Do you use these sensors in your smart home? I'm curious to hear! Learn more about Panasonic's IAQ solutions: bit.ly/reedsolar2 Thanks to Panasonic for sponsoring a portion of this video.
Achim from AirGradient here. Many thanks for reviewing and recommending our monitor! Very appreciated. I'll try and answer any questions that might pop up in the comments below.
@@SmartHomeSolver yes sir I have a few Airthings sensors. I stopped buying them though because I the multiple apps thing is strange, and the price is a little out there. I do love them and they have really opened my eyes (even though I’m an HVAC guy and have always had air quality on my mind). I just think Airthings might possibly be price gouging a bit.
I love my airthings sensor. It measures everything and is viewable as a trend over time. This is especially helpful for radon because it can fluctuate throughout the year drastically. It kills 21,000 people a year in the US. A level above 4 pCi/L is equivalent to smoking 8 cigarettes a day.
I would like to incorporate some motion sensors in my house, however only on specific days of the week. Some days I don't want motion triggering any lights. Is there a way to only have the sensors active on specific days of the week (and specific times as well)?
Don't you think you're letting Generac Inc & whoever it chooses to sell your data to (that it legally owns) a little too high up where sun don't shine?
Smart Home Solver, We really appreciate you showcasing our tiny multisensor! Just a quick note, the one in the video is actually our Apollo MSR-1 mmWave CO2 multisensor. This was our first sensor and after some community feedback we've actually made an updated version called the Apollo MSR-2. It has the same functionality but it's even smaller! It still uses the LD2410B mmWave sensor and the SCD40 CO2 NDIR sensor. We do offer the Apollo MTR-1 like you mentioned but it uses the LD2450 which was a community requested sensor. We apologize for not getting you our true air quality Apollo AIR-1 sensor but will send you one ASAP. It is made for ESPHome and uses the SEN55, SCD40 and MiCS-4514 sensors. We will be in touch to get you all of our sensors. Again, we really appreciate the shout out and are happy to answer any questions! Best, Justin Apollo Automation
@@BassLiberators We’re a small team of three friends working out of a basement in Lexington, KY, USA. We’re very open and transparent, and you can chat with us directly. Best, Justin Apollo Automation
@@BassLiberators I hit like because I thought it was helpful and I saw the price was much less than the first link I clicked for the Amazon product. I'm a normal person and not a bot too lol.
Apollo sensors are awesome! I have an Air-1 on each floor and an MSR-2 with CO2 in the bedrooms and office. Very affordable too. The only small issue I had was it showing crazy high methane levels in the Air-1 a few times, but it looks like Apollo engineers are aware of the issue.
Great video! I have always looked for sensors in my house but there are so many that it overwhelms me hahaha the last thing I got and now I am a big fan is my Vionentus VN100 wallet
Yