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Fight haze and kill mosquitoes with Sharp’s new FP-FM40E air purifier

By Kenny Yeo - on 1 Oct 2015, 9:24pm

Fight haze and kill mosquitoes with Sharp’s new FP-FM40E air purifier

If you are having breathing difficulties because of the haze, the Sharp FP-FM40E is here to save the day.

The haze has been with us for the past couple of weeks and it's showing no signs of letting up. The Indonesian province of Riau, which is most affected by haze, declared a state of emergency in mid-September when visibility dipped to below 100m. However, conditions remain poor and Riau has only just extended the state of emergency by an additional two weeks.

As for Singapore, the PSI (Pollutant Standards Index) has been hovering around 101 - 200, which is in the unhealthy range for the past week or so. And this has been causing inconvenience for those who have a history of respiratory problems, and chronic heart and lung problems. It’s definitely not healthy and the National Environment Agency has advised people to stay indoors and avoid outdoor activities and physical exertion.

And because of the haze, we are also seeing an increased in interest for air purifiers and the air purifier you see here is Sharp’s latest FP-FM40E. Air purifiers are a dime a dozen these days, but the FP-FM40E is unique because it also the world’s first air purifier that can also catch mosquitoes.

The Sharp FP-FM40E's various modes. The vents above the controls are where purified air comes out.

But first let’s talk about the Sharp FP-FM40E’s air purifying capabilities. It uses a HEPA filter (high-efficiency particulate arrestance), which means it can remove up to 99.97% of particles that have a size of 0.3µm - sufficient to tackle the haze. It also has deodorization capabilities, which can be useful especially for homes with pets. The HEPA and deodorization filters both have a working life of about 2 years.

The FM-FM40E is also effective in an area of up to 30m2 or roughly the size of a typical apartment living room. Finally, the FM-FM40E has three levels of operation: low, medium and high. In high mode, it can purify an estimated 240m3 of air per hour, 150m3 at medium and around 48m3 to 90m3 at low.

The Sharp FP-FM40E also has a special Haze mode. In this mode, the air purifier runs at maximum operational capacity for the first 10 minutes and then switches to medium for the next 50 minutes. After the first hour, it then alternates between low and medium, switching every 20 minutes. This is to give quieter operation and also ensures that the air purifier’s motors at not placed under too great a load for extended periods of time.

The Sharp FP-FM40E also features Sharp’s Plasmacluster technology that emits positive and negative ions. According to Sharp, the ions emitted replicates those found in nature and it sanitizes and gets rid of airborne mold, viruses and allergen. This has been tested and verified by numerous agencies and institutions across Japan.

The entire rear panel acts as an intake, and the soft glow of the blue LED lights is supposed to attract mosquitoes close so that they get sucked right in.

Now that we have covered the Sharp FP-FM40E’s air purifying abilities, how does it kill mosquitoes? First of all, it uses a combination of UV light and its all-black design to attract mosquitoes - darker colors are said to attract mosquitoes because they retain heat better. And then it has UV light emitters as well. As mosquitoes come close, the strong suction of the air purifier sucks the mosquito inside where a sheet of super sticky tape is waiting for it. You can see in it action for yourself here. It seems like a pretty cool design and the videos also suggest that it’s effective, but we’ll have to test it out for ourselves to see if it works in the real world.

Glue sheets are S$19 a pop.

Sharp also informed us that a sheet will likely last about a month before it needs to be replaced. Replacement sheets are sold separately.

The Sharp FP-FM40E air purifier and mosquito killer and is available now at all Gain City outlets and is priced at S$459. Replacement glue sheets are S$19 a pack and each pack contains three additional sheets.

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