You can trust Homebuilding & Renovating.
Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and materials in order to help you choose the best for your home and garden. Find out more about how we test.
While I’m an advocate of using appliances such as dehumidifiers to help make the air inside my home fresher, I’ve not yet committed to investing in a state of the art air purifier. So, when the opportunity to review the Molekule Air Pro arose, I was keen to put it to the test.
Living in a first floor apartment on a busy high street in the middle of a town, had led me to assume the air inside my home is far from fresh. Dust, smoke and car fumes make their way inside – less so in the winter when windows are closed – but in the summer when the windows are open to help with ventilation, it’s impossible for the air quality to not decline.
But, could a single air purifier make a difference to my home, are there actually any issues with the air in my home, and just how big is the problem? Would the Molekule Air Pro noticeably impact our health or is it just a background gadget or, dare I say it, even a gimmick?
I’ve been testing the Molekule Air Pro for around six weeks and here’s what I’ve discovered.
Buy the Molekule Air Pro online today
Molekule Air Pro Air Purifier
The Molekule Air Pro is designed for homes or offices and removes pollutants from the air using two different methods. It costs £799, including the HEPA filter
How does the Molekule Air Pro work to improve air quality?
According to the manufacturer, “Molekule Air Pro purifiers use PECO technology and true HEPA 99.97% particle-capture efficiency rate to capture and destroy pollutants in large living and workplaces.”
Essentially, through the presence of a physical filter cartridge – the HEPA filter – and the power of ultraviolet light – PECO – toxins are removed from the air leaving the air inside your home cleaner as a result. The HEPA filter is replaceable, and can be purchased from Amazon and other retailers, while the patented PECO technology is part of the machine.
The benefit of using an air purifier such as the Molekule Air Pro, or the Dyson air purifier, is it does all the work behind the scenes, with the only requirement from you being to change the filter when it tells you to. Sounds easy? But is it, and does it noticeably purify air?
Molekule Air Pro specification
The Molekule Air Pro specification can be split into two sections. The practical features and then the more technical ones that do the work behind the scenes.
Design and product features
- Size: 58.6 cm high, 27.8 cm wide
- Weight: 10.83kg
- Cord length: 180cm
- Power consumption: Lowest speed – 26 W/h, highest speed – 123 W/h
- Sound levels: Lowest speed – 33 dBa, highest speed – 64 dBa
- Fan speeds: 6 manual levels
- Control: Touch control and app
- Automated modes: Auto protect: standard and quiet
- Warranty: 2 years limited
Technical specification
- Room size coverage: Up to 1000 sq ft (92.9 m²) with avg. 8-ft. ceilings
- Detection: Particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) down to 0.3 µm, VOCs, CO2, relative humidity
- Filters: PECO-HEPA Tri-Power filter
- FDA clearance (US relevance only): 510(k) Class II: Cleared for medical use to destroy bacteria, viruses & mould, and collect particles
First impressions
The Molekule Air Pro, which can be purchased on Amazon, is certainly the right product for you if you have a keen eye for home appliances with a modern design. It arrived well packaged with emotive text printed on the exterior of the box. Easy to follow instructions are revealed as you open it on a large piece of inner cardboard, or a smaller instruction booklet is also included if you prefer to read and digest information before setting it up.
Image 1 of 4
A stylish cloth bag covers the air purifier which made it feel more like you were opening a luxury product rather than a small household appliance. Perhaps to be expected given the £799 price-tag, but a nice touch nonetheless.
There’s no denying its sleek looks and minimalistic design once removed from the bag. Featuring a matt silver shell with a white base and vegan leather carrying handle, there’s a fin like design to the flat top but other than that, it’s pleasingly simple. It’s quite large in size but as it looks good, it doesn’t feel too obtrusive. As it’s a relatively expensive high tech piece of kit, you’d expect it to look a certain way and it doesn’t disappoint.
Setting up the air purifier
As mentioned, easy to follow instructions are printed on cardboard giving you clear advice on what you’ll need to do to get your Molekule Air Pro working. It’s not quite plug and play as you do need to install the filter before you turn it on, but don’t be put off by this as it’s a simple task.
Unwrap the filter, follow the instructions to push and turn the top of the filter so it releases, pop in the filter unit, close again and you’re done.
Image 1 of 3
Downloading the app that you use to control the air purifier is also easy. It’s available on the App Store and Google Play and once you’ve installed it, clear onscreen instructions will guide you through the different steps of connecting your product to the app.
Once it’s paired, it says it will take around six hours for the purifier to fully calibrate. Then, there are two main settings you can use, auto-protect and manual. Auto-protect has been my default as it removes the need to do anything other than turn it off if you don’t want to leave it running while you’re away from the home, or at night.
Image 1 of 2
Using the Molekule Air Pro
In order to get a fuller picture of what it’s like to use the Molekule Air Pro, I’ve tested it in three different locations around my home, although the same basic steps have all been followed when using it.
With the filter in place and the app set up, all you need to do is simply switch it on – either via the touch panel on the top of the unit or using the app. Having chosen the auto-protect setting the first time, it’s automatically defaulted to this mode each time, although you can change it if you choose. Given the product’s level of intelligence it seems unnecessary to have a manual mode, as after all, it’s reading the air quality far more accurately than I can.
There’s also a standard or quiet mode and I’ve of course chosen the quiet mode as it’s being used in a space where I both live and work.
In the living room, I’ve used it for 24 hour stretches at a time, but also switched it off at bedtime and back on again in the morning.
My son has also used it in his bedroom for a period of time, adopting a similar method of use. As the weather hasn’t been warm, which has meant I can’t have the windows open in the living room for long as it’s too cold (other than performing daily house burping), I’ve popped it in a bedroom which overlooks the main street and left a window open to see how the outdoor air affects the readings and performance.
