18 ms·

Monitoring my home's air quality with AirGradient's DIY sensor

515 points by geerlingguy 5y ago

alexfromapex 5y ago
Why is this person’s house 82 degrees?
- dexwiz 5y ago
  At 42% humidity, I’m guessing they live in a subtropical climate. Florida’s?
  - DiabloD3 5y ago
    Maine is relatively dry. My house generally stays around 40-60% humidity year round except during the coldest parts of the winter, independent of the outdoors in both extremes.
    - dexwiz 5y ago
      Relative humidity is a function of air temperature. 50% humidity at 60F is relatively comfortable, but 50% humidity at 90F is much more uncomfortable. What is really happening is the dew point is closer to your ambient surface skin temp, so water has a harder time evaporating/starts to collect. Since air holds more water at higher temps (and a lot more, 90F air can hold almost 3x as much as 60F air), just comparing humidities without considering temp doesn't say much.
  - LeifCarrotson 5y ago
    No, St Louis: https://www.weather.gov/lsx/monthTab https://www.weather.gov/lsx/monthTab It was in the upper 80s/lower 90s throughout July and August, when this data was likely collected. And relative humidity hit 80-90% every morning, averaging about 65% as it warmed up. It's sticky in summer. I live in Michigan, and even with a cool breeze from our magnificent freshwater lake, half an hour inland it's similarly hot and humid. I kept our house at 78 when we're home, 82 when it's just the dog, and 76 when company comes over. I think the air conditioner keeps humidity in the 40% range, though I'm reading this article because I lack a hygrometer/air quality sensor and don't really have hard numbers for that, only that humidity is significantly less indoors than out. Also, he mentions that the orientation of the case causes convection off the ESP8266 to increase the air temperature by a couple degrees (Farenheit). If you're one of the Silicon Valley HN readers looking to move to the wide open spaces and relaxed culture of the Midwest, do be aware that climate is a big deal; coastal California's perpetual mild climate is an aberration.
    - dexwiz 5y ago
      As a Midwest native, but SF resident, I don't think I could ever move back due to the weather.
    - zeku 5y ago
      In Tennessee myself and it is only just now getting to a temperature/humidity that is bearable to be outdoors. March spring hits and the pollen is crazy until June and by then it's too hot to really be outside without tree cover from 9am-8pm until around now. My area is one of the worst pollen places in the country. You owe it to yourself before moving to look at a pollen map as well.
- zekrioca 5y ago
  Why not?
- mikodin 5y ago
  > The case is well-ventilated, and my only complaint is the natural convection causes very-slightly-warmed air from the WeMos D1 and CO2 sensor to pass over the temperature and humidity sensor on the top, meaning those readings are always a bit higher than ambient—at least in my office. Likely because of this.
  - geerlingguy 5y ago
    Heh, this. I keep the thermostat between 78-80°F during the summer months (which allows the A/C to run enough to keep humidity down below 50%), and between 68-72°F in the winter.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- asciimov 5y ago
  Here in South Texas I keep my house at 78° during the daytime in A/C season (that's typically March-November, plus some days the other months). If the ceiling fan's aren't on, and the air isn't moving around properly, it can easily get up to 82°. It's perfectly comfortable. (You acclimate to it) Understand, the average high is in the mid to upper 90's and trying to get a home a/c to cover a 20+ temperature difference is difficult and significantly drives up the monthly power bill.
- reaperducer 5y ago
  Why is this person’s house 82 degrees? When I lived in the desert, 82° was comfortable for me. Generally, the humidity was below 10% (NWS reading, as most cheap consumer sensors are not precise below 10%). But even in monsoon season, when the humidity would spike, it was still fine. I guess you get used to it. My wife never did, so when she came home from work she'd turn the temperature down to 78°.
- bombela 5y ago
  82°F == 27.7°C https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
jvanderbot 5y ago
I did a similar thing -- set up AQ sensors in the house. I used the sps30 from sparkfun, CAD'd up a panel mount, 3d printed it, built a wooden box for it + a pi, set up all the networking and hosting, and packaged my utils for debian. Anyway, the AQ is fine, HEPA filters work when in-line with the A/C, and there's nothing much to monitor even when AQ is mod/bad outside. Boring, but nice to know, and fun to learn all those new skills. Just don't burn incense.
- blacksmith_tb 5y ago
  That has been my experience too - unless you put your monitor in your kitchen, in which case frying or baking will usually cause a pretty significant spike...
- sneak 5y ago
  Or standard paraffin candles! The soot (even when they burn normally/"clean") is killer. I have some beeswax ones coming soon which are supposed to be better; my PM25 meter is standing by for their arrival.
  - jvanderbot 5y ago
    I bought some electric candles. They can go months on a AA nimh battery, and if you pay enough for them, they are actually good / realistic enough for the wife's relaxation. Great for power outages as well.
    - throwawaysea 5y ago
      Is there a particular "expensive" model you would recommend for realism?
      - jvanderbot 5y ago
        These work really well, and seem to actually be made of wax so the candle looks quite good. Note the "wick" is sunk in an inch or two so there's nothing to really suspend disbelief. Also they have an optional 24-hour timer so they'll remember to turn on the same time you turned them on yesterday. https://www.potterybarn.com/products/flameless-outdoor-candle/ https://www.potterybarn.com/products/flameless-outdoor-candl...
falconblock5 5y ago
Could anyone advise of the best way of getting hold of the PCB? Looking at the air gradient webside they provide "Gerber files", do these need to be sent to a PCB manufacturer to create? If so, does anyone have recommendations of which to use? It is something I would like to learn about but I am rather new to.
- adamjb 5y ago
  The last time AirGradient popped up on HN, the guy who runs it said if you get in contact and ask nicely they might have a spare one to send you.
  - tnorthcutt 5y ago
    Link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27125763 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27125763
  - benhurmarcel 5y ago
    I confirm he followed up on that. He nicely sent me 2 PCBs after I sent him the shipping fee from Thailand.
- simcop2387 5y ago
  I've had good experience with jlbpcb in the past, they usually have some deals going around on youtube electronics channels too.
- secabeen 5y ago
  I built one using these instructions and a ESP8266: https://www.pieterbrinkman.com/2021/02/03/build-a-cheap-air-quality-meter-using-esphome-home-assistant-and-a-particulate-matter-sensor/ https://www.pieterbrinkman.com/2021/02/03/build-a-cheap-air-... It publishes its data via MQTT, and you can use any system that can subscribe to a MQTT queue to process, display, etc. it.
- turbocon 5y ago
  oshpark is what we used in college https://oshpark.com/ https://oshpark.com/ $5/sq inch and you get 3 copies of your board
tzs 5y ago
The WeMos D1 Mini link ends up at an AliExpress login page, not the product page for the D1 Mini. It looks like you linked to your order page instead.
- fuzzybassoon 5y ago
  Not the author, but this[1] looks to be the listing for the D1 Mini from the LOLIN official store. 1: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32529101036.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.productList_6001908016841.subject_2 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32529101036.html?spm=a2g0o.s...
- geerlingguy 5y ago
  Sorry about that! This is the one I bought: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32651747570.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.db374c4doNWyMj https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32651747570.html?spm=a2g0s.9... I've also updated the link on my site.
Johnny555 5y ago
Does anyone have any plans for a cheap DIY Ozone sensor? My house came with an electronic air cleaner called an iWave: https://iwaveair.com/ https://iwaveair.com/ It claims to not emit any Ozone, but I'd like to be able to meaure it, and the commercial sensors tend to be expensive.
- dperfect 5y ago
  Not sure if this is DIY enough for you, but I'm using an MQ131 (about $20-$30 on Amazon, probably cheaper directly from China [1]) in an air quality monitor I'm building. There's an Arduino library for it [2], and from what I can tell so far, it does work, though it's probably not super accurate. It's also somewhat sensitive to environmental factors, but you can correct for some of that with known temperature/humidity. [1] There are a few different kinds of MQ131 (for high and low concentrations); you'll probably want the low concentration one. I also removed the bare sensor from a breakout board I purchased so I could access it directly from my custom PCB. [2] https://github.com/ostaquet/Arduino-MQ131-driver https://github.com/ostaquet/Arduino-MQ131-driver
  - Johnny555 5y ago
    That's exactly what I'm looking for, looks like I can get a $30 MQ131 with detection a range of 10PPB-2PPM [1], and a "Good" indoor level is 0 - 54ppb [2]. It doesn't need to be super accurate for my use case, basically I just want to turn on the electronic filter and see if there are any detectable levels of Ozone. [1] https://www.sainsmart.com/products/mq-131-gas-sensor-ozone-module https://www.sainsmart.com/products/mq-131-gas-sensor-ozone-m... [2] https://learn.kaiterra.com/en/resources/ozone-what-levels-are-safe https://learn.kaiterra.com/en/resources/ozone-what-levels-ar...
- clipradiowallet 5y ago
  This doesn't answer your question - but in all seriousness you can smell it. Even the smallest amount of ozone has a very distinct smell you will recognize. If you stand in front of your air sanitizer and let the air pass over your face, you should be able to smell the ozone immediately. If you haven't smelled it before - I would recommend going to a retail store that sells ozone-based air sanitizers. That should give you a whiff of the stuff for reference. You can also find it in [some] hospitals for air sanitization. I imagine once you smell it, you will realize you have smelled it before and maybe not realized it was ozone that you were smelling.
avodonosov 5y ago
Anyone can recommend good quality inexpensive sensors?
- harias 5y ago
  Try the one's listed here maybe: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/08/18/low-cost-home-air-quality-monitors-prove-useful-for-wildfire-smoke/ https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/08/18/low-cost-home-air-qual...
  - asdff 5y ago
    Not exactly inexpensive. These are "low cost" in that they don't cost $20,000 like the sensors used by government agencies, but they aren't what I as a consumer think low cost means.
- numpad0 5y ago
  I can recommend against one type of bad sensors. VOC sensors paired with a temperature sensor that can generate “eCO2” value is known bad, such as CCS811/BME280 combo board. Those sensors guesstimate CO2 concentration from air temperature and changes in ambient alcohol/acetone/hydrocarbon levels, which drifts into positive infinity and is simply do not correlate well with actual CO2 level. Those sensors are dirt cheap, and can still be used as a rule of thumb to encourage regular ventilation, but are nothing more than that. If you want to actually see CO2 levels, avoid those.
Someone1234 5y ago
I was surprised to learn that the Airthings Wave Plus ($180~) doesn't measure PM2.5. It is cool that it does Radon and VOCs which this cannot do. This seems like it could either compete OR complement an Airthings Wave Plus for like 35% of the cost. Since they both offer different and overlapping data. I wonder what you'd need to do to get Radon and VOCs too in this solution (essentially match and exceed the Airthings Wave Plus)?
- at_a_remove 5y ago
  Honestly, it seems like there's a long list of things to monitor: * Radon * Carbon dioxide * Carbon monoxide * Nitrogen Dioxide * Sulfur Dioxide * Ozone * PM2.5, PM10 (any others?) * VOCs * Temperature * Humidity * Pressure It is an opportunity for someone to make a "suite" sensor so you could scatter them around the house for good average measurements.
  - 5e92cb50239222b 5y ago
    Last time I looked into gas sensors (for measuring SO₂ and NO₂ which reach extreme levels in my area), they were $100+ each, depending on the gas it's measuring.
    - at_a_remove 5y ago
      I think that kind of thing could get knocked down in price a bit with scale and inclusion in a sensor suite.
  - endymi0n 5y ago
    The air-q pro comes pretty close (I‘m thinking of buying it), but it‘s rather expensive and I haven‘t seen any reviews yet: https://shop.air-q.com/air-Q-Pro-air-analyser-14-sensors https://shop.air-q.com/air-Q-Pro-air-analyser-14-sensors
- roessland 5y ago
  Have you looked at the View Plus (€300-ish)? It has PM2.5, CO2, radon, humidity, pressure and temperature. Also I believe it has multiple of some of the same sensors for better accuracy. Way overpriced vs AliExpress but oh well. https://www.airthings.com/en/view-plus https://www.airthings.com/en/view-plus
lindenstark 5y ago
Daniel Cuthbert did something quite similar[0], with pollution sensor from ikea. [0] https://twitter.com/dcuthbert/status/1421822958604062726 https://twitter.com/dcuthbert/status/1421822958604062726
- Animux 5y ago
  See also this: https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sensor https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sens...
Rafuino 5y ago
Any suggestions for a CO2 monitor that doesn't require you to solder? I have an Arduino and a breadboard so can hand wire things in the meantime if needed...
- BoorishBears 5y ago
  In theory there's no reason you can't use a breadboard jumper kit and splice it to the cable that the sensor comes with But soldering has a very low cost-of-entry, and even using solderable breadboards over solderless can make your project a lot easier to use (no more worrying about lose connections or capacitance issues)
- karmelapple 5y ago
  I really like my Aranet4, although it costs a little over US$200. No soldering though, and its been running on one battery charge for over half a year!
macNchz 5y ago
