5 ms·
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 an
by 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 agoDid you buy an AirGradient monitor or any brand you recommend that is not DIY?
- newbamboo 5y agoJust 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.