If you want to be sure that the air you and your family breathe in is clean, then you should invest in an indoor air quality monitor.
What are the best brands to consider?
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1. Air Ae Steward 6-in-1 Multifunctional Indoor Air Quality Monitor
The Air Ae Steward 6-in-1 Multifunctional Indoor Air Quality Monitor provides very accurate measurements as it gauges the air quality of your indoor space using gas flow conductivity. This device will measure even the slightest change in the particles and gases that it monitors. It costs $179.99 on Amazon.
This air quality monitor tracks:
- Particulate matter: Dust, particles, dirt, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and other liquid droplets and microscopic solids that float in the air you breathe.
- Volatile organic compounds: VOCs are gases that come from a variety of sources. These chemicals have higher concentration indoors than outdoors.
- Formaldehyde: This flammable and colorless gas has a very pungent smell and can cause health problems with continued exposure.
Aside from these, this air quality monitor also measures humidity, which can affect breathing and cause molds to grow.
What you would like about the Air Ae Steward 6-in-1 Multifunctional Indoor Air Quality Monitor
You can use this device to understand what’s in the air you breathe at home, allowing you to know for sure where the bad air is coming from. Cooking, cleaning the house, and even keeping the windows close could easily affect air quality, and with this device, you would know about it even if you cannot see it or smell it. The sensors are very sensitive so they do not miss anything.
If you are not one who appreciates numbers, then you would love the LED indicators that tell you at a glance if you are breathing in dirty or clean air. There are four lights on the device face ranging from serious to optimal.
This device also has a convenient design. It has a wide base so that you can place it on top of any surface rather than put it up on your walls. It measures 5.1 x 3.3 x 2 inches, so it will take up very little space on a table or desk.
What could be better
This device only shows real-time measurements, so you could not go back to check and see how the air quality was while you were sleeping or while you were out of the house. Furthermore, the Air Ae Steward 6-in-1 Multifunctional Indoor Air Quality Monitor is meant to be visible, but it looks like an old thermostat with a display that looks more like an overly complicated digital clock. This is not something that people would describe as eye-catching.
Lastly, this air quality monitor needs to be plugged in at all times. Without a battery, you cannot place it very far from a power outlet.
2. GEARDON Air Quality Monitor
GEARDON Air Quality Monitor measures the level of formaldehyde, TVOC, and particulate matter in the air, as well as the humidity and temperature of the room.
This air quality monitor has a rechargeable battery so that you can take it all around the house and measure air quality in different rooms. You can even use it to measure the air quality inside your car. It also logs the measurements it takes, allowing you to track the air quality inside your home over time.
What you would like about the GEARDON Air Quality Monitor
The GEARDON Air Quality Monitor is great for ad hoc measurements. It is very portable and very accurate as well. Unlike the Air Ae monitor, this device has a color screen and it keeps a history of recorded readings.
It has a list price of $169.99 but is available for $100 on Amazon. You can find the latest prices here!
What could be better?
You would need to calibrate the device the first time you use it, and that task can take up to 60 minutes. The device also suffers from bad customer service and confusing instructions. The manual reads like a badly translated Chinese text fed to Google Translate.
Moreover, the device is not a good idea if you need to constantly monitor the air quality around the home. In fact, it would go on standby mode after not being in use for five minutes and then it would turn itself off after two hours.
3. Awair Air Quality Monitor
Most air quality monitors look utilitarian. It seems like manufacturers do not really spend time making their devices look good. Not Awair. If anything, this air quality monitor looks great with its wooden walnut timber frame and minimalist display. The Awair Air Quality Monitor has five scales with an array of LED lights to let you know about each factor.
The Awair Air Quality Monitor measures dust, carbon dioxide, chemicals, temperature, and humidity. Plus, it gives you an overall score to determine if there’s something wrong with your air quality.
Awair Air Quality Monitor can connect to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth so that you can find out more about its readings using the mobile app.
Awair costs $179 on the company’s online store. You can find the latest prices here!
The Awair app
The Awair mobile app will show you the overall score, a descriptive rating of the room’s air quality as well as the exact readings for each factor all in one screen. It will also tell you how to improve air quality with easy-to-do suggestions such as opening a window or buying solid wood furniture.
The app will also show you readings over time, so you could appreciate just how much the quality of air has improved. The mobile app is where you could set your Awair Air Quality Monitor to interact with other connected devices.
Integrations
Awair Air Quality Monitor works with Nest Learning Thermostat. If it detects too much carbon dioxide in the air, it will tell Nest to turn on the fans. Awair also works with IFTTT recipes. You can set Awair as a trigger for other IFTTT-compatible devices and services such as e-mail or tweet.
You can also use voice commands to learn more about the air quality. Just ask Alexa about the air and you can get informed about the levels of particles in the air and suggestions on how to improve it.
Awair Glow
Awair also offers the Awair Glow, which acts like the original air quality monitor but also as a smart plug. If you have a non-smart air purifier, humidifier, or air conditioner, you can use Awair Glow to make it smart.
You plug the Awair Glow into an available power outlet and then plug your air purifier, fan, or other device into it. Once the air quality degrades in the room, you can set your Awair Glow to turn these devices on.
The Glow is so named because it gives out a faint light, making it work another function: a night light.
What could be better
Awair Air Quality Monitoruses Bluetooth to connect to your mobile phone. This means that your mobile devices need to be within close range of the Awair for you to be able to use the app. Also, some people might not be able to clearly see the lights on the Awair.
4. AirThings Wave
AirThings Wave is yet another air quality monitor, but this one focuses more of radon gas, or radioactive gas that is found everywhere. The circular device has a ring of light at the center, which can tell you when radon levels are dangerously high by changing colors. A green light means that the air quality is okay, while yellow signals that air quality is dropping. A red light means that the air you breathe in is not good. You can check out the latest prices and deals for the AirThings Wave here!
Air quality monitors that also serve another function
If you are not sold on getting a standalone air quality monitor, you might consider appliances that serve another function but has an air quality monitoring feature. Some of the best you could consider include:
1. Netatmo Weather Station. The Netatmo Weather Station tells you about the air quality, humidity and temperature both indoors and outdoors. It can also measure noise levels and barometric pressure, among other things. The thing with Netatmo Weather Station is that you can remotely access all of these data using the mobile app. It can also notify you if the air quality drops. On top of that, you can also get weather forecasts for the next seven days.
2. Withings Home Wi-Fi Security Camera with Air Quality Sensors. This is primarily a Wi-Fi camera that can detect the quality of the air around you. The HD camera can track VOC in the room and notify you when VOCs get dangerously high.
3. Dyson Pure Cool Link. Unlike standalone air quality monitors that only notify you if the air quality gets bad inside the room, the Dyson Pure Cool Link allows you to do something about it. This appliance is primarily an air purifier. It uses HEPA filter to separate pollutants from the air and then acts like a bladeless fan, blowing clean air to help cool things down. While the air quality monitoring feature is found only when you use the companion mobile app, it does give you an overall air quality score, as well as let you know about the temperature, humidity level, and particulate matter.
