8 ms·

I can't feel the difference between 1500ppm and 500ppm CO2 levels, yet 1500 is above recommended limits. It's actually quite difficult to keep it below 1000 fo

I can't feel the difference between 1500ppm and 500ppm CO2 levels, yet 1500 is above recommended limits. It's actually quite difficult to keep it below 1000 for us, and getting these sensors in every room has been quite the 'curse' :D

boppo1 4y ago
I've wondered about this. If I install an air monitor in my room, what do I do if it shows low quality? Open my window in below-freezing winter temps? Hire someone to overhaul my furnace and vents?
- throwaway14356 4y ago
  if you keep the window open all year, dress appropriately and avoid heated buildings you don't notice how cold it is. I switch it on a few years ago because my cat is getting really old. I now feel cold if its 17 C or below.
  - kgermino 4y ago
    That is an extraordinarily climate-specific recommendation. It’s currently a fairly mild 30F/-1 C outside my house and even that is obviously way too cold to go without heat completely.
    - throwaway14356 4y ago
      You are conditioned to think you are and feel cold. Look how cold some countries and regions get? The people working outside there are not a different species. The trick is to get used to it gradually. I didn't say it was fun or easy. I spend a good bit of winter working outside but with physical activity it is much easier. Do you have other ideas? I mean, it would be nice? I cant think of anything else besides migration.
      - Germanika 4y ago
        >Look how cold some countries and regions get? As someone from said countries and regions, people living outside freeze to death here. Long before you get to that point your water pipes will freeze, leaving you without running water. The pipes will then burst and flood your house if you don't address it quickly enough. You can certainly heat it to a lower temperature and occasionally crack open a window for some fresh air, but there's a difference between conditioning yourself to be comfortable at 17C and -30C.
- happymellon 4y ago
  If you aren't willing to do anything about it then why bother with the air monitor? If you only have a single room then your options are limited, however moving rooms or opening a door to a different room and turning on a fan to increase circulation? If it is CO2 then you could invest in a houseplant or two.
  - dgacmu 4y ago
    Houseplants do not exchange anything near significant amounts of CO2 for this purpose. The long term answer is to improve the HVAC: reconfigure for more external air mixing (commercial), or find a way to install an HRV or ERV, or open a window, but that can be expensive or impossible depending on the situation.
    - happymellon 4y ago
      The houseplant was just the cheer them up while they slowly suffocate since they weren't going to do anything about it. Like a button that does nothing.
    - hellweaver666 4y ago
      I'm currently renovating a house in The Netherlands, we're installing a heat pump and to make the place more efficient we also replaced the glass with triple glazed (but without vents in the frames as they let heat escape). Given that we were effectively making our house a "sealed envelope" we had to add mechanical ventilation (ERV) to ensure proper airflow around the property. As you can imagine, retrofitting ducting around an old house required a LOT of creative work!
  - Ajedi32 4y ago
    > If it is CO2 then you could invest in a houseplant or two. This seemed wrong to me, so I checked and it seems like you'd need hundreds of houseplants to make any significant difference: https://www.realhomes.com/news/do-house-plants-remove-carbon-dioxide-from-homes https://www.realhomes.com/news/do-house-plants-remove-carbon...
    - 4y ago
- crazygringo 4y ago
  Open the window. In my apartment I keep a single open somewhere between a millimeter and a centimeter when it's below freezing, depending on the temperature and wind. That's enough to keep my CO2 sensor happy (try to keep it around 550), and it (shockingly) doesn't seem to affect my heating bill all that much. There's a cold corner of the room next to that window, but the rest of the apartment stays just as warm. (I have a thermostat that controls heating.) I also keep a humidifier running full blast (silently) because otherwise it will get crazy dry on some days.
  - Semaphor 4y ago
    > I also keep a humidifier running full blast (silently) because otherwise it will get crazy dry on some days. Heh, I usually keep the dehumidifier running, I don’t think I’ll ever need a humidifier. Currently, 80% RH (7g/m³) outside, with indoor levels all slightly above 60%.
  - thombat 4y ago
    That cold corner risks becoming a condensation point and so developing mold.
    - crazygringo 4y ago
      It doesn't though. The relative humidity at 70°F is only 30-35% with the humidifier running full blast. Because it's often 7-15% without the humidifier. Because the air coming through the window is bone dry. The problem in the winter here is keeping enough humidity in the air. It would be nice if I ever had to worry about condensation. ;)
- arrrg 4y ago
  So, this works with temperatures down to freezing and below (don’t know what the cut off is, maybe there is none given this planet’s temperature range) and if you heat and dress appropriately (i.e. not up to super high temperatures – around 20°C or so – and if you have a sweater or jacket on or can put one on). Obviously you also need the appropriate building for it. (So no fancy passive house. No fancy air conditioning – which is quite uncommon where I’m from anyway.) Generally, if you only open the windows for five minutes or so the air will cool down substantially (the right moment to pull on that sweater) but everything else (walls, furniture) will not really cool down that much, meaning the room will be quick to be back at an appropriate temperature. We learned and did this in school, often do it in offices and meeting rooms and also at home. Though, admittedly the temporary unpleasantness does frequently lead to people postponing opening the windows forever and ever. (Once every 90 minutes in a classroom setting might not be enough.) In those settings a CO2 traffic light as an obvious visual indicator would be super helpful.
maxerickson 4y ago
I imagine people are mostly perceiving humidity and heat when they notice a room getting stuffy.
drewda 4y ago
FWIW, the frustrations of not being able to change high CO2 levels was just a topic of discussion over on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34648021 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34648021

boppo1 4y ago

I've wondered about this. If I install an air monitor in my room, what do I do if it shows low quality? Open my window in below-freezing winter temps? Hire someone to overhaul my furnace and vents?

