The best indoor air quality (IAQ) monitors can help you stay on top of things by reporting real-time levels of common pollutants and other air conditions inside your home.
The culprit can be anything from excess dust and high humidity to emissions from household cleaners or building materials. Without an IAQ monitor, these things can go unnoticed, even in the face of allergy-like symptoms or more dramatic health effects that can result from indoor pollutants.
Most IAQ monitors warn you of dangerous levels through an indicator. Once it is warned, you can take steps to reduce pollutants indoors, perhaps by opening a few windows. Hence some monitors will even activate other smart devices.
Best indoor air quality monitor
The Awair model is just as accurate when it comes to reporting carbon dioxide (CO2), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and PM2.5 (gas) . atmospheric). particles smaller than 2.5 microns).
Runner-up
Davis Instruments is well famous for its excellent weather stations. This device is unique. As it can measure particles as small as 1 micron and can be deployed indoors or outdoors. But it doesn’t measure other types of air pollution, like carbon dioxide or VOCs.
Second runner-up
Why two finalists? he Airthings Wave Plus is unique and the Davis AirLink is different. Reason: it’s the only device we’ve reviewed that can report the presence of radon inside your home.
Top indoor pollutants
This will guide you through understanding the most common air pollutants. PM1 is particulate matter with a size of 1 micron. Sufficient exposure to PM2.5 can irritate the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, causing allergy-like symptoms. It can also increases the existing medical conditions, such as asthma and heart disease.
These indoor PM2.5 levels can be handle with outside sources. However, many indoor activities also produce PM2.5: cooking, lighting fireplaces and smoking are just a few of the common sources.
VOC: The acronym stands for Volatile Organic Compounds, gases emitted by a variety of materials that can have short- and long-term health effects.
Formaldehyde is one of the most common VOCs. It can be found in many building materials such as plywood, glues, and insulation. VOC includes burning fuels such as wood and natural gas also produces VOCs.
Short exposure to low levels of VOCs can cause throat irritation, nausea, fatigue. Long exposure to high attentiveness of VOCs can be consider with more liver and kidney damage.
Fundamentals
Radon: Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that occurs naturally and is the leading cause of lung cancer in the United States after smoking, according to the EPA. Moreover indoor radon levels normally need to be checked with carbon-based kits and require you to test your levels for up to 90 days. Then you have to send the kit to a lab for testing and wait for the results.
Carbon dioxide: While the effects of high levels of CO2 :research has shown that concentrations as low as 1,000 ppm can affect people’s cognitive function and decision-making ability. The biggest source of CO2 indoors is people themselves, as it is a by-product of our respiratory function. Coupled with poor ventilation, this typically leads to high levels of CO2 in many homes. Fortunately, CO2 sensors are found in most air quality monitors.
Temperature and humidity: These levels can affect more than just your comfort. High temperatures and excessive humidity promote the growth of mold and mildew. These can cause structural damage to your home and cause allergy-like symptoms in susceptible people. Monitoring these levels can help prevent home and health problems and alert you to potential sources such as cracks or leaks in the foundation and poor insulation.