Final Updated Day: January 25, 2025 AT 5:26 PM
The official pollen season is finally here. My apartment building is on a high floor, but it's located close to the Shonan coast, so on windy days sea sand can blow around. On such days, I hesitate to open the windows for ventilation. I also suffer from hay fever every year in early spring.
Therefore, in January of this year, I installed three Sharp air purifiers, FU-S50, in each room of my apartment to prevent allergies, including those caused by house dust.
I also considered an air purifier with a humidifying function, but I already own dedicated humidifiers (Panasonic and Toshiba), and a model with only an air purifying function would be cheaper. We chose a regular air purifier because it is easy to maintain.
The selection criteria for an air purifier is that the filter should not need to be replaced for at least 10 years, that it should have the ability to reduce airborne viruses, bacteria, and harmful substances using plasma cluster technology, and that it should be able to reduce airborne dust mite allergens, pollen, etc. It has the function of removing PM2.5, etc., and the deodorizing function of cooking and daily life odors.
I purchased Sharp's air purifier FU-S50-W in multiple installments for around 21,000 yen from Kakaku.com.
Features of FU-S50
Sharp's air purifier FU-S50 is a standard type thin air purifier for living rooms and bedrooms. Its characteristics are as follows.
- Equipped with Plasmacluster 7000: It is equipped with a unique air purification technology "Plasma Cluster 7000". This feature offers clean air to remove viruses, mold, allelle substances, pollen, etc. in the air.
- Speed circulation airflow: It uses ``speed circulation airflow'' that quickly distributes air throughout the room. It attracts dust from far away and provides an accelerated cleaning effect.
- high performanceHEPAfilterIt is equipped with an electrostatic HEPA filter that removes 0.3 µm of particles 99.97%, removing floating mites allele substances and pollen, so it catches fine particles that you usually miss.
- Three filters: dust collection, deodorization, and pre-filter: It has a deodorizing filter that effectively adsorbs and decomposes sweaty odors, tobacco odors, pet odors, etc. As a result, we can catch dust and smell firmly to achieve a more comfortable living environment.
- Energy saving performance: The electricity bill when used 24 hours a day at high power is approximately 36 yen, at moderate operation approximately 9.7 yen, and at quiet operation approximately 1.9 yen, which is extremely low cost.
- Quiet mode: It is quiet and can be used while sleeping.
- Deodorizing effect: It has a deodorizing effect on cooking odors, cigarette odors, etc.
- Equipped with odor sensor: The odor sensor detects the concentration of odors and dust in the air in the room and automatically switches to the appropriate mode. For example, if a strong odor or dust is detected, the device will send out air at high speed to quickly purify the air.
- Allergy symptom relief: It is effective in reducing allergy symptoms.
- Simple design: Easy to operate and use.
With these features, it is an excellent air purifier to remove various dirt in the air and keep the air in the home clean. In particular, it is suitable for use in a small space such as a living room or bedroom, and it can be used for a long time because it does not require a dust collector and deodorizing filter for 10 years.
In addition, in automatic operation mode, sensors constantly monitor air conditions and select the appropriate air volume and mode as needed. This allows you to maintain clean air at all times.
What is Plasmacluster 7000?
Plasmacluster 7000 is one of Sharp's air purification technologies, Plasmacluster, and is a model that generates 7,000 ions/second. Its features and effects are as follows.
[Features and effects]
- Air purification power: Plasmacluster 7000 has the power to remove airborne viruses, bacteria, allergens, mold, etc. by emitting large amounts of ions. Effectiveness has been demonstrated in a few minutes in a closed test space of approximately 25m³.
- Deodorizing effect: It also decomposes and removes floating odor components and attached odors.
- Static elimination: It also has the effect of suppressing static electricity, making it difficult for static electricity to accumulate in the space.
- Face care: Plasmacluster ions also have the effect of moisturizing and moisturizing your skin.
【Usage environment】
Plasmacluster 7000 is suitable for private rooms and small to medium-sized spaces, making it ideal for children's rooms and bedrooms. On the other hand, for larger spaces, you may want to consider something like Plasmacluster 25000, which has a higher number of generators.
FU-S50-W specifications
| Term Eye | specification |
|---|---|
| noise level | 52dB |
| Body size | Width: 54cm, height: 383mm, thickness: 209mm |
| Body weight | 4.9kg |
| color | White |
| Corresponding area | 23 tatami |
| Filter lifespan | 10 years |
| Maximum air flow per minute | 5.1m³ |
| PM2.5 removal rate | 99% |
| odor sensor | Yes |
| HEPA filter compatible | Yes |
| plasma cluster | Yes |
| Deodorizing function | Yes |
Unpacking FU-S50
Before using the FU-S50, you need to unpack it, remove the back cover of the main unit, and remove the filter from the plastic bag before installing it. Install the dust filter and deodorizing filter in this order.
Installation of FU-S50
The correct location for installing the FU-S50 is away from the air conditioner and near the door where people enter and exit. Since there is an inlet on the back, it must be installed at least 3cm away from the wall from the back.
In addition, in rooms where dust tends to accumulate, such as bedrooms, we recommend attaching an optional disposable pre-filter (FZ-PF51F1) to the back.
Disposable pre-filter (FZ-PF51F1) sold separately
Operation of FU-S50
Regarding the basic operation of the FU-S50, first press the "Run" button, and during seasons with a lot of pollen and dust, the "pollen" function is normally turned on and the machine runs automatically. You can also set it to automatic operation in "sleep" mode when you go to bed.
In automatic operation, when the air volume is at its maximum, it is quite noisy (52 dB). At that time, the indicator on the clean monitor will also light up (you can change the setting to turn it off by pressing and holding "Powerful Dust Suction" for 3 seconds).
The blue indicator on the left is the "Plasmacluster Ion Sign", and the one on the right is the "Kirei Monitor". The cleanliness monitor's indicator changes color from green to orange to red depending on how polluted the air is in the room.
By the way, when I ate a gyoza dish in the living room where the FU-S50 was installed, the color of the quiet FU-S50's beautiful monitor changed to red, and the dust suction air volume started operating at maximum. Kirei Monitor also seems to be sensitive to chemicals such as perfume and alcohol.
If you select "Sleep" mode, the indicator will turn off and the machine will operate in silent mode ("Pollen" is OFF).
For more information, please see the "SHARP Air Purifier FU-S50 Online Manual" below.
SHARP Air Purifier FU-S50 Online Manual
General review
My impressions after using the FU-S50 for about 3 weeks are as follows.
- The clean monitor is quite sensitive to smells such as alcohol. Reacts to minute dust (sensor sensitivity settings can also be changed)
- It has a high deodorizing ability and completely eliminates odors caused by cooking, so there is no longer a need for deodorizers in the room.
- The body size is slim and compact, and it is not very heavy, so it is easy to install and move.
- With dust no longer flying up in the bedroom, my allergy symptoms improved and I was able to sleep more soundly than before.
- The filter does not need to be replaced for 10 years, making maintenance easy.
- If you select "Powerful Dust Suction" operation, you can purify the room in a short time and it is convenient.
- Selecting sleep mode results in silent operation, so it does not support "Pollen" mode.
- When the air volume is switched to "strong" with "powerful dust suction" and automatic operation, it feels quite loud.
- You can change detailed settings such as turning on/off the monitor, turning on/off plasma ions, and sensor sensitivity.
