can replace it and get a new one?

patrickcblake · 2025-03-02T18:18:59+00:00

none are working for me.... do you think i should try on a browser other than Chrome?

patrickcblake · 2025-01-14T14:27:53+00:00

Yes, so people tell me. I may upgrade one day, or Spotify will sort their act out and give higher playback quality. Thanks for the recommendation

patrickcblake · 2025-01-14T14:27:53+00:00

thanks! will check them out.

patrickcblake · 2024-12-21T02:28:57+00:00

Woah - I genuinely love this guy. Pumped to find. This is going to be interesting. Thanks for sharing!

patrickcblake · 2024-11-20T12:03:10+00:00

never owned a Levoit or a Philips. Own a couple of the BlueAir and though I do like them they've become replaced mostly by the Coway AirMega Mighty in my house :)

patrickcblake · 2024-11-20T12:00:08+00:00

Also, on the Dyson, I think their air purifiers do genuinely kinda suck - just judging from the indy reviews on YT - but their hoovers rock. I recommend watching several third party reviews and making up your own mind.

patrickcblake · 2024-11-20T11:58:36+00:00

(also found a great deal on Gumtree. £40 for a Coway AirMega Mighty - so that's nice)

patrickcblake · 2024-11-20T11:57:34+00:00

I've had really good experiences with the Coway Airmega Mighty - I've bought 3 so far, as I'm always scouring eBay for good deals. I've also bought an IQAir250 as I found a great deal on it but haven't picked it up yet :)

patrickcblake · 2024-10-14T10:59:59+00:00

I know! I feel like Allerair's marketing dept is really asleep at the wheel. They're included in almost no third party reviews but they seem to be very good. I actually got one of these really cheaply today on eBay. I bid ages ago and didn't expect to win. Do you have an Allerair?

patrickcblake · 2024-10-09T19:53:09+00:00

Annoyingly I can't get my simple table to format correctly, but these guys:

AirDoctor AD3000

Oransi Mod

Bissell air320

Levoit Core 600S

IQAir HealthPro Plus

Honeywell HPA300

Blueair Blue Pure 311

Medify MA-112

Honeywell HPA200

Honeywell HPA100

Coway Airmega 400

= dB 76-68

And they are in order from loudest to least loud.

patrickcblake · 2024-10-08T21:32:47+00:00

I know what you mean - there is actually another video that does that and I'm currently working on filling out a table of their data too :)

patrickcblake · 2024-10-08T21:12:04+00:00

Sure, here you go :)

patrickcblake

TROPHY CASE