The 7 Best Air Quality Monitors for Home Use - LeafScore

The best indoor air quality monitors · Airthings View Plus · Temtop M10 Air Quality Monitor · Airthings Wave Plus · Temtop M10i WiFi Air Quality ... Cooking,heating,off-gassingfromfurniture,cleaningproducts,toiletries,smoking,pets,andotherfactorsallaffecttheairindoors.Infact,airqualityindoorsisoftenmuchworsethanoutdoors,regardlessofproximitytoindustrialsites,highways,orotherhazards. TableofContentsHowtoimproveindoorairqualityReduceindoorairpollutantsOtherwaystoimproveindoorairqualityHowtochoosethebestairqualitymonitorThebestindoorairqualitymonitorsAirthingsViewPlusTemtopM10AirQualityMonitorAirthingsWavePlusTemtopM10iWiFiAirQualityMonitorDavisInstrumentsAirLinkDylosDC1100 IQAirAirVisualProIlivenearapulpandpapermillinanareapronetoforestfires,andIhaveayoungbaby.So,likethenerdIam,Ihavethenearbyairqualitymonitoringstationbookmarkedinmybrowser.Thankfully,thisstationisjustyardsfrommyhome,sothereadingsareprobablyrepresentativeofourbackyardairquality.Indoorairqualityisawholeothermatterthough.It’simportanttokeepaneye(nose?)onoutdoorandindoorairquality.TomonitoroutdoorairqualityintheUS,usetheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency’sAirNowmobileapp.Thisisfreeon iOS and Android,andyoucansearchbyzipcodeorplacenametofindanearbyairqualitystationintheUS.Thesestationsofferreal-timedatabutdon’taccountfortheconditionsinsideyourhome,noranywind,valleys,orotherfactorsthatcanalterairqualitysignificantly.Ifyou’reconcernedaboutthequalityoftheairinsideyourhome,there’sasimplewaytotestit.Below,you’llfindmypicksforairqualitymonitors,withtipsforimprovingindoorairqualityathome. BestsmarthomecompatibleairqualitymonitorAirthingsViewPlusJumptodetailsBestsimpleindoorairqualitymonitorTemtopM10AirQualityMonitorJumptodetails Bestbattery-poweredairqualitymonitorAirthingsWavePlusJumptodetailsTemtopM10iWiFiAirQualityMonitorJumptodetails DavisInstrumentsAirLinkJumptodetails DylosDC1100 Jumptodetails IQAirAirVisualProJumptodetailsShowmore (4items)HowtoimproveindoorairqualityOnceyou’vetestedtheairinsideyourhome,youmightdecideyouneedaneffectiveairpurifier.Thiscouldbeacentralairsystemorjustasingleairpurifierinoneroom,suchasanursery,kitchen,orpoorlyventilatedworkshoporbasement.Agoodqualityairpurifiercanhelpfiltersomeoftheworstoffendingairpollutants,butthebestapproachistolimitthepollutioninthefirstplace.ReduceindoorairpollutantsToimproveindoorairquality,considereliminatingorreducingthefollowingsourcesofindoorairpollution:Nastyoldnon-stickpansDecrepitheatingappliancesAgasstoveCandlesTobaccosmokePoorlystoredpaints,solvents,glues,andotherchemicalsOldpolyfoammattressesorcouchesthatarekickinguptoxicdustHarshcleaningproductsPerfumesandscentedpersonalhygieneproductsScentedroomspraysCarpetsorrugstreatedwithtoxicchemicalsMoldyormildewytextiles,carpets,andfurniture.Removingorreducingasmanyofthesepotentialindoorairpollutantsisbyfarthebestwaytoimproveindoorairquality.Youcanseetheimpactofyoureffortsbyusinganairqualitymonitorasyoumakechanges.OtherwaystoimproveindoorairqualityWhenyou’relimitedinabilitytoreducepollution,runninganairfilterisoftenthenextbestoption