[Advertisement – this is a paid partnership with Briiv, but all words and opinions are my own]
I often get asked to review new home-technology products for this blog. Some are turned down instantly, some I test out but never share because they don’t make the grade. And some turn out to be absolutely brilliant – things that I end up using day in, day out long after the initial collaboration has ended. Briiv’s stylish and sustainable air filter is one of the latter. I first reviewed it last year and was very impressed – and so, when they asked if I’d be happy to write a follow-up post on my experiences since then and share details of the just-launched Briiv Pro (more on that below), I was happy to oblige.
The brainchild of a group of UK design professionals who had grown tired of industry greenwashing, the Briiv purifier uses three different filtration layers – moss, a coconut-fibre disc and a nano matrix filter – to trap allergens, dust, smoke, VOC gasses and harmful PM2.5 particles. It’s also made of 90% natural and renewable materials, including an innovative bio-plastic derived from elephant grass which captures carbon as it grows and fully bio-degrades. The result is a truly circular design with the air-cleansing power of 3,043 houseplants, helping to tackle indoor air pollution – and the associated health problems, sleep disturbances and brain fog – without contributing to the rising tide of plastic waste.
And it really does work. Both my husband Chris and I have allergies – he hay fever, I asthma – and we live near a busy road. Our Briiv air filter is very effective at tackling any irritants that find their way into the house, dealing with pollen in spring and summer, traffic and cooking fumes all year round, and the leaf spores and wood-burner smoke that make me wheeze in autumn and winter. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it’s been used almost every day since we got it.
Looking more like a terrarium than a home appliance, the purifier is lightweight and portable enough to move around as needed, but it most often gets used in our bedroom to boost the air quality before we go to sleep. Most evenings, the hour-long cycle mode, which improves the air in a 36sqm space in just 60 minutes, is enough – and we can use the Briiv app to switch it on remotely from the sofa or schedule it to come on in advance if we know we’re going to be out. But if we need to sleep with the windows open in hot weather, the lowest setting is quiet enough (just 32 decibels – the same as a whisper) to leave running in the background all night long. It’s not expensive to use, either: the low-energy design means the estimated electricity spend is around £3.64 a year, and the various filtration layers (which cost £34.99 for a pack) only need replacing once every 12 months or so.
The Briiv Pro
The standard Briiv purifier works perfectly for our needs, but I also like the sound of the new Briiv Pro. Designed for both homes and workplaces, it has the same natural materials and understated appearance as the original, but with some very clever additional features. These include the ‘Hive’ mode, which can link it together with other Briiv units to create a smart air-purifying system covering multiple rooms and spaces. It also actively monitors air quality in real time and has an autonomous ‘Canary’ setting that will adapt in response to changing conditions. There’s even a ‘Rapid Purification’ mode, which cleans the air in a 4 x 4m room in only 21 minutes – ideal if you need to quickly improve the air you breathe after cooking, using detergents or opening windows. What’s more, it’s only marginally bigger, despite packing in a lot more power.
Whether you opt for the original model or the Pro, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend investing in a Briiv air purifier. Indoor air pollution is one of those things that affects our health and our daily lives far more than we realise, zapping energy levels, irritating our lungs and stoking up problems for the future. If your experience is anything like mine, then you’ll soon notice the difference.
The Briiv Pro launches on Kickstarter today, and there’s a limited early-bird discount price of £349. The original Briiv air purifier is available to order here, priced at £329.
Final three images courtesy of Briiv; all other photography by Abi Dare
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