Air purifiers that are smart, repel bugs and remove odour

Posted On: February 25, 2017

CHENNAI: As air pollution rises in the cities, the scope for innovation is only growing for white goods manufacturers. From smart purifiers that can be controlled from the mobile device to those that repel bugs, companies like Eureka Forbes, Blue Air, and Symphony are moving on from offering the plain vanilla machine to a device packed with features.

"Most of the air purifiers available in the market are either imported from abroad or are ionisers being sold as purifiers. These do not factor in the climatic and environmental conditions of our country," said Shashank Sinha, AVP, marketing, Eureka Forbes, held by Shapoorji Panllonji.

The company has tied up with Breezometer - an analytics company, to provide insights about the quality of ambient air. Using the breezometer, through an app, users will know the air quality up to a distance of 500 meters from the installed purifier. Sinha added that the purifier takes into consideration the lifestyle and the inhabitants in the household. "If the household has morning walkers, the breezometer can be programmed to check the ambient air quality outside at that time. It also factors in the vulnerability of elders and children," he said. With growth doubling, the company has purifiers priced from Rs 8,990 and is focussing on the residential segment.

According to a report by 6Wresearch, India air purifiers market is at a very nascent stage. The air purifier market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30% during 2017-23, as per 6Wresearch. Contradictory to its core benefits i.e. cleaning indoor pollutants, the market is currently driven by the hype of density of outdoor pollution through media. This has spurred the overall market especially in tier-1 cities across India, wherein Delhi contributes more than half of the total market, the report says.

Ahmedabad based Symphony Ltd is riding on this rising awareness. The company has over 35 air coolers of which 16-17 models offer I-PURE technology. "Coolers are equipped with different filters including antibacterial filter, smell filter, dust filter, allergy filter and PM 2.5 wash filters which keep away air pollutants and deliver cool air, in pure form which indirectly works as air cooler + air purifier," said Chandradip Paitandi, senior manager - marketing, Symphony.

The company also launched its 'Touch Range', which comes with I - Pure technology and other features such as digital touch screen, voice assist, mosquito repellent, etc.

For Unilever-acquired Blue Air, which entered the Indian market in 2016, IOT-enabled smart air purifiers are among the top-selling products which can be controlled from a remote location through an app. One of the indoor purifiers, the Sense+ is engineered to purify the air using the company's patented HepaSilent filtration technology in rooms up to 200 sq feet every 12 minutes. The purifier accesses information from the remote Blueair Aware air quality monitor on the app, which can either automatically adjust the Sense+ airflow speed or permit manual control.

"Such products find takers in the slightly affluent or upper-middle-class category, although purifiers in the blue category, which cost lesser, also contribute to sales," said Girish Bapat, director, sales, West & South Asia, Blue Air. To accelerate sales, the Swedish company is looking at introducing low-end products that cater to the mass segment.

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Media Courtesy : Timesofindia Indiatimes