After getting a (non-DIY because as much as I like hobby electronics I have a tendency to scope creep my little projects straight into incompletion) about a year ago, my main learnings have been: - Cooking is insanely bad for the air in your house, even with an outside-venting hood. Any sort of medium-high heat cooking will spike the PM2.5 to multiple times that of the haziest days here in NYC, and with the windows shut it will stay elevated for hours after. - The 20" box fan + MERV furnace filter hack is super effective for cutting down on the PM. A few days this July the wildfire smoke from the west coast settled on NYC and we had 40-70 ug/m3 PM2.5 outside. The box fan filter took it down to around 5 in a matter of minutes. I didn't even bother taping the filter to the fan. - My A/C system's ability to precisely hold the temperature within fractions of a degree of the thermostat setting is impressive. - With two people working from home in an old, unventilated-but-kinda-drafty ~700 square foot apartment, the only thing that gets the CO2 levels into "drowsy" territory (my original point of curiosity when buying the sensor) is running the gas oven for a while.
- Someone1234 5y ago
  > I didn't even bother taping the filter to the fan. I found bungee cord with J hooks works really well. As you correctly point out, you don't need to secure it at all, but it is annoying to tap the box fan and have the filter fall over.
  - lisper 5y ago
    That seems odd to me. I've never tried this, but it seems to me that you have to put the filter on the intake side of the fan, other the fan would just blow it off. And on the intake side, would not the pressure differential hold it in place?
    - wholinator2 5y ago
      I feel like you could place it on either side of the fan as long as air is directed to go through it. My personal intuition is filter then fan but I don't see a reason it couldn't go the other way. I wonder why most devices place it on the intake though. Maybe to prevent dust from getting inside a device, but even then it'd only protect the fan from dust. Hmmm...
danans 5y ago
> But after a few weeks, and after adding in a manual temperature adjustment to compensate for that sensor's inaccuracy, the AirGradient has been a very stable and helpful addition to my home environment monitoring. When you are DIYing this sort of thing, I would think you would need to make at least a couple of them to see if they calibrate to the same measurement, assuming what you are after is greater precision and control (why else would you DIY it?). Even then, both devices could calibrate to the same very imprecise value. To really validate this, you would need to put it in an controlled environment with known air pollution levels. Just placing it outdoors when the weather report says 200AQI wouldn't work since that's an average over a large area, not a point measurement. I imagine the sensor manufacturers have done some calibration - the article mentions a self calibration period for some, but once everything is in the final package, I'd expect the behavior to change.
- ashtonkem 5y ago
  Most of the DIY solutions I’ve seen use pre-packaged PM sensors, which are probably the same parts embedded in over the counter solutions.
  - danans 5y ago
    Yes, but has the final assembly been calibrated against a known controlled environment? Without that, the readings from the device become more of a crapshoot, which is fine if there is no desire for greater precision (i.e a just for fun project) Sensor manufacturers cannot calibrate for every possible packaging configuration. As someone who has DIYed a lot of stuff related to indoor climate, I tend to save my effort for the mitigation work, and use well tested measurement tools to validate those. This is for the same reason that one doesn't usually DIY a multimeter before doing electrical work.
    - ashtonkem 5y ago
      The PM sensor I’m thinking of comes in it’s own packaging with a fan, and is usually attached to a PCB alone. I don’t see how most applications of it would require a recalibration.
Scene_Cast2 5y ago
For some context, PurpleAir also uses Plantower dust sensors. As an alternative, there's also the Honeywell HPMA sensors (used in Awair).
- philips 5y ago
  It is too bad that PurpleAir doesn’t do CO2 last I looked. I really want a single device.
  - Scene_Cast2 5y ago
    My old Awair has a Telaire T6703 CO2 sensor; the newer ones probably have something similar. I also had a standalone sensor at one point, they're a thing too. And Tindie has a slew of ready-to-order air quality stations too.
    - philips 5y ago
      Have you had a good experience with Awair? The last time I looked it seemed like they had no recommended way to clean the sensors. And in my limited experience PM2.5 sensors do need periodic cleaning to remain accurate. My air filter has one and the manufacturer recommends a bit of alcohol and a puff of air.
      - Scene_Cast2 5y ago
        Their old one had an issue with the dust sensor clogging. The new ones use the Honeywell sensor. It has a tiny fan on it (inaudible in a quiet room from 5 inches away); mine ran well for a couple of years until I knocked it off my desk. After that, the fan started rattling, so I ordered another Honeywell sensor ($40) and replaced it (no soldering required, just a screwdriver). That sensor's datasheet doesn't have any cleaning instructions, so I don't think it's a big issue.
        philips 5y ago
        Ok thanks
goodpoint 5y ago
I wish there was a credible, volunteer run indoor/outdoor pollution map. With cheap probes and peer-review software (properly packaged in Linux distributions).
- suhlig 5y ago
  https://sensor.community/ https://sensor.community/ Used to be luftdaten.info (German), but seems more international now. They built a pretty accurate sensor based on an SDS011. No soldering required.
  - goodpoint 5y ago
    I'm aware but they don't have clients in Linux distributions.
Scene_Cast2 5y ago
I'm currently building an adapter to mate furnace filters to quiet, high static pressure fans. This should keep the same volume of filtration as a box fan, but lower the noise significantly. I'll probably be ordering a batch of 5-10, if interested, email me (link in profile). Or comment, as long as you have an email in your profile, I suppose.
- smiley1437 5y ago
  I'm interested
  - Scene_Cast2 5y ago
    Do you have an email or a way to reach out? I didn't find one in your profile.
    - smiley1437 5y ago
      updated my profile thanks
Animux 5y ago
There is a version from superhouse.tv with the same pms5003 sensor: https://www.superhouse.tv/39-diy-air-quality-sensor-part-2-display-version/ https://www.superhouse.tv/39-diy-air-quality-sensor-part-2-d...
newbamboo 5y ago
Bought a monitor because aqi near me averages 50-100 during summer, pre-fire season. Found my tvoc is constantly in .70-1.0 mg/m3 unless I open all windows and run fans. Then it drops to around .6 mg/m3. I now don’t worry at all about pm2.5 levels and just keep my windows open if the temps below 100. Buying the monitor showed me that my migraines and other issues (brain fog) were caused by the high voc. Opening windows even if it means breathing wildfire smoke makes the headaches disappear. Anyone out there on the fence about buying a monitor, just do it. There are worse issues than pm2.5 and smoke, both of which you can detect with your nose.
- ttesttom 5y ago
  Did you buy an AirGradient monitor or any brand you recommend that is not DIY?
  - newbamboo 5y ago
    Just the 80 dollar temtop that sells on Amazon. Easy enough to check against local purple air sensors for the particulate readings. I did that, and they were spot on for my neighborhood. Don’t know if I trust the formaldahyde reading but the tvoc corresponds to my physical experience very well, and it drops to near 0 tvoc when taken outside. If there’s a catch, it’s that you don’t know what voc you’re dealing with. Could be something lethal like radon or something fairly innocuous at the levels I’m seeing. Whatever it is in my case, it causes very predictable migraine symptoms which correspond to the voc level almost perfectly.
