Getting Air Purifiers in Mumbai

When we first moved to Mumbai a year ago, I picked up some air purifiers from Croma.  I ran them regularly in the kids’ rooms, but wasn’t thrilled with the air quality in our house as a whole. I went running on the beach a few mornings in a row and got my own hacking cough, and that was a big wake-up call moment for me about air quality. Getting this app on my phone was another wake-up call:

So this month, I decided to address my daughter’s pollution cough once and for all, and one of my action items was to get our air purifiers sorted out (ie change the filters, assess if we need to upgrade to better ones, figure out how to cover the rest of the house besides the kids’ bedrooms).  We have a funny layout in our bungalow – my bedroom, living room and the dining area are all open. No walls. Just a curtain between my room and the living room. High ceiling in the living room. And when you buy air purifiers, you are making the decision based on square footage it will cover. So I was confused.

I reached out to my expat moms group to ask if there is any consultant who helps you select air purifiers, and it turns out THERE IS.  Why didn’t I know about this!?  There is a Delhi-based company called Breathe Easy Labs.  They will come to the house, test your air quality, and make a recommendation based on your layout, square footage, usage. Several of my close friends have used them and were very happy.

Sankalp from Breathe Easy came to my house and as I suspected our air quality was not great.  I was really nervous for how much $$$ his recommendation would be. Then he told me what we needed – a Sharp machine for each of the girls’ bedrooms, and an IQAir machine from Switzerland to cover my bedroom, living room, dining room. And a Sharp dehumidifier (we live by the sea so it’s damp and of course very wet during monsoon … we get mold on the walls and on shoes it’s really charming).  I was thrilled that this recommendation was streamlined and I didn’t need to buy 5 machines. Total bill –  a big investment but I only wish we had done it a year ago.

Sankalp also recommended that we buy our own air quality monitor but I’m not going to do that at this time. I am getting an air purifier for the car, and a few masks to have just in case.

He gave me additional tips. To remove the stuffed animals from my girls’ cribs because they release harmful particulate. To get some indoor plants to remove CO2. To open the windows for 1 hour mid-day to remove CO2.

My air purifiers will arrive later this week.  I am so excited!  Please come over and experience breathing Swiss mountain air inside my Mumbai bungalow. I will be sure to provide an update in a few weeks!  And the next project is bringing plants into the house, I’ll update about that too!   UPDATE: It is now 2 months later, and I am thrilled with our air purifiers. Really in love with them.

If you want to reach Sankalp for a consult, just let me know and I’ll connect you.  Comment below or email me at [email protected].

Question for you – do you have air purifiers and have they improved your quality of life?  

P.S. you have to watch the video above – 4 minute on how to grow fresh air – fab.