Humanscale Humanair Purifier Brings Industrial Strength to the Desktop

Humanscale Humanair

* A low-current electric field gives particles a negative
charge.
* Slow, quiet fans direct air through filter (and toward
you).
* Oppositely charged strips of paper attract particles.
* Carbon filter catches unwanted gases, like odors.
* Case allows a large volume of air to flow through.

A new technology has made giant air cleaners in Swedish
factories smaller and more energy-efficient, and now it’s
doing the same for filters in your home. The innovation:
paper.

Many purifiers, both industrial and residential, clean the
air by giving pollutants an electric charge and trapping the
staticky gunk with oppositely charged metal plates.
Humanscale’s tabletop Humanair replaces metal with strips of
paper coiled into a foot-wide spiral. The paper attracts dirt
like metal plates do, because charged lines of metallic paint
run along one side of the strips. But the nonconductive
layers of paper can be packed just 0.06 inch apart without
creating sparks, so the paper traps more grit. It squeezes
14 square feet of filth-catching surface—at least twice as
much as other electronic home purifiers—inside
a 15-by-13-by-4-inch case.

Since the Humanair is so skinny, it needs only low-power fans
to nudge air through. And with the small current it uses to
charge dust, it sips just 17 watts, making it the most
efficient way to bring industrial cleaning power to your
personal space.