Aura Air Review: A surprisingly effective wall-mounted air purifier
If you were to look for an air purifier this time last year, all we could have said was good luck. As someone who just recently left the HVAC industry, air purifiers were flying off of the shelves at a number of industry retailers. The reasons for this are pretty obvious, but even in the “before times”, air purifiers have been absolutely essential for many.
Admittedly, Aura Air is not a company that I had heard of before they reached out for this review. However, one thing is apparent from the first time that you load up the company’s website – they know their stuff. Sure there are the normal things like testimonials and a nice “Buy Now” button at the top, but once you start diving into the different landing pages, you really can learn quite a lot.
The Aura Air is a professional-grade air purifier for the consumer, providing two different consumer-grade options with the standard Aura Air and the Aura Air Mini. But instead of just providing air purifiers that you might need an HVAC professional or your apartment complex to install, this can be done by yourself.
Aura Air Review – The installation process
This brings us to the first benefit and slight frustration with the Aura Air itself – the installation. You won’t need to get into your HVAC system in your home or apartment, and you won’t need to worry about trying to route cables to your thermostat. Instead, the Aura Air just mounts right on your wall, and plugs in with a single cable to your power outlet.
It’s not just as simple as placing the Aura Air on a mantle or on a shelf of some kind. The company has specific guidelines that you should follow in order to make the most out of the air purification system. For instance, it’s recommended that you install the Aura Air at least 20-inches from the floor or the ceiling and that there should be at least a 20-inch radius free of objects around the purifier.
The company provides most of the tools that you’ll need, save for a drill and/or screwdriver in order to install the mount. In the box, you’ll even find an “installation jig” that lets you line up where the holes should go on the wall before actually mounting the Aura Air to the wall.
This is where you’re going to likely want some help, or at the very least, asecond set of eyes. I mounted the Aura Air a bit higher up in our dining area, which required my fiance’s assistance when it came to actually put the Aura Air on the wall. Your mileage may vary, or you could probably get away with using a step ladder. Just be aware that the Aura Air itself is a bit cumbersome to handle when trying to mount it.
But after it’s mounted, you’ll be good to go and can follow the instructions to get the app connected and set up.
Aura Air Review – Using the app
As expected, there’s an accompanying Aura Air application available for free from the Play Store or the iOS App Store. You’ll need to create an account in order to start using the app, but then you can sync up the app with your smartphone.
After the initial setup is complete, you’ll simply see your Aura Air listed under the “Home” tab of the app. From here, you can see the status of the Ray Filter along with the status of the Aura Air itself. Tapping the icon takes you into a circular graph sharing the Air Quality Index within your home, along with the outdoors. Since there aren’t any extra cables that need to be run or anything, the Aura Air app pulls information based on your location in order to provide semi-specific results.
Scrolling left to right shares recommendations for what you could do to improve the AQI if the readings are poor. Plus, these are based on different needs such as allergies, asthma, dust, and more. If you keep scrolling, there’s even a nice little seven-day forecast section for you to check out.
Something else that the Aura Air app does is send you a daily notification informing you of what to expect for the day in terms of the AQI. If there are any recommendations to make based on the indoor or outdoor conditions, the app will lay them out for you to see.
Tapping the activity monitor icon in the top right corner provides even more in-depth information about your air quality. This includes daily and weekly graphs, showing you the levels for different factors such as CO, CO2, VOC, and others. It’s nice to have this at your disposal, especially if you need more fine-tuned information regarding the air quality inside and outside your home.
Aura Air Review – Noticing a difference
In my time spent with the Aura Air, it was a bit of a rocky start. The first week or so was fine and then randomly I noticed the LED indicator on the front of the Aura Air itself blinking orange. Confused, I quickly pulled up Aura Air’s LED indication guide, and somehow the magnetic device cover had managed to work itself loose. This cause the system to think that the cover was completely removed, rendering the air purifier useless until I figured out the problem.
Ever since then it’s been smooth sailing. I’ve turned the Aura Air off completely for a few days to see if there’s a noticeable difference, at which point, my fiance started telling me she was having issues breathing (right when it started to get warm/hot outside). We don’t have pets currently, but we are both sensitive to springtime allergies and by all accounts, the Aura Air has performed admirably.
Thanks to the app, I can see that my included ray filter will last for about 95 more days before it needs to be replaced. And when that time comes, I’ll be able to just fire up the app, tap the shopping cart icon, and will order a replacement.
If you’re someone like me that doesn’t always notice an immediate difference in the air, you’ll still be pleasantly surprised over a period of time. Plus, if you have allergies or just simply want to keep your air clean, then the Aura Air is one of the best options. Especially for those who don’t want to call their local HVAC company or apartment building manager to have a separate one installed, which can often cost much more than the Aura Air.