Checking the air quality
There are a number of ways in which you can use the Molekule Air Pro to check the air quality. Audible sound is the first notification you will get that your air quality has declined. In auto-protect mode, the fan speed will increase when the air purifier needs to work harder to clean the air – another reason why leaving it in auto-protect mode makes sense, as in theory it can help you identify what toxins are causing the problem.
If you are close to the unit, you can also use the touch panel on the top of the purifier to check what the air quality is, and as well as showing you it as a percentage, the display also changes colour with different colours signifying different levels. Green is good, orange moderate, red bad and purple very bad.
Scroll across to the next screen on the panel and it will show you the main offenders and causes of pollutants in the air – even when the air quality is good. These may be VOCs, carbon dioxide or particles of varying size.
If however you want a more detailed breakdown of what’s going on, the app is your main port of call. As well as showing you the air quality score and a breakdown of each different potential pollutant, you can look at daily or weekly graphs which show how many hours were spent at different quality levels, what the pollutants were during this time and also check the relative humidity in the room which can be handy during winter if you struggle with mould and condensation.
You can also dive deeper into each pollutant by tapping that section on the app screen and it will display what could be the cause. For example, where VOCs could be found in your home, or if you have an abundance of fine particles, what could be causing this. It doesn’t tell you specifically what is causing yours, but at least gives you an indication of where the problem may be.
Other than wiping it down when cleaning, there are no other steps involved in using the Molekule Air Pro until you need to change the filter – and the app and product will tell you when this needs to happen. It’s estimated this will be around every 6 months.
Results
For me personally, measuring the success of the Molekule Air Pro is perhaps less about the scientific results and more about how it’s made me think and how we have all felt.
One of the most positive results for me has been how it’s made us have a far greater awareness of the toxins produced as a result of what I’d consider a fairly standard lifestyle. I can tell you for sure that cleaning products will make the air purifier leap into action, as will frying meat of any kind.
Cook a steak, air purifier kicks in, cook bacon, the same. Burn toast, it’s working hard. Light a scented candle and you may change your mind about how long you leave it on for when you hear the air purifier fans start to work that little bit harder. All small daily habits, most of which will have to carry on, but it’s certainly been interesting to think about how poor the air quality would be without the Molekule Air Pro on.
Surprisingly, when placed next to an open window and street fumes, the air quality in the room hasn’t deteriorated anywhere near as much as I expected. In fact made very little impact to the air quality as a whole. Some concerns have been the high readings in my son’s room at night which show VOCs to be the biggest culprit, and we’re still not entirely sure why, so will need to investigate this further.
A good sign of its ability to detect toxins is also shown in the way how when it’s in my bedroom, but I clean the kitchen which is located in the room below, the air purifier has quickly identified the toxins and increased how hard it works to remove them.
I live in a listed building, and only have a recirculation extractor fan in the kitchen so smells often permeate into the bedroom – but I hadn’t realised quite how much.
And, although I can’t prove this, my younger son who last year coughed consistently for four months and has had numerous bouts of upper respiratory issues since, is so far clear of any problems since we started using it. It may be coincidence but it certainly makes we wonder if it has contributed towards this.
If you are prepared to sit down and analyse graphs, you can of course get more scientific data to demonstrate results, but unless you make lifestyle changes, it’s likely your air quality will still fluctuate on a daily basis. But, having an air purifier will definitely help deal with those fluctuations.
Final verdict
Prior to using the Molekule Air Pro I’ve always been very aware of air pollutants and what causes them. Having lived in city and rural locations I’m well aware of how cleaner air does make a difference outdoors, but I’ll admit to not having paid as much attention to it indoors.
Yes I’ll choose low VOC paints over normal ones, but I’ve always used fairly strong smelling cleaning products and admit to buying more than my fair share of scented candles. After my son’s respiratory issues last year, I did stop buying plug in air-fresheners, but with a house comprising two sons and now a small dog, you can’t help but be conscious of the resulting odours and trying to mask them is my natural default mode.
However, since testing the air purifier I’m realising it’s more about removing them efficiently instead, as there’s no doubt smells have dissipated faster since using it. Plus, having seen the levels rise through daily activities that I can’t stop (cleaning and cooking being the main ones), it’s made me understand how many toxins we breathe in without even realising it.
On the downside, should you be considering it for a bedroom, I’d only recommend it if you don’t require a pitch black bedroom. My son does and he’s found it hard to sleep with it on. The blue UV light is an essential part of the air purifier and so it glows at night when left on. You could turn the unit off, but as the reading from my son’s room has shown, there could be toxins lurking in the air even when you don’t realise it. Has it impacted my daily electricity costs leaving it on for long stretches? Not at all according to my smart meter.
Another minor negative is that I’m also not sure the app is as user friendly as it could be. While I’ve found out what I need to know, it’s mainly been through trial and error rather than obvious signposting on the app. If you were a little apprehensive about using apps, I can imagine you’d not get the information you needed and could find it a little frustrating.
There’s no doubt the product is cleaning the air in my home and it has made me far more self-aware of how I can improve the air we breathe. I’ve also no complaints about how the product looks, so would I recommend the Molekule Air Pro?
Yes would be my answer. It’s performed as it said it would and I think it’s done a great job in educating me about air quality. If you live in a built up area you have little protection against outdoor pollutants and given how many indoor ones we clearly generate as well, it would be a wise investment for anyone wanting to protect themselves and their family.
It’s not a cheap investment, but can you ever put a price on improving your health? Removing any toxins will undoubtedly have a positive impact and while there are cheaper models out there, the Molekule Air Pro, which can be purchased on Amazon feels solid, capable and clever and will work hard for you and expect little in return, just a clean filter every six months.
View the original article and our Inspiration here
Leave a Reply