IKEA STARKVIND, table and air purifier compatible with HomeKit

We tested the IKEA STARKVIND air purifier, which Disguised as a side table, it will improve the air quality in your room, with manual operation and integration with Apple’s home automation platform, HomeKit.

There is no need to explain too much why it can be interesting to use air purifiers at home, the problem is that if you want them to be effective in large rooms like a living room, they are devices. bulky items that in many cases we do not know where to place. IKEA has found the perfect solution, and yes we have already seen how he “disguises” the speakers as lamps, tables or shelves, now uses a piece of furniture as functional and essential as a side table to place a STARKVIND air purifier.

Assembly

Like any IKEA product, it requires assembly, but don’t worry, the main unit is already assembled, we just need to put the four legs and the top board on it. It’s one of the easiest pieces of furniture to put together from IKEA, and it only takes a few minutes. IKEA has taken care of several important details, like a goat guard on one of the legs so that the cable is not visible (place this leg next to the purifier’s outlet) and space to store excess cord and power supply. Everything you need for assembly is included, you won’t need any additional tools.

Characteristics

The STARKVIND air purifier has a PM2.5 particle detector which measures the air quality in the room. PM2.5 particles with those that are suspended in the air and have a a size equal to or less than 2.5 microns, a very small size that has a great ability to enter our body through the respiratory tract and they have adverse effects on our health. They are therefore a good indicator for knowing the quality of the air we breathe, and even more so in our home, where we spend many hours at the end of the day.

This sensor is associated with a HEPA particulate filter which is included in the box, and we have the option to add a carbon filter for the gases, which is optional and we can also buy from IKEA. With these items, the purifier is recommended to cover a room up to 20 square meters, larger size means it will take longer to clean the air, but we can also add more purifiers to get bigger zone of action. Replacing filters will depend on their intended use and the air quality in the room, but IKEA recommends doing this every 6 months. The particulate filter is priced at $ 9 and the gas filter at $ 16

The control can be done completely manually thanks to the rotary button that we have on the front. You can put it in automatic mode, so that the speed automatically adjusts to the air quality, which is also the position in which we recommend placing it. If we want to put it in manual mode, we have several speeds that we can adjust by turning the knob. Switching on and off is done by pressing the button, and if we keep it pressed we can activate or deactivate the child lock.

Regarding the characteristics of the furniture, it is available in this color white-oak, and in another color dark oak-black so that you can choose the combination that best suits your room. The price is the same for either of the two models: 149 $. I only miss that it has an information screen on the front to know the quality of the air, or colored LEDs failing that.

Mobile app and HomeKit

If we want to add the IKEA STARKVIND purifier to our mobile phone, we will need the IKEA Home Smart app (link) but also add the TRADFRI bridge, the same one used to connect the smart lights from the Swedish manufacturer. The configuration of the bridge is very simple, and you can see it in the video from our channel in which we analyze the IKEA smart lights.

Adding the purifier to our smartphone will allow us to control it from there, with the same controls offered by the rotary knob that we described previously. This is a very simple procedure that will only take a few minutes and in turn will give us many advantages over using only the manual override. As for example instructions for knowing when to change the filters of the purifier, and especially integration with HomeKit.

To have the purifier in HomeEKit it is not necessary to miss any type of QR code or anything, as soon as we add it to the TRADFRI bridge it will appear in our Home app, with all the options already available . We can control the purifier, its operating speed, and also know the air quality, because we are actually going to add two devices: purifier and air quality sensor. We can add the purifier to our automations, or shut down new ones, use the environments, and use Siri to control it from our iPhone, Apple Watch, or HomePod.

Editorial review

The STARKVIND air purifier combines the functionality of a side table and an air purifier in one element, saving space while adding a decorative element to our room. With very simple assembly, automatic operation practically transparent to the user and the enormous possibilities offered by integration with home automation platforms such as HomeKit, it is one of the most recommended air purifiers for operation, design and price. It can be bought for 149 $ at IKEA (connect)

The inconvenients

• TRADFRI bridge required for HomeKit
• No information displayed on the device