.Otherwaystoimproveindoorairincluderegularvacuuming,installinganHVACsystem,andevenreducingclutter.Thatway,dirtanddanderhavefewerplacestohide!Don'tforgetaboutyourairfilters!AnairqualitymonitorcanalsoalertyoutoissueswithyourairpurifierorHVACsystem,indicatinganeedtochangethefiltersintheseoryourgasfurnace.Airqualitymonitorscanalsoindicateaneedtocleantheairductsinyourhome.Thesecanallmakeabigdifferencetoindoorairquality.Youcanalsojustsetyourselfcalendarremindersorgetasubscriptionservicetodelivernewfilterseverymonth.Ifairqualityinyourhomeseemsworsethanoutside,openwindowsanddoorsonnicedays.Thiswillhelpanyvolatileorganiccompounds,cookingodors,andotherairpollutantsdisperse.Finally,inadditiontotakingstepstoimproveyourindoorairquality,youcanimproveoverallairqualitywithafewsmartlifestylechoices.Theseincludechoosingagreenenergyprovider,minimizingflyinganddriving,usinganEV,installingasmartthermostat,andputtingpressureoncompaniestoadoptgreenermanufacturingpractices,amongotherthings.HowtochoosethebestairqualitymonitorAfewnotesbeforewejumpin.Indoorairqualitymonitorstypicallytestairborneparticlesandsomevolatileorganiccompoundsinalocalizedarea.Mostmonitorsdon’ttestforcarbonmonoxideorradon,though.Ifyouhaveoldgasappliancesorotherreasonsforconcernovercarbonmonoxide,installamonitorASAP.Thisgascanbedeadly.Asforradon,checktheEPA’sguidetoradontodeterminetheriskinyourarea(andwhattodoaboutit).Chooseamonitorthathasagoodreputationfordetectingthekindsofindoorairpollutantsyoususpectareanissueinyourhome.Justaswithanairfilter,there’slittlepointpayingalottotestfororfiltertobaccosmokeifyou’reanon-smoker,orformoldifyoulivesomewhereextremelydry.Somemonitorscanaccuratelymeasuresmallerparticulatematterthatcanenterthelungs(aroundPM2.5),orPM1,whichis stronglyassociatedwithcardiovasculardiseaserisk.Mostmonitorsaren’tthissensitive,soifitmatterstoyou,checkthespecificationscarefully.TheEPAhasstudiedindoorairqualitymonitorsratherextensivelyandisquitescathingabouttheiraccuracy,especiallyovertime.A2019reportstronglysuggeststhattheselow-costsensorstendtobecomelesseffectiveatdetectingVOCsaftersixmonths.Unlikewithotherproducts,wedon’t,therefore,recommendborrowinganoldermonitor.Infact…Becauseindoorairqualitymonitorsarelimitedintheirusefulness,youdon’tnecessarilyneedtobuyoneatall!Instead,checkoutdoorairpollutionlevelsthroughtheEPAappandkeepdoorsandwindowsclosedonparticularlybaddays.Finally,evenifyourmonitortellsyoueverythingisnormalbutyoustillsuspectsomethingamisswiththeairinyourhome,followyourhunchandtaketheabovestepstoimprovethings.Now,tothemonitors!Thebestindoorairqualitymonitors1 AirthingsViewPlusLeafScoreHighlights:Newermodelfromawell-regardedairqualitymonitorcompany–givesreadingsforradon,PM2.5,carbondioxide,andmore.WiFiconnectedandhasasimpledisplaythatquicklyshowsavarietyofcustomizablereadoutsrightonthemonitor.ViewonAirthingsAffiliatedisclosureTheAirthingsViewPlusisanewermodelofferinggreaterfunctionalitythanitspredecessors.Itssevensensorstestforradon,PM2.5,CO2,humidity,temperature,airpressure,andVOCs.Youcanmounttheverydiscreetmonitoronawalloronatable.ThismonitorisWiFienabledandcollectsdataonnearbyoutdoorairquality.YoucanplugitintoaUSB-Cporttouseitasahubtobringadditionalmonitorsonline.UseBluetoothtosetitupandtoconfigurethemonitorfordailyuse.TheViewPlusoffersamoreinformativeon-devicedisplaythantheWavePlus.Thisdisplayisverycalmandpleasingandyoucancustomizeittoshowthedatamostimportanttoyou.WiththeWavePlus,youhavetologintoyoursmartphoneapp.toseethemeasurements.Thesimpleinterfacemakesiteasytoquicklytogglethroughallthedata/readings.Asmalllightinthecenterglowsgreen,yellow,orredtoindicategood,moderate,orbadairquality.TheViewPlusoffersshort-andlong-termgraphsofdata,withmoredetailviatheapp.Italsoofferstipsonimprovingindoorairquality.Themeasuresincludepassivediffusionchamberradonsampling,alphaspectrometry,non-dispersiveinfra-red(NDIR)forCO2,andlaserscatteringbasedopticalparticlecounterforPM2.5.TheViewPlushasIFTTTfunctionalityandconnectstoAmazonAlexaandGoogleAssistant.YoucanruntheViewPlusforupto2yearsusing6AAbatteries(dependingonvariousfactors).OryoucanplugthemonitorintoaUSB-Cport.Themonitormeasures17by9by3.3cm(biggerthanothermonitorslistedhere).Thecompanyoffersfreeshipping,1-yearwarranty,anda45-daymoneybackguarantee.There’saninitialcalibrationtimeof7daysforVOCsandCO2.Thismonitorisintendedforusebetween4-40°C /39.2-104°Fandhumidityof0-85%(non-condensing).We’veworkedwithAirthingstogetLeafScorereadersanadditional10%offtheirpurchasesusingcouponcodeLEAFSCORE-10OFF–makesuretousethatifyouendupbuying!ViewonAirthings2TemtopM10AirQualityMonitorLeafScoreHighlights:Simple,affordable,seeminglyaccuratemonitorwithoutthefussofWiFi,apps,andsmarttechhookups.ViewonAmazonViewonTemtopAffiliatedisclosureTheTemtopM10AirQualityMonitorisagoodbetformonitoringindoorparticulatematterandissimpletouse,withabrightdisplaythat’seasytounderstand.Thismonitoralsofeelsrobust,doesn’ttakeupmuchspace,andisveryaffordable.TheM10measuresPM2.5,VOC,andformaldehyde(HCHO)andgivesanairqualityindex(AQI)basedonthese.Itsreadingsappeartobeaccurateonthird-partytesting,withtheexceptionofVOCs,whichseemvariable.Youcaneasilyreadthemonitor,evenfromacrossaroom.Tooperatethedevice,youpushasinglebuttontoturnitonandcyclethroughreadings.TheM10isn’tWiFienabled.Thismeansyoudon’thavetoworryaboutpayingfortechyouwon’tuseorthatwillbeglitchy.However,italsomeansyoucan’tseereadingsonasmartphoneapp.oreasilytrackairqualityovertime.Thismonitordoesn’tofferoutdoorairqualitydataanddoesn’thookintoanysmartairfiltersorhomeventilationsystems.Thereviewsofthisairqualitymonitorare,admittedly,mixed.Someusersloveitandsomehavefounditfaultyrightoutofthebox.Temtopoffersa45-dayreturnperiodandalimitedone-yearwarranty,however.ViewonAmazonViewonTemtop3 AirthingsWavePlusLeafScoreHighlights:Great-lookingbattery-poweredairqualitymonitorthatdetectsradonandhooksupwithsmarthomedevices.ViewonAirthingsAffiliatedisclosureTheAirthingsWavePlusisaslightlysimplerversionoftheViewPlusbutstilloffers6sensorsforradondetectionandmonitoringofCO2,TVOCs,temperature,humidity,andairpressure.Thisdiscreet,simplehomeairqualitymonitorwon2019TIMEMagazineinventionoftheyear.Itofferstouch-freecolor-codedindicatorsforoverallairqualitybutdoesn’thavethesameconvenientdisplayastheViewPlus.Instead,thisbatteryoperated,indoorairqualitymonitor offerscomprehensivedataviathefreeAirthingsWaveapp.onyoursmartphone.ThemonitoralsoconnectstoIFTTTsmarthomedevices,Alexa,andGoogleAssistant.Youcanleveragethelivedatatosetalerts,receiveairqualitymeasurements,givevoicecommands,andconnecttoasmartplugorsmartproducttocontrolyourthermostat,airpurifier,orhumidifier.TheWavePlusmeasures12cmby3.5cmandweighsaround220grams.Itcanholdchargeforupto16monthsandyoucanwallmountitifdesired.There’sa7-daycalibrationperiodforradonmeasurement(andlikelyVOCstoo).We’veworkedwithAirthingstogetLeafScorereadersanadditional10%offtheirpurchasesusingcouponcodeLEAFSCORE-10OFF–makesuretousethatifyouendupbuying!ViewonAirthings4TemtopM10iWiFiAirQualityMonitorLeafScoreHighlights:ThesamebenefitsoftheM10butwithWiFiconnectivityandasmartphoneapp.totrackreadingsovertimeandturnthemonitoronandoffremotely.ViewonAmazonViewonTemtopAffiliatedisclosureTheTemtopM10iWiFiAirQualityMonitorisacopycatoftheM10butwithWiFiconnectivity.Thisdevicerequiresa2.4GHznetworkandoffersastraightforwardapp.foriOSandAndroid.It’ssimpletoconnecttoWiFi,afterwhichyoucanusetheapp.toturnthemonitoronandoff,seecurrentreadings,andtrackdataovertime.Italsodisplaysthelocalweatherforecast.TheTemtopM10ihasa3rdgenerationlaserparticlesensorwithamaximumlifespanof20,000hours.Thisamountstoabouttwo-and-a-quarteryears(Temtopsays3yearsforthePM2.5sensor,whichseemsoverlyoptimistic).Thesensorplus‘uniqueparticleswarmoptimizationalgorithm’makesforamoreaccurateandstableparticlemeasurement,accordingtoTemtop.TheM10icostsupto$80morethanitsbasiccounterpart,dependingonwhereyoubuyit.Frankly,theadditionalfeaturesdon’tseemworththecost.(I’dgofortheAirthingsmodelinstead.)TheM10iweighsjust200gandmeasuresabout8by8by3cm.Ithasa2200mAhbatteryofferingupto6hoursofbatterylife.ThemeasuringrangeforPM2.5is0-999ug/m³.FortotalVOCs,themeasuringrangeis0~5mg/m³.Forformaldehyde,themeasuringrangeis0~2mg/m³.TheTemtopM10ioffersanAQIbasedonozone,fineparticulatematter,nitrogendioxide,carbonmonoxide,sulfurdioxideandtotalreducedsulfurcompounds.ViewonAmazonViewonTemtop5 DavisInstrumentsAirLinkLeafScoreHighlights:AgreatchoiceforsmallerparticulatematterandtohookintorobustweatherandairqualitystationsacrosstheUS.Doesn’tmeasureVOCsorCO2andlacksavisualdisplay(useyoursmartphonetoaccessdata).ViewonDavisInstrumentsAffiliatedisclosureTheAirLinkisagreatchoiceforanairqualitymonitorifyourbiggestconcernisparticulatematterdownto1micron.Unlikemostothermonitors(theDylosDC1100excepted),theAirLinkcanmeasurethismuchsmallersizeofparticleandcanbeusedindoorsandoutdoors.ThemakersoftheAirLink,DavisInstruments,hasagoodreputationforitsweatherstations,andtheAirLinkitselfappearstobepreciseandaccurate.YourAirLinkcanalsoconnecttoDavis’WeatherLinksoftware,meaningitcandisplaydatafromthecompany’sweatherstations.Themonitorcanevensendyoureal-timetextandemailalertsifyourairqualitychangesdramatically.Thismakesitagoodchoiceforareaspronetosmog,dust,pollen,andwildfires.Thisisn’tthemostattractiveairqualitymonitor,however,asithasaratherindustrialdesign.IthaswhiteABSplastichousingandshowstheDavislogoonthetop.Youcanwall-mountthemonitorusingabracketontheback,orjustsetitonatable.Thecompanyincludesasecondcovertoprotectthemonitorforoutdoordeployment.Itcanoperateattemperaturesof14-140°F,butyouwillneedaccesstoanACoutlet.ThemajordownsidestothismonitorincludenomeasuresforVOCsorcarbondioxide.Italsolacksavisualindicator/simpledisplay.Instead,youhavetoreadmeasurementsonyoursmartphoneorcomputer.Thankfully,it’seasytoregisteranaccountwithAirLinkanduseBluetoothtosetupthemonitorinitially.Theassociated(free)appdisplaysseveralmeasuresofairqualityforquickcheck-ins.TheseincludethecurrentAQIscoreandprevioushour’sscore;currentweather;PM10,PM2.5,andPM1readings;indoortemperatureandhumidity;andsunriseandsunsettimes.ViewonDavisInstruments6 DylosDC1100 LeafScoreHighlights:Greatforfolkswantingrawdata,butoffersnosimpleAQIandisveryhardtousefortheaverageuser.ViewonAmazonAffiliatedisclosureTheDylosDC1100isanairqualitynerd’sdream.Itoffersreamsofrawdata,upto30daysofdatahistory,andcandetectparticlesmeasuring1micron.Thetroubleis,youhavetointerpretallthedatayourself,withnosimplecolorcodingoreasy-to-readoverallAQI.TheDylosDC1100usesatruelaserparticlecounterandcancountparticlesbigandsmall(5micronsandabove,and1-5microns).TheDC1100ProhasallthefeaturesofthestandardDC1100butcandetectparticlesdownto0.5micron.YoucanchoosebetweentheDC1100’scontinuousmodeandamonitormode,wherethedevicecontinuouslysampletheairorsamplesitforaminuteeveryhour,respectively.Youhavetopluginthismonitorthough,andat3by4.5by7inchesit’squitechunky.Italsohasaserialportinterface,soyouhavetoplugitintoacomputertoaccessthedata.Thebonus,though,isthatyoucanusea9pinserialcableorUSB-to-COMPortAdapter(notincluded)toconnecttheDC1100toyourPCorlaptop.ThiscapturesthedatatooutputaCSVfileshowingparticlecountsatdifferentsizesforeveryminuteofmonitoring.ViewonAmazon7 IQAirAirVisualProLeafScoreHighlights:EasytoconnecttoWiFi,withasimpleapp,butaclunkydeviceinterfaceandatahighpriceforsolittledata.ViewonAmazonAffiliatedisclosureIQAirisoneofmytoppicksforanairfilter,butthecompany’sairqualitymonitorisjust…okay.Thismonitorisveryexpensiveanddoesn’toffermuchmorethanPM2.5andcarbondioxidemeasures.Fortheprice,itshouldhavemuchmorefunctionalityandbeeasiertouse.ThismonitorconnectseasilytoWiFiandhasastraightforwardappthatofferssuggestionsonimprovingindoorairquality.Thedeviceitself,though,isratherunintuitive,makingitunnecessarilydifficulttofigureouttheinterface.TheIQAiralsooffersdataontemperatureandhumidityandcanofferhistoricdatatracking.ThismonitoralsohasIfThis,ThenThat(IFTTT)functionality,soyoucansetupalertsforhighreadings.TheIFTTTtechalsohooksintoothersmarttechinyourhome,suchasanysmartIQAirfilters.Thismonitoralsohasaninternalbatteryanddatastorage,soyoucantakeitwhiletraveling.Youcanaccessyourhistoricairqualitydatathroughthesmartphoneapp.orviathecompany’swebsite.ViewonAmazonLeaveaReplyCancelreplyComment*Name*Email*Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment.ΔWrittenbyLeighMatthews,BAHons,H.Dip.NT×LeighMatthews,BAHons,H.Dip.NTSustainabilityExpertLeighMatthewsisasustainabilityexpertandlongtimeVegan.HerworkonsolarpolicyhasbeenpublishedinCanada'sNationalObserver.TwitterLinkedInUpdated:July12,2022 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