NW Oregon Air Quality

[elitys]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this, feel free to move it admins. But due to a rare wind event, smoke from fires in eastern Oregon is being blown to our area and the surrounding ones. The air quality has been steadily worsening, and this morning, it passed 500 . The sky is yellow, the sun is red, ash is covering our patio, and it gets dark about two hours earlier than it should.

We are doing our best to stay indoors, and all the windows and doors remain closed unless we need to go outside. But I'm still worried about the birds because the air quality has been deemed hazardous especially for sensitive individuals.

Is anyone else on the west coast experiencing this with their birds? What have you done to improve the air quality in their spaces? We're running the bathroom fans and the regular fans just to keep air circulating, but I think getting an air purifier is our next step. Any recommendations for good air purifiers?

 

[Ali]

Stay safe! No recommendations on the air purifier, but you may want to follow this thread

Smoke Protection?

I am in an area that is currently experiencing very high levels of smoke in the air due to multiple wildfires and unexpectedly high wind conditions. The air quality index today and yesterday was 400 to 500. Air quality index is a way of quantifying air pollution. Less than 50 is considered...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[Chomskypom]

I haven’t checked personally, but I was talking to a friend who’s also getting a ton of smoke from wildfires and he said air purifiers were sold out everywhere he’d tried.

Instead, he got air filters like you’d use for an AC system and has one taped to a box fan, which he changes every so often. You can find tutorials if you look for “DIY air purifier”. Probably not as good as a real one, but definitely better than nothing!

I have a Winix brand and like it a lot, but it sounds like the best ones might be Rabbit? I see them mentioned a lot on here!

 

[iamwhoiam]

It's VERY bad in CA. I'm affected by the Bobcat fire. 0% containment at this time.
Sky is covered with smokey haze and ashes are falling everywhere. My patio is covered with ashes.
I took out the dog door panel so there would a better seal to prevent smoke from coming indoors. I already had 3 air purifiers running but added a 4th and also
turned up the speed on all of the purifiers. I had to go out and pick up prescription dog food and ashes were blowing into my SUV.

Hope anyone affected by the fires will be safe!

 

[painesgrey]

I live in Western Washington (Olympic Peninsula), but haven't had any issues with smoke this year.

Last year in our previous home, we had a neighbor that was keen on burning brush and debris in their back yard (<50' from our house) that would billow smoke into our house. We ended up getting several air purifiers that helped. We had one big one for the main living area of the house, as well as a smaller one that was just for the bird's room. Didn't have any issues, but there were concerns.

We were using Levoit brand air purifiers, which seemed to work okay but went through filters relatively quickly and could be a little loud when on their highest setting. Rabbit Air and Austin seem to be the brands that most people recommend for birds, but they tend to be quite expensive.

As long as the air filter you're using is rated for the size of the room you'll be using it in (ideally, rated slightly higher) and does not have ionization (or it can be turned off), you should be okay.

 

[Destiny]

Yeah, I am in the same smoky situation, except my birds are outside and we have had no electricity since Monday. I miss fancy things like air purifiers and running water.

Stay safe and get an air purifier or two, if you can find any. Buy extra filters, too!

 

[elitys]

I ordered an air purifier off Amazon, but it won't be here until Sunday. For now, the birds are in the bathroom. It has no windows and we are running the fan constantly. Smells a little better in there. I am stressing out lol.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I have two Rabbit air purifiers and Therapures but I am hoping to replace the Therapure in the master bedroom with another Rabbit.
My 'tiels are near the sliding glass door downstairs and since I have to open that every now and then to let the dogs out I moved the 'tiels.

I ordered an air purifier off Amazon, but it won't be here until Sunday. For now, the birds are in the bathroom. It has no windows and we are running the fan constantly. Smells a little better in there. I am stressing out lol.

What did you order?

 

[elitys]

What did you order?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GKVS2N8?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

I ordered this one as the price seemed good for what it is. It claims to be effective over an area much larger than the room the birds are in and has a real HEPA filter. It also has high ratings.

I can always cancel the order if there's a better option out there, but I sort of bought this one because it was the best one that would also get here soonest. I was a little panicked earlier after calling every store around and hearing that everyone in a 30 mile radius was sold out of air purifiers. Eek.

 

[painesgrey]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GKVS2N8?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

I ordered this one as the price seemed good for what it is. It claims to be effective over an area much larger than the room the birds are in and has a real HEPA filter. It also has high ratings.

I can always cancel the order if there's a better option out there, but I sort of bought this one because it was the best one that would also get here soonest. I was a little panicked earlier after calling every store around and hearing that everyone in a 30 mile radius was sold out of air purifiers. Eek.

That's similar to the one that we used in our living room last year. We kept it on the auto setting, so it would sense the air quality and change fan speed accordingly. It worked well, but it would run on high if we were cooking or if it was a particularly smoky day, which meant it could be on the louder side (similar to the noise of a box fan). Just be warned that the filters aren't terribly cheap and it can go through them pretty quickly.

 

[elitys]

That's similar to the one that we used in our living room last year. We kept it on the auto setting, so it would sense the air quality and change fan speed accordingly. It worked well, but it would run on high if we were cooking or if it was a particularly smoky day, which meant it could be on the louder side (similar to the noise of a box fan). Just be warned that the filters aren't terribly cheap and it can go through them pretty quickly.

I see. The noise isn't too big of an issue for us as it'll be in the living room, so I don't mind that part. We run a regular desk fan in there most of the time so the birds are used to white noise too. Also, it may not be something we have on all the time which would probably reduce the cost of filters. But I will keep that in mind.

Running the purifier constantly could also just end up being another necessary expense for their wellbeing, in which case, oh well. If they need it then they need it, right?

 

[painesgrey]

I see. The noise isn't too big of an issue for us as it'll be in the living room, so I don't mind that part. We run a regular desk fan in there most of the time so the birds are used to white noise too. Also, it may not be something we have on all the time which would probably reduce the cost of filters. But I will keep that in mind.

Running the purifier constantly could also just end up being another necessary expense for their wellbeing, in which case, oh well. If they need it then they need it, right?

Yup. It will be more than enough to get you through this season and then some, I think.