Chip Chick
The Airmega 300s goes beyond being just an ordinary air filter and becomes an indispensable household must-have for those of us with respiratory issues* or terrible allergies. Best of all, it’s designed well enough to fit into the decor instead of sticking out like most air filters. The Airmega 300s proactively monitors your home’s air and adjusts filtration accordingly, letting you know what’s happening through the Airmega app. This is how I learned that I must be a terrible cook.
The Airmega 300s stands on platform feet and measures about 21″ tall by 13.5″ wide and deep. The overall design has the crisp clean white lines of an Apple product, which is fitting because Airmega is the iPhone of air filters. What makes this product so useful is that it proactively monitors and cleans your air. It’s like having your own personal robot assistant for clean air. If you or your kids have asthma or respiratory issues, you probably know all too well that a proactive approach to triggers is best. Traditional HEPA air filters work great, but they rely on you to jump up and turn them on when you sniff a trigger, or worse yet, leave them on all the time. Once you connect the Air Mega 300s to the companion app, a little sensor continuously monitors air quality and lets you know what’s happening. When in smart mode, the unit will act on its own to restore the air to healthy levels.
Setup is Easy
Setup is not hard. One really nice perk of this smart device is that it is does NOT require a Bluetooth connection. It ties into your home Wi-Fi network, and all info is retrieved from the unit that way. This means you can control the filter even when you are away from home. While out of the house, my husband got a “Poor Air Quality” alert. Much to my dismay, the Airmega 300s asked me if I was cooking via text message. I was. As a matter of fact, almost every time I use the cast iron pan or the broiler, the Airmega indicator light turns red with worry and goes into serious filtration mode. As an asthmatic, this is really helpful. It takes care of the trigger before my lungs get too riled up. It has also been an interesting diagnostic tool on what causes air quality to decline. Living in an apartment, you may not smoke, but sometimes the smoke in the hallway gets through. Or, certain cleaning or air fresheners are more powerful than you know. You’ll get an alert letting you know about any of those things.
There is more to setting up the Airmega than just establishing the Wi-Fi connection. Placement is key. Give it a good amount of clearance on both sides and don’t put anything on top of it. Don’t run the power cord underneath rugs or carpet and give it a dedicated outlet. Operate it while at least eight inches away from it and be prepared to regularly change the air filters as needed.
The Airmega App
After initial Wi-Fi setup, besides air filter cleanings and changes, you almost never need to actually touch the Airmega itself — it can be controlled entirely from the app. The app is easy to understand, has an attractive user interface, and is really convenient. Here are some screenshots of everything it does:
Your home page lets you name the product, which of course had to be R2Clean2 for us. Then it shows you a circle made of colored dots that show what the indicator lights on the Airmega also reflect — current air quality on an index from blue-green (great) to pink-red (very bad). In the center, you can set the air filtration mode to sleep time mode for quieter operation and low lighting. There are three waves in increasing power to control the air speed as you like. Smart mode is a power-friendly eco-mode that turns off if air conditions are good for 10 minutes, automatically restarting if it is detected to be necessary from the pollution sensor. You can also set how sensitive you want the Airmega 300s to be in its detection.
There are several customizable options on the app. You can set a timer for it to turn on or off as you wish. You can also turn the indicator lights on or off, and you can see reports of what your air quality is like throughout the day, week, month, or year. There is also a real-time update of outside weather conditions and allergy ratings so you know what you are contending with once you step outside. It is simply an allergy nerd’s dream. That being said, it notifies me way too much. Sometimes I am bombarded with a dozen notifications in a short amount of time telling me there is poor air quality and that I need to set it to Smart mode, even though it is already on Smart mode. It is definitely a quirk that needs to be worked out in an otherwise perfect product. This is what I mean:
Filter Maintenance
There are two sets of filters that you need to worry about — the Pre-Filter and the Max2 Filter. The Pre-filter can be washed or vacuumed when necessary, but the Max2 Filter must be replaced. On average, that is about once a year, but you really don’t need to keep track. From the app, you can see the status of your filters and even buy replacements. You also need to regularly take off the side panels and top panel and gently clean them. This is all very typical for HEPA filter management.
Read on for the verdict…
*Disclaimer: We are not medical professionals. This website contains general information about medical conditions and treatments. The information is not advice, and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition you should seek immediate medical attention. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website.
