Photo of the Week: Corsi-Rosenthal Air Purifier

About a week ago, when I read wildfire smoke would soon sweep through Michigan, I went to our basement and brought up a box I hadn’t used in a while. In summer 2023, when wildfire smoke moved through our southeast Michigan area, I built our own air purifier from a box fan, furnace filters, cardboard, and duct tape. Known as a Corsi-Rosenthal box, my do-it-yourself air purifier is something anyone can build for less than $100 (US dollars) in materials. It became popular during the COVID pandemic, to keep air clean in classrooms, homes, and other places. What I liked: it worked better than portable air purifiers in cleaning air inside our house. And it cost a lot less! After that summer in 2023, I moved the Corsi-Rosenthal box to the basement and covered it to keep it clean and safe from any dust. Last week, I was thankful for our homemade air purifier when I read nearby Detroit, Michigan had the worst air quality index (AQI) for major cities in the world, due to wildfire smoke. For two…