FAQ

Do I need to refill the LibAirator^®? What is the expected service life of the device?

There is no need, the salt in the device is sufficient for the entire expected service life of the device (30000 hours of non-stop operation, about 3 years). The hourly weight loss is 10 to 20 micrograms, therefore less than 1 gram in 3 years is consumed from the 5 grams filled in at factory. If you're wondering why this is enough, read on.

What kind of salt is in the device? Why is it not for example Praid salt or Himalayan salt?

99.6% pure "factory" NaCl is contained. The safety of pure NaCl is well documented, while the composition of naturally available salts is variable, and therefore poses a potential risk that is not permissible for a medical device.

How big a room is the LibAirator^®'s performance sufficient for?

It should essentially be used in accordance with the user manual, from arm's length, especially if, for example, the room's door is always open. However, it can fill even the air of a 20-square-foot room with a perceptible level of salt particles if the room is typically closed, there is no draught, its height is moderate, and the LibAirator^® is always on.

My airways are often dry. Will I need a humidifier, too?

You probably will not need a humidifier. Salt, just like when sliced cucumber is salted, draws water from the mucous membrane of the airways, reducing its swelling and moisturizing its surface. Usually, users are reporting that the dehydration of the airways has ceased by using the device.

Does the LibAirator^® leave stains on the furniture, just like (cold) humidifiers?

No, the LibAirator^® produces and blows extremely small dry salt particles that keep levitating for a long time, so it is unnoticeable, especially in relation to "normal" house dust.

Why should I keep the LibAirator^® always on? Do I always have to pack it when it's off?

There are salt grains in the rotary drum of the device which, when the appliance is switched off, may get clumped from the moisture of the air. If the device is switched on, the internal heating prevents the salt from getting moist, but when the device is switched off, unless you are absolutely sure that the air dry in the place where the device is kept, it is advisable to keep it moisture-sealed as described in the user manual. However, a few hours in the uplugged state almost certainly does not cause any problems, so usually it does not have to be packed. Actually, a relative humidity of up to 75% can theoretically not do harm because the salt particles only begin to "sweat" and stick to each other due to the absorbed humidity above that level, but people usually do not have a humidity recorder at home, so they can only rely on their senses, which is unreliable. A wet wall, rainy weather, waterfront proximity can easily create a relative humidity of 100 percent.

In addition, if you want air to be kept salt-rich not just close to the device, that takes time, so it's best to keep the device plugged in even if you're not at home.

If you would unplug it during the day to save on the electricity bill, please consider that an average refrigerator consumes 20 times as much electricity as the LibAirator^®.

How does the LibAirator^® work?

At manufacturing, dry grains of salt are placed in a rotating drum with a cylinder that is of a micrometer sieve material. The rotary drum is located in the center of a horizontal rotary shaft fan. The fan, with the drum in the centre, spins up 10 times every minute, regulated by the control electronics. In the first moments of the spin-up, the salt grains in the rotary drum are rubbed against each other and thus produce extremely fine, nanometer-range salt particles that leave the drum through its microfilter cylinder and which are blown into the environment by the fan at the higher revolution stage of the operating cycle. This operating cycle gives the device its quiet, breathing-like sound. A heating element placed under the drum provides that the salt grains are kept dry. The whole solution is protected by registered patent.

What is the significance of such a fine particle size?

For "(salt)dusts", our airways work the same way as the grease filter of the kitchen hood, which forces the air to take sharp turns while flowing through: at inhalation, larger particles can not "take the bends of the airways", thus depositing on the outer edges of the "bends". Thus, if particles are too large, too much salt is deposited at "branching points" or "bends", so that at these points the salt is almost etching the airways while it is barely reaching elsewhere. At the same time, in simple terms, the smaller the particles and the more "airlike" they behave, the easier they get to the most distant points of the airways and the more evenly they cover the surface of the airways. Since the relationship between the weight and the diameter of the particles is cubic, if the particle size is 10 times smaller, then we can 10x10x10 = 1000 times more evenly and more gently spread salt particles in the airways with the same salt mass. One hundred times smaller particles can cover the respiratory tract 1 million times more evenly with the same amount of salt, and 1000 times difference in diameter raises this proportion to 1 billion! Therefore, a very small amount of salt - in terms of weight - is sufficient for the LibAirator^® to cover the airways as a whole.