fotta 5y ago
Probably worth noting that the South Coast AQMD tests various PM sensors from consumer-grade to lab-grade and publishes results [0]. Lots of cheaper consumer-grade sensors outperform the expensive lab-grade sensors. [0] http://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations/summary-pm http://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations/summary-pm
gruez 5y ago
FYI to the author: you can get tiny screws off ebay/aliexpress. They're under $2 for 50-100, including shipping.
- geerlingguy 5y ago
  True, I just don't have any that small on hand. I have a few boxes of M2.5 and M3, but none smaller.
robbomacrae 5y ago
"The case is well-ventilated, and my only complaint is the natural convection causes very-slightly-warmed air from the WeMos D1 and CO2 sensor to pass over the temperature and humidity sensor on the top, meaning those readings are always a bit higher than ambient—at least in my office." Have you considered turning it around?
- geerlingguy 5y ago
  But then the display would not be oriented correctly ;) What I'm planning on doing is soldering a jumper to the board and having the temperature sensor hang out the side of the case a bit, towards the bottom.
post_break 5y ago
I wish there was a cheaper buy it option. I really really want to do this but I'm worried I'll get half way and get stuck.
- dhritzkiv 5y ago
  I'm the same. Plus, my living in Canada means getting all the different components piecemeal, often from different suppliers/sellers is a giant PITA. This is further complicated by my self-imposed restriction to not buy from Amazon. And this is before the headache of shipping costs (often $15 as the lowest option, even for small parts) I'd love a ~$200-300CAD pre-assembled or kit option where I can own the data, access it in a standard fashion, and optionally choose to crowd-source it.
hadlock 5y ago
> the components for this project cost between $60-80 Purple air sells a turn key indoor air quality device for $200, is very reliable, also comes in a (clear) 3d printed case, comes with power supply. Not as DIY as this guy's solution, but with limited time on my hands the $100 was worth the cost of admission. It also works with Purple Air's map which provides nationwide air quality, temp and humidity, etc which is really nice. It's worked flawlessly for me now for about five months. The light turns from green to yellow when I open the window in my south facing condo, but turns green again when I close the window and turn on the air filter. I was surprised at how bad the air quality gets when cooking food on the stove.
- turtlebits 5y ago
  Awair also sells one for ~150.
personjerry 5y ago
Is there a non-DIY version of this, preferably <$100? I often have breathing difficulties and would be curious to see if humidity, CO2, and pm2.5 are affecting me, but I don't have a soldering kit.
- outlog 5y ago
  think the Qingping air detector lite fits the bill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzwBGf6woo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzwBGf6woo - available on amazon or aliexpress etc.
acidburnNSA 5y ago
I built one with lots of sensors along these lines. Very useful during smoke season to try to balance co2 and pm. https://partofthething.com/thoughts/weather-and-air-quality-monitoring-station-with-esp8266-and-home-assistant/ https://partofthething.com/thoughts/weather-and-air-quality-...
reacharavindh 5y ago
Is there a good non DIY air quality monitor that can be hooked up to Prometheus for monitoring over time? I know this is a very “non HN” thing to ask. But, as much as I’d love to learn and tinker with Adruino, sensors and their soldered connections, supplying power correctly etc, I am afraid all my spare time would be gone to it, and I will never get to the air quality part of the project. It will be yet another wide scoped project that never ends. Hence the ask for a non DIY yet Prometheus compatible solution..
- Havoc 5y ago
  The huawei are filters have integrated sensors and with a bit of hassle the info can be extracted. Some people don’t like huawei gear but I’ve found the hardware at least to be good
  - reacharavindh 5y ago
    I found something on AliExpress that seems to send data over Bluetooth. I don't what kind of effort it would take to capture that data if I have a RaspBerry Pi with Bluetooth. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003019471995.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.378c50b7kRDMQT&algo_pvid=194b9ca1-12d6-4d56-bb78-e9e173d649f9&algo_exp_id=194b9ca1-12d6-4d56-bb78-e9e173d649f9-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000024214839006%22%7D https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003019471995.html?spm=a2...
    - Havoc 5y ago
      The huawei stuff is generally addressable via LAN using home assistant etc. Can be a bit tricky to get hold of the security tokens but at least doesn’t involve re inventing any wheels. One is very much at the mercy of firmware updates blocking diy access. General recommendation is not to update. Plus US crowd is pretty paranoid on huawei stuff ofc
      - reacharavindh 5y ago
        Well, I am not planning to let my air quality monitor connect to the internet, let alone to my home network where my computing devices are. So, there’s that. If the huawei thing is accessible in the local network, that is almost exactly what I want. I can connect it to a raspberry Pi on an isolated network and extract the data I need. Thanks for the tip.
shmikis 5y ago
Why every second word in this article is "AirGradient"? Most important/expensive sensor is from Senseair, controller from Wemos, etc. I've made same monitoring solution using same components following some years old tutorial and have never heard about "AirGradient".
xaduha 5y ago
What's with radon mentions here and at AirGradient pages? Where would that come from, is this a US thing? Reminds me of 'asbestos-free cereal' xkcd joke. EDIT: > Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Nationally, the EPA estimates that about 21,000 people die each year from radon-related lung cancer. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths. You gotta be kidding me, that's wild. https://www.epa.gov/radiation/what-radon-gas-it-dangerous https://www.epa.gov/radiation/what-radon-gas-it-dangerous
teekert 5y ago
Man I'd pay quite some $ for this to be plug -enter wifi-pw- and play with Home Assistant integration, all data stays in my LAN of course. Something with Tasmota or esphome? A touch of mqtt...
- aweiland 5y ago
  I think all of those sensors (as well as the OLED display) are supported by esphome. That'll give you near plug-and-play with HomeAssistant with just a little YAML.
wiether 5y ago
Someone knows if living in a home with "bad" air quality is worse for someone's live than living under constant stress thank to air monitoring telling that the air quality is not perfect ?
Imagenuity 5y ago
I backed the Kickstarter for bluSensor last year, and have been happy with the device so far. The app needs a little work, but makes it easy to check current and historical air quality. It has 4 sensors: temp, humidity, CO2 and VoC. Helped me discover a problem with my attached garage leaking fumes into the house. https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/blusensor/created https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/blusensor/created
- Imagenuity 5y ago
  better link: https://blusensor.com/en/ https://blusensor.com/en/

515 points by geerlingguy 5y ago

alexfromapex 5y ago

Why is this person’s house 82 degrees?

dexwiz 5y ago
At 42% humidity, I’m guessing they live in a subtropical climate. Florida’s?
- DiabloD3 5y ago
  Maine is relatively dry. My house generally stays around 40-60% humidity year round except during the coldest parts of the winter, independent of the outdoors in both extremes.
  - dexwiz 5y ago
    Relative humidity is a function of air temperature. 50% humidity at 60F is relatively comfortable, but 50% humidity at 90F is much more uncomfortable. What is really happening is the dew point is closer to your ambient surface skin temp, so water has a harder time evaporating/starts to collect. Since air holds more water at higher temps (and a lot more, 90F air can hold almost 3x as much as 60F air), just comparing humidities without considering temp doesn't say much.
- LeifCarrotson 5y ago
  No, St Louis: https://www.weather.gov/lsx/monthTab https://www.weather.gov/lsx/monthTab It was in the upper 80s/lower 90s throughout July and August, when this data was likely collected. And relative humidity hit 80-90% every morning, averaging about 65% as it warmed up. It's sticky in summer. I live in Michigan, and even with a cool breeze from our magnificent freshwater lake, half an hour inland it's similarly hot and humid. I kept our house at 78 when we're home, 82 when it's just the dog, and 76 when company comes over. I think the air conditioner keeps humidity in the 40% range, though I'm reading this article because I lack a hygrometer/air quality sensor and don't really have hard numbers for that, only that humidity is significantly less indoors than out. Also, he mentions that the orientation of the case causes convection off the ESP8266 to increase the air temperature by a couple degrees (Farenheit). If you're one of the Silicon Valley HN readers looking to move to the wide open spaces and relaxed culture of the Midwest, do be aware that climate is a big deal; coastal California's perpetual mild climate is an aberration.
  - dexwiz 5y ago
    As a Midwest native, but SF resident, I don't think I could ever move back due to the weather.
  - zeku 5y ago
    In Tennessee myself and it is only just now getting to a temperature/humidity that is bearable to be outdoors. March spring hits and the pollen is crazy until June and by then it's too hot to really be outside without tree cover from 9am-8pm until around now. My area is one of the worst pollen places in the country. You owe it to yourself before moving to look at a pollen map as well.
zekrioca 5y ago
Why not?
mikodin 5y ago
> The case is well-ventilated, and my only complaint is the natural convection causes very-slightly-warmed air from the WeMos D1 and CO2 sensor to pass over the temperature and humidity sensor on the top, meaning those readings are always a bit higher than ambient—at least in my office. Likely because of this.
- geerlingguy 5y ago
  Heh, this. I keep the thermostat between 78-80°F during the summer months (which allows the A/C to run enough to keep humidity down below 50%), and between 68-72°F in the winter.
deleted 5y ago
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asciimov 5y ago
Here in South Texas I keep my house at 78° during the daytime in A/C season (that's typically March-November, plus some days the other months). If the ceiling fan's aren't on, and the air isn't moving around properly, it can easily get up to 82°. It's perfectly comfortable. (You acclimate to it) Understand, the average high is in the mid to upper 90's and trying to get a home a/c to cover a 20+ temperature difference is difficult and significantly drives up the monthly power bill.
reaperducer 5y ago
Why is this person’s house 82 degrees? When I lived in the desert, 82° was comfortable for me. Generally, the humidity was below 10% (NWS reading, as most cheap consumer sensors are not precise below 10%). But even in monsoon season, when the humidity would spike, it was still fine. I guess you get used to it. My wife never did, so when she came home from work she'd turn the temperature down to 78°.
bombela 5y ago
82°F == 27.7°C https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

jvanderbot 5y ago

I did a similar thing -- set up AQ sensors in the house. I used the sps30 from sparkfun, CAD'd up a panel mount, 3d printed it, built a wooden box for it + a pi, set up all the networking and hosting, and packaged my utils for debian. Anyway, the AQ is fine, HEPA filters work when in-line with the A/C, and there's nothing much to monitor even when AQ is mod/bad outside. Boring, but nice to know, and fun to learn all those new skills. Just don't burn incense.

blacksmith_tb 5y ago
That has been my experience too - unless you put your monitor in your kitchen, in which case frying or baking will usually cause a pretty significant spike...
sneak 5y ago
Or standard paraffin candles! The soot (even when they burn normally/"clean") is killer. I have some beeswax ones coming soon which are supposed to be better; my PM25 meter is standing by for their arrival.
- jvanderbot 5y ago
  I bought some electric candles. They can go months on a AA nimh battery, and if you pay enough for them, they are actually good / realistic enough for the wife's relaxation. Great for power outages as well.
  - throwawaysea 5y ago
    Is there a particular "expensive" model you would recommend for realism?
    - jvanderbot 5y ago
      These work really well, and seem to actually be made of wax so the candle looks quite good. Note the "wick" is sunk in an inch or two so there's nothing to really suspend disbelief. Also they have an optional 24-hour timer so they'll remember to turn on the same time you turned them on yesterday. https://www.potterybarn.com/products/flameless-outdoor-candle/ https://www.potterybarn.com/products/flameless-outdoor-candl...

falconblock5 5y ago

Could anyone advise of the best way of getting hold of the PCB? Looking at the air gradient webside they provide "Gerber files", do these need to be sent to a PCB manufacturer to create? If so, does anyone have recommendations of which to use? It is something I would like to learn about but I am rather new to.

adamjb 5y ago
The last time AirGradient popped up on HN, the guy who runs it said if you get in contact and ask nicely they might have a spare one to send you.
- tnorthcutt 5y ago
  Link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27125763 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27125763
- benhurmarcel 5y ago
  I confirm he followed up on that. He nicely sent me 2 PCBs after I sent him the shipping fee from Thailand.
simcop2387 5y ago
I've had good experience with jlbpcb in the past, they usually have some deals going around on youtube electronics channels too.
secabeen 5y ago
I built one using these instructions and a ESP8266: https://www.pieterbrinkman.com/2021/02/03/build-a-cheap-air-quality-meter-using-esphome-home-assistant-and-a-particulate-matter-sensor/ https://www.pieterbrinkman.com/2021/02/03/build-a-cheap-air-... It publishes its data via MQTT, and you can use any system that can subscribe to a MQTT queue to process, display, etc. it.
turbocon 5y ago
oshpark is what we used in college https://oshpark.com/ https://oshpark.com/ $5/sq inch and you get 3 copies of your board

tzs 5y ago

The WeMos D1 Mini link ends up at an AliExpress login page, not the product page for the D1 Mini. It looks like you linked to your order page instead.

fuzzybassoon 5y ago
Not the author, but this[1] looks to be the listing for the D1 Mini from the LOLIN official store. 1: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32529101036.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.productList_6001908016841.subject_2 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32529101036.html?spm=a2g0o.s...
geerlingguy 5y ago
Sorry about that! This is the one I bought: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32651747570.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.db374c4doNWyMj https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32651747570.html?spm=a2g0s.9... I've also updated the link on my site.