throwaway14356 4y ago
if you keep the window open all year, dress appropriately and avoid heated buildings you don't notice how cold it is. I switch it on a few years ago because my cat is getting really old. I now feel cold if its 17 C or below.
- kgermino 4y ago
  That is an extraordinarily climate-specific recommendation. It’s currently a fairly mild 30F/-1 C outside my house and even that is obviously way too cold to go without heat completely.
  - throwaway14356 4y ago
    You are conditioned to think you are and feel cold. Look how cold some countries and regions get? The people working outside there are not a different species. The trick is to get used to it gradually. I didn't say it was fun or easy. I spend a good bit of winter working outside but with physical activity it is much easier. Do you have other ideas? I mean, it would be nice? I cant think of anything else besides migration.
    - Germanika 4y ago
      >Look how cold some countries and regions get? As someone from said countries and regions, people living outside freeze to death here. Long before you get to that point your water pipes will freeze, leaving you without running water. The pipes will then burst and flood your house if you don't address it quickly enough. You can certainly heat it to a lower temperature and occasionally crack open a window for some fresh air, but there's a difference between conditioning yourself to be comfortable at 17C and -30C.
happymellon 4y ago
If you aren't willing to do anything about it then why bother with the air monitor? If you only have a single room then your options are limited, however moving rooms or opening a door to a different room and turning on a fan to increase circulation? If it is CO2 then you could invest in a houseplant or two.
- dgacmu 4y ago
  Houseplants do not exchange anything near significant amounts of CO2 for this purpose. The long term answer is to improve the HVAC: reconfigure for more external air mixing (commercial), or find a way to install an HRV or ERV, or open a window, but that can be expensive or impossible depending on the situation.
  - happymellon 4y ago
    The houseplant was just the cheer them up while they slowly suffocate since they weren't going to do anything about it. Like a button that does nothing.
  - hellweaver666 4y ago
    I'm currently renovating a house in The Netherlands, we're installing a heat pump and to make the place more efficient we also replaced the glass with triple glazed (but without vents in the frames as they let heat escape). Given that we were effectively making our house a "sealed envelope" we had to add mechanical ventilation (ERV) to ensure proper airflow around the property. As you can imagine, retrofitting ducting around an old house required a LOT of creative work!
- Ajedi32 4y ago
  > If it is CO2 then you could invest in a houseplant or two. This seemed wrong to me, so I checked and it seems like you'd need hundreds of houseplants to make any significant difference: https://www.realhomes.com/news/do-house-plants-remove-carbon-dioxide-from-homes https://www.realhomes.com/news/do-house-plants-remove-carbon...
  - 4y ago
crazygringo 4y ago
Open the window. In my apartment I keep a single open somewhere between a millimeter and a centimeter when it's below freezing, depending on the temperature and wind. That's enough to keep my CO2 sensor happy (try to keep it around 550), and it (shockingly) doesn't seem to affect my heating bill all that much. There's a cold corner of the room next to that window, but the rest of the apartment stays just as warm. (I have a thermostat that controls heating.) I also keep a humidifier running full blast (silently) because otherwise it will get crazy dry on some days.
- Semaphor 4y ago
  > I also keep a humidifier running full blast (silently) because otherwise it will get crazy dry on some days. Heh, I usually keep the dehumidifier running, I don’t think I’ll ever need a humidifier. Currently, 80% RH (7g/m³) outside, with indoor levels all slightly above 60%.
- thombat 4y ago
  That cold corner risks becoming a condensation point and so developing mold.
  - crazygringo 4y ago
    It doesn't though. The relative humidity at 70°F is only 30-35% with the humidifier running full blast. Because it's often 7-15% without the humidifier. Because the air coming through the window is bone dry. The problem in the winter here is keeping enough humidity in the air. It would be nice if I ever had to worry about condensation. ;)
arrrg 4y ago
So, this works with temperatures down to freezing and below (don’t know what the cut off is, maybe there is none given this planet’s temperature range) and if you heat and dress appropriately (i.e. not up to super high temperatures – around 20°C or so – and if you have a sweater or jacket on or can put one on). Obviously you also need the appropriate building for it. (So no fancy passive house. No fancy air conditioning – which is quite uncommon where I’m from anyway.) Generally, if you only open the windows for five minutes or so the air will cool down substantially (the right moment to pull on that sweater) but everything else (walls, furniture) will not really cool down that much, meaning the room will be quick to be back at an appropriate temperature. We learned and did this in school, often do it in offices and meeting rooms and also at home. Though, admittedly the temporary unpleasantness does frequently lead to people postponing opening the windows forever and ever. (Once every 90 minutes in a classroom setting might not be enough.) In those settings a CO2 traffic light as an obvious visual indicator would be super helpful.

maxerickson 4y ago

I imagine people are mostly perceiving humidity and heat when they notice a room getting stuffy.

drewda 4y ago

FWIW, the frustrations of not being able to change high CO2 levels was just a topic of discussion over on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34648021 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34648021