[washadjeffmad]

HM Embody. It's not "comfy", but after six months, a lower back condition that hasn't been corrected, only managed by years of PT improved enough for me to go off pain management. Bonus: It also solved a prostate issue I didn't know I had.

RealForce R3S TKL, 30g. I returned a Kinesis 360 and got this instead. None of the reviews helped, and tbf, it's not easy to explain the difference or value of optical programmable switches until you use them. Note: I broke my hand a lifetime ago, and it just wasn't mechanically able to fit the 360's ergonomics. You have to be well to stay well, I guess.

Air purifiers. Breathe well.

High CRI lighting. Your lights can be for more than helping you not bump into things. I feel like I'm seeing our home for the first time, and I need less light to prevent strain or fatigue while reading, etc.

[jsamson12]

> HM Embody. It's not "comfy", but after six months, a lower back condition that hasn't been corrected, only managed by years of PT improved enough for me to go off pain management. Bonus: It also solved a prostate issue I didn't know I had.

Was the prostate issue weak flow or something else if you don't mind me asking? I tried a HM Embody and returned it because it felt like it was pushing my shoulders too far forward / causing rounding. My 'pelvic issue' did seem slightly improved when I was using the HM Embody but I never seen anyone else mention the two together. Maybe I should try it again!

[sameAsYou]

Back pain is no joke. Great to hear you’re better.

Which air purifiers do you recommend?

[nucleardog]

If you’re looking for a weekend project and are even slightly handy… a fan and a decent furnace filter is a good cheap solution.

I’ve got two 3M filtrete filters, some activated charcoal sitting in front of them, and a small duct fan to pull air through it all. (Build information is in this comment and the one reply: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37223106). For what a filter rated for 600sqft would have cost me, I instead got one that can do 3,000sqft. Or more usefully less space with more air changes per hour (like ten per hour instead of two).

I’ve got a $600-ish German air quality monitor that says it does what it should, which makes sense because as long as you’re pulling air through the filters… they’re gonna filter.

If you’re looking smaller scale, you can buy sheets of activated charcoal and sheets of MERV13 filter material. A little 120mm fan and a tiny filter box could run pretty quietly in an office and do the trick.

However I think the most important advice I’d give (and also the cheapest!) is to, unless you’re in a _heavily_ polluted area, open your windows. No air filter you’re going to get will remove CO2 and once you start measuring it you’d be amazed/horrified how quickly it builds up indoors to “brain fog” levels.

[charlie0]

I've gotten the Winix ones from Costco and they work great. I really notice a difference now that it's getting cold and my windows are shut most of the time.

[lazyeye]

The problem with shutting windows is CO2 quickly gets up to unhealthy levels. Takes about 2 hours in my office.

A good quality CO2 monitor (e.g Aranet) is a worthwhile investment.

[charlie0]

That probably explains the weird sensations in my chest, especially when turning on the stove to cook something.

[philwelch]

What levels are you seeing?

[lazyeye]

1100-1200. I believe in the mining industry anything over 800 inside a truck cab is considered unsafe. Fresh air is 470ish. I try to keep my room around 600 but not always possible.

[philwelch]

If that's in ppm you're nowhere close to any limits I'm aware of. OSHA limits start at 5000ppm, which is approximately where the ISS and most submarines are kept. It's possible that 3000ppm would be a safer upper limit, but you're still at less than half of that.

It’s interesting because I’ve seen this CO2 anxiety on HN and Twitter before but I’ve never found any solid rationale for people to worry about CO2 concentrations at those magnitudes. Part of me wonders where this idea came from. Hopefully it isn’t just a ploy to sell CO2 monitors.

[moooo99]

If you're into smart home stuff, I can recommend the IKEA STARKVIND. It integrates nicely into the room, filters are decently easy to swap and Zigbee works well with Home Assistant

[aaomidi]

Not op but honestly literally any non UV one is fine.

If you have to have UV, make sure the ozone produced has somewhere to go.

[altairprime]

Seconding three of four of these: Embody, high CRI lighting, air purifiers.

Thirteen years on my Embody so far, it’s doing fine.

Edit: Also, any 200+ ppi display. My old eyes need the extra pixels to read comfortably.