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As a rule of thumb, whenever a "big" number is used in a headline, it is usually a much smaller than amount than it sounds.

I don't have domain experience in this field, so I can't say in this case if it's significant.



So true! Give us some comparisons as to what these large numbers actually mean. Otherwise it's just jabbering.

Well, a good PC case fan does 160 CFM. A $200 Honeywell air purifier can do 300CFM. So a million cubic feet/hour (16,666CFM) is 55 of these little purifiers.

Furthermore, it's recommended that air be changed a few times per hour, even for residential use[1]. MSG is 10,800,000 cubic feet, so you'd want over 30 of these towers to keep the air lightly clean in there.

Amazon has an eletrostatic purifier that does 1000CFM, so 1/16th of this tower, for $330.[2] 30-1/4 by 24 by 12 inches, so probably still doable in the same volume as the tower.

But this tower looks a lot cooler, making it worth an article I guess.

1: http://www.berriman-usa.com/sizing_table_air_cleaners.htm 2: http://www.amazon.com/708620B-AFS-1000B-Filtration-Electrost...


Feynman had a useful tip - whenever you hear an "impressive" number, try adding a zero. Ask yourself if you would have felt differently about the statistic with the larger number.




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