Honeywell’s smart air purifier pulls pollen alerts from the web, adjusts fan accordingly

By Drew Prindle April 18, 2014

honeywells smart air purifier pulls pollen alerts web adjusts fan accordingly screen shot 2014 04 18 at 1 56 06 pm — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Slowly but surely, everything in your house is getting smarter. At this point, pretty much every major category has been covered: fridges, ovens, thermostats, lightbulbs, smoke alarms, air conditioners, crock pots, kettles — you name it, there’s probably a “smart” version somewhere. For this reason, forward-thinking manufacturers are now sitting around scratching their heads, trying to think of products that haven’t been smartened up yet.

The latest product to get the smart treatment, thanks to the innovative folks at Honeywell, is the humble air purifier. A few other companies have toyed with the idea in the past, but as far as we know, Honeywell is one of the first to actually bring a product to market.

In addition to all the requisite air filtration tech you’d expect from such a device, the company’s recently-released HPA250B smart air purifier is equipped with Bluetooth functionality, allowing you to control it remotely via your Android or iOS smartphone. Unfortunately the device isn’t outfitted with other communications protocols like WiFi, ZigBee, or ZWave, so it can’t communicate with any other connected devices, but the stuff it can pull off with Bluetooth is definitely nothing to scoff at.

Since Bluetooth signals are relatively short range, the HPA250B can be set to recognize the presence of your smartphone, and automatically turn on when you get home. Through Honeywell’s accompanying app, the device can even pull pollen and mold alerts from the web and automatically adjust its fan levels to keep your air as fresh as possible — a godsend for anyone with allergies.

The purifier, which can accommodate rooms of up to 310 square feet, is currently available from Best Buy for $269.99. Find out more here.

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Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

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