Johnny555 5y ago

Does anyone have any plans for a cheap DIY Ozone sensor? My house came with an electronic air cleaner called an iWave: https://iwaveair.com/ https://iwaveair.com/ It claims to not emit any Ozone, but I'd like to be able to meaure it, and the commercial sensors tend to be expensive.

dperfect 5y ago
Not sure if this is DIY enough for you, but I'm using an MQ131 (about $20-$30 on Amazon, probably cheaper directly from China [1]) in an air quality monitor I'm building. There's an Arduino library for it [2], and from what I can tell so far, it does work, though it's probably not super accurate. It's also somewhat sensitive to environmental factors, but you can correct for some of that with known temperature/humidity. [1] There are a few different kinds of MQ131 (for high and low concentrations); you'll probably want the low concentration one. I also removed the bare sensor from a breakout board I purchased so I could access it directly from my custom PCB. [2] https://github.com/ostaquet/Arduino-MQ131-driver https://github.com/ostaquet/Arduino-MQ131-driver
- Johnny555 5y ago
  That's exactly what I'm looking for, looks like I can get a $30 MQ131 with detection a range of 10PPB-2PPM [1], and a "Good" indoor level is 0 - 54ppb [2]. It doesn't need to be super accurate for my use case, basically I just want to turn on the electronic filter and see if there are any detectable levels of Ozone. [1] https://www.sainsmart.com/products/mq-131-gas-sensor-ozone-module https://www.sainsmart.com/products/mq-131-gas-sensor-ozone-m... [2] https://learn.kaiterra.com/en/resources/ozone-what-levels-are-safe https://learn.kaiterra.com/en/resources/ozone-what-levels-ar...
clipradiowallet 5y ago
This doesn't answer your question - but in all seriousness you can smell it. Even the smallest amount of ozone has a very distinct smell you will recognize. If you stand in front of your air sanitizer and let the air pass over your face, you should be able to smell the ozone immediately. If you haven't smelled it before - I would recommend going to a retail store that sells ozone-based air sanitizers. That should give you a whiff of the stuff for reference. You can also find it in [some] hospitals for air sanitization. I imagine once you smell it, you will realize you have smelled it before and maybe not realized it was ozone that you were smelling.

avodonosov 5y ago

Anyone can recommend good quality inexpensive sensors?

harias 5y ago
Try the one's listed here maybe: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/08/18/low-cost-home-air-quality-monitors-prove-useful-for-wildfire-smoke/ https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/08/18/low-cost-home-air-qual...
- asdff 5y ago
  Not exactly inexpensive. These are "low cost" in that they don't cost $20,000 like the sensors used by government agencies, but they aren't what I as a consumer think low cost means.
numpad0 5y ago
I can recommend against one type of bad sensors. VOC sensors paired with a temperature sensor that can generate “eCO2” value is known bad, such as CCS811/BME280 combo board. Those sensors guesstimate CO2 concentration from air temperature and changes in ambient alcohol/acetone/hydrocarbon levels, which drifts into positive infinity and is simply do not correlate well with actual CO2 level. Those sensors are dirt cheap, and can still be used as a rule of thumb to encourage regular ventilation, but are nothing more than that. If you want to actually see CO2 levels, avoid those.

Someone1234 5y ago

I was surprised to learn that the Airthings Wave Plus ($180~) doesn't measure PM2.5. It is cool that it does Radon and VOCs which this cannot do. This seems like it could either compete OR complement an Airthings Wave Plus for like 35% of the cost. Since they both offer different and overlapping data. I wonder what you'd need to do to get Radon and VOCs too in this solution (essentially match and exceed the Airthings Wave Plus)?

at_a_remove 5y ago
Honestly, it seems like there's a long list of things to monitor: * Radon * Carbon dioxide * Carbon monoxide * Nitrogen Dioxide * Sulfur Dioxide * Ozone * PM2.5, PM10 (any others?) * VOCs * Temperature * Humidity * Pressure It is an opportunity for someone to make a "suite" sensor so you could scatter them around the house for good average measurements.
- 5e92cb50239222b 5y ago
  Last time I looked into gas sensors (for measuring SO₂ and NO₂ which reach extreme levels in my area), they were $100+ each, depending on the gas it's measuring.
  - at_a_remove 5y ago
    I think that kind of thing could get knocked down in price a bit with scale and inclusion in a sensor suite.
- endymi0n 5y ago
  The air-q pro comes pretty close (I‘m thinking of buying it), but it‘s rather expensive and I haven‘t seen any reviews yet: https://shop.air-q.com/air-Q-Pro-air-analyser-14-sensors https://shop.air-q.com/air-Q-Pro-air-analyser-14-sensors
roessland 5y ago
Have you looked at the View Plus (€300-ish)? It has PM2.5, CO2, radon, humidity, pressure and temperature. Also I believe it has multiple of some of the same sensors for better accuracy. Way overpriced vs AliExpress but oh well. https://www.airthings.com/en/view-plus https://www.airthings.com/en/view-plus

lindenstark 5y ago

Daniel Cuthbert did something quite similar[0], with pollution sensor from ikea. [0] https://twitter.com/dcuthbert/status/1421822958604062726 https://twitter.com/dcuthbert/status/1421822958604062726

Animux 5y ago
See also this: https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sensor https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sens...

Rafuino 5y ago

Any suggestions for a CO2 monitor that doesn't require you to solder? I have an Arduino and a breadboard so can hand wire things in the meantime if needed...

BoorishBears 5y ago
In theory there's no reason you can't use a breadboard jumper kit and splice it to the cable that the sensor comes with But soldering has a very low cost-of-entry, and even using solderable breadboards over solderless can make your project a lot easier to use (no more worrying about lose connections or capacitance issues)
karmelapple 5y ago
I really like my Aranet4, although it costs a little over US$200. No soldering though, and its been running on one battery charge for over half a year!

macNchz 5y ago

After getting a (non-DIY because as much as I like hobby electronics I have a tendency to scope creep my little projects straight into incompletion) about a year ago, my main learnings have been: - Cooking is insanely bad for the air in your house, even with an outside-venting hood. Any sort of medium-high heat cooking will spike the PM2.5 to multiple times that of the haziest days here in NYC, and with the windows shut it will stay elevated for hours after. - The 20" box fan + MERV furnace filter hack is super effective for cutting down on the PM. A few days this July the wildfire smoke from the west coast settled on NYC and we had 40-70 ug/m3 PM2.5 outside. The box fan filter took it down to around 5 in a matter of minutes. I didn't even bother taping the filter to the fan. - My A/C system's ability to precisely hold the temperature within fractions of a degree of the thermostat setting is impressive. - With two people working from home in an old, unventilated-but-kinda-drafty ~700 square foot apartment, the only thing that gets the CO2 levels into "drowsy" territory (my original point of curiosity when buying the sensor) is running the gas oven for a while.

Someone1234 5y ago
> I didn't even bother taping the filter to the fan. I found bungee cord with J hooks works really well. As you correctly point out, you don't need to secure it at all, but it is annoying to tap the box fan and have the filter fall over.
- lisper 5y ago
  That seems odd to me. I've never tried this, but it seems to me that you have to put the filter on the intake side of the fan, other the fan would just blow it off. And on the intake side, would not the pressure differential hold it in place?
  - wholinator2 5y ago
    I feel like you could place it on either side of the fan as long as air is directed to go through it. My personal intuition is filter then fan but I don't see a reason it couldn't go the other way. I wonder why most devices place it on the intake though. Maybe to prevent dust from getting inside a device, but even then it'd only protect the fan from dust. Hmmm...

danans 5y ago

> But after a few weeks, and after adding in a manual temperature adjustment to compensate for that sensor's inaccuracy, the AirGradient has been a very stable and helpful addition to my home environment monitoring. When you are DIYing this sort of thing, I would think you would need to make at least a couple of them to see if they calibrate to the same measurement, assuming what you are after is greater precision and control (why else would you DIY it?). Even then, both devices could calibrate to the same very imprecise value. To really validate this, you would need to put it in an controlled environment with known air pollution levels. Just placing it outdoors when the weather report says 200AQI wouldn't work since that's an average over a large area, not a point measurement. I imagine the sensor manufacturers have done some calibration - the article mentions a self calibration period for some, but once everything is in the final package, I'd expect the behavior to change.

ashtonkem 5y ago
Most of the DIY solutions I’ve seen use pre-packaged PM sensors, which are probably the same parts embedded in over the counter solutions.
- danans 5y ago
  Yes, but has the final assembly been calibrated against a known controlled environment? Without that, the readings from the device become more of a crapshoot, which is fine if there is no desire for greater precision (i.e a just for fun project) Sensor manufacturers cannot calibrate for every possible packaging configuration. As someone who has DIYed a lot of stuff related to indoor climate, I tend to save my effort for the mitigation work, and use well tested measurement tools to validate those. This is for the same reason that one doesn't usually DIY a multimeter before doing electrical work.
  - ashtonkem 5y ago
    The PM sensor I’m thinking of comes in it’s own packaging with a fan, and is usually attached to a PCB alone. I don’t see how most applications of it would require a recalibration.

Scene_Cast2 5y ago

For some context, PurpleAir also uses Plantower dust sensors. As an alternative, there's also the Honeywell HPMA sensors (used in Awair).

philips 5y ago
It is too bad that PurpleAir doesn’t do CO2 last I looked. I really want a single device.
- Scene_Cast2 5y ago
  My old Awair has a Telaire T6703 CO2 sensor; the newer ones probably have something similar. I also had a standalone sensor at one point, they're a thing too. And Tindie has a slew of ready-to-order air quality stations too.
  - philips 5y ago
    Have you had a good experience with Awair? The last time I looked it seemed like they had no recommended way to clean the sensors. And in my limited experience PM2.5 sensors do need periodic cleaning to remain accurate. My air filter has one and the manufacturer recommends a bit of alcohol and a puff of air.
    - Scene_Cast2 5y ago
      Their old one had an issue with the dust sensor clogging. The new ones use the Honeywell sensor. It has a tiny fan on it (inaudible in a quiet room from 5 inches away); mine ran well for a couple of years until I knocked it off my desk. After that, the fan started rattling, so I ordered another Honeywell sensor ($40) and replaced it (no soldering required, just a screwdriver). That sensor's datasheet doesn't have any cleaning instructions, so I don't think it's a big issue.
      - philips 5y ago
        Ok thanks

goodpoint 5y ago

I wish there was a credible, volunteer run indoor/outdoor pollution map. With cheap probes and peer-review software (properly packaged in Linux distributions).

suhlig 5y ago
https://sensor.community/ https://sensor.community/ Used to be luftdaten.info (German), but seems more international now. They built a pretty accurate sensor based on an SDS011. No soldering required.
- goodpoint 5y ago
  I'm aware but they don't have clients in Linux distributions.

Scene_Cast2 5y ago

I'm currently building an adapter to mate furnace filters to quiet, high static pressure fans. This should keep the same volume of filtration as a box fan, but lower the noise significantly. I'll probably be ordering a batch of 5-10, if interested, email me (link in profile). Or comment, as long as you have an email in your profile, I suppose.

smiley1437 5y ago
I'm interested
- Scene_Cast2 5y ago
  Do you have an email or a way to reach out? I didn't find one in your profile.
  - smiley1437 5y ago
    updated my profile thanks

Animux 5y ago

There is a version from superhouse.tv with the same pms5003 sensor: https://www.superhouse.tv/39-diy-air-quality-sensor-part-2-display-version/ https://www.superhouse.tv/39-diy-air-quality-sensor-part-2-d...

newbamboo 5y ago

Bought a monitor because aqi near me averages 50-100 during summer, pre-fire season. Found my tvoc is constantly in .70-1.0 mg/m3 unless I open all windows and run fans. Then it drops to around .6 mg/m3. I now don’t worry at all about pm2.5 levels and just keep my windows open if the temps below 100. Buying the monitor showed me that my migraines and other issues (brain fog) were caused by the high voc. Opening windows even if it means breathing wildfire smoke makes the headaches disappear. Anyone out there on the fence about buying a monitor, just do it. There are worse issues than pm2.5 and smoke, both of which you can detect with your nose.

ttesttom 5y ago
Did you buy an AirGradient monitor or any brand you recommend that is not DIY?
- newbamboo 5y ago
  Just the 80 dollar temtop that sells on Amazon. Easy enough to check against local purple air sensors for the particulate readings. I did that, and they were spot on for my neighborhood. Don’t know if I trust the formaldahyde reading but the tvoc corresponds to my physical experience very well, and it drops to near 0 tvoc when taken outside. If there’s a catch, it’s that you don’t know what voc you’re dealing with. Could be something lethal like radon or something fairly innocuous at the levels I’m seeing. Whatever it is in my case, it causes very predictable migraine symptoms which correspond to the voc level almost perfectly.

fotta 5y ago

Probably worth noting that the South Coast AQMD tests various PM sensors from consumer-grade to lab-grade and publishes results [0]. Lots of cheaper consumer-grade sensors outperform the expensive lab-grade sensors. [0] http://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations/summary-pm http://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations/summary-pm

gruez 5y ago

FYI to the author: you can get tiny screws off ebay/aliexpress. They're under $2 for 50-100, including shipping.

geerlingguy 5y ago
True, I just don't have any that small on hand. I have a few boxes of M2.5 and M3, but none smaller.

robbomacrae 5y ago

"The case is well-ventilated, and my only complaint is the natural convection causes very-slightly-warmed air from the WeMos D1 and CO2 sensor to pass over the temperature and humidity sensor on the top, meaning those readings are always a bit higher than ambient—at least in my office." Have you considered turning it around?

geerlingguy 5y ago
But then the display would not be oriented correctly ;) What I'm planning on doing is soldering a jumper to the board and having the temperature sensor hang out the side of the case a bit, towards the bottom.

post_break 5y ago

I wish there was a cheaper buy it option. I really really want to do this but I'm worried I'll get half way and get stuck.

dhritzkiv 5y ago
I'm the same. Plus, my living in Canada means getting all the different components piecemeal, often from different suppliers/sellers is a giant PITA. This is further complicated by my self-imposed restriction to not buy from Amazon. And this is before the headache of shipping costs (often $15 as the lowest option, even for small parts) I'd love a ~$200-300CAD pre-assembled or kit option where I can own the data, access it in a standard fashion, and optionally choose to crowd-source it.

hadlock 5y ago

> the components for this project cost between $60-80 Purple air sells a turn key indoor air quality device for $200, is very reliable, also comes in a (clear) 3d printed case, comes with power supply. Not as DIY as this guy's solution, but with limited time on my hands the $100 was worth the cost of admission. It also works with Purple Air's map which provides nationwide air quality, temp and humidity, etc which is really nice. It's worked flawlessly for me now for about five months. The light turns from green to yellow when I open the window in my south facing condo, but turns green again when I close the window and turn on the air filter. I was surprised at how bad the air quality gets when cooking food on the stove.

turtlebits 5y ago
Awair also sells one for ~150.

personjerry 5y ago

Is there a non-DIY version of this, preferably <$100? I often have breathing difficulties and would be curious to see if humidity, CO2, and pm2.5 are affecting me, but I don't have a soldering kit.

outlog 5y ago
think the Qingping air detector lite fits the bill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzwBGf6woo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzwBGf6woo - available on amazon or aliexpress etc.

acidburnNSA 5y ago

I built one with lots of sensors along these lines. Very useful during smoke season to try to balance co2 and pm. https://partofthething.com/thoughts/weather-and-air-quality-monitoring-station-with-esp8266-and-home-assistant/ https://partofthething.com/thoughts/weather-and-air-quality-...

reacharavindh 5y ago

Is there a good non DIY air quality monitor that can be hooked up to Prometheus for monitoring over time? I know this is a very “non HN” thing to ask. But, as much as I’d love to learn and tinker with Adruino, sensors and their soldered connections, supplying power correctly etc, I am afraid all my spare time would be gone to it, and I will never get to the air quality part of the project. It will be yet another wide scoped project that never ends. Hence the ask for a non DIY yet Prometheus compatible solution..

Havoc 5y ago
The huawei are filters have integrated sensors and with a bit of hassle the info can be extracted. Some people don’t like huawei gear but I’ve found the hardware at least to be good
- reacharavindh 5y ago
  I found something on AliExpress that seems to send data over Bluetooth. I don't what kind of effort it would take to capture that data if I have a RaspBerry Pi with Bluetooth. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003019471995.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.378c50b7kRDMQT&algo_pvid=194b9ca1-12d6-4d56-bb78-e9e173d649f9&algo_exp_id=194b9ca1-12d6-4d56-bb78-e9e173d649f9-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000024214839006%22%7D https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003019471995.html?spm=a2...
  - Havoc 5y ago
    The huawei stuff is generally addressable via LAN using home assistant etc. Can be a bit tricky to get hold of the security tokens but at least doesn’t involve re inventing any wheels. One is very much at the mercy of firmware updates blocking diy access. General recommendation is not to update. Plus US crowd is pretty paranoid on huawei stuff ofc
    - reacharavindh 5y ago
      Well, I am not planning to let my air quality monitor connect to the internet, let alone to my home network where my computing devices are. So, there’s that. If the huawei thing is accessible in the local network, that is almost exactly what I want. I can connect it to a raspberry Pi on an isolated network and extract the data I need. Thanks for the tip.

shmikis 5y ago

Why every second word in this article is "AirGradient"? Most important/expensive sensor is from Senseair, controller from Wemos, etc. I've made same monitoring solution using same components following some years old tutorial and have never heard about "AirGradient".

xaduha 5y ago

What's with radon mentions here and at AirGradient pages? Where would that come from, is this a US thing? Reminds me of 'asbestos-free cereal' xkcd joke. EDIT: > Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Nationally, the EPA estimates that about 21,000 people die each year from radon-related lung cancer. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths. You gotta be kidding me, that's wild. https://www.epa.gov/radiation/what-radon-gas-it-dangerous https://www.epa.gov/radiation/what-radon-gas-it-dangerous

teekert 5y ago

Man I'd pay quite some $ for this to be plug -enter wifi-pw- and play with Home Assistant integration, all data stays in my LAN of course. Something with Tasmota or esphome? A touch of mqtt...

aweiland 5y ago
I think all of those sensors (as well as the OLED display) are supported by esphome. That'll give you near plug-and-play with HomeAssistant with just a little YAML.

wiether 5y ago

Someone knows if living in a home with "bad" air quality is worse for someone's live than living under constant stress thank to air monitoring telling that the air quality is not perfect ?

Imagenuity 5y ago

I backed the Kickstarter for bluSensor last year, and have been happy with the device so far. The app needs a little work, but makes it easy to check current and historical air quality. It has 4 sensors: temp, humidity, CO2 and VoC. Helped me discover a problem with my attached garage leaking fumes into the house. https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/blusensor/created https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/blusensor/created

Imagenuity 5y ago
better link: https://blusensor.com/en/ https://blusensor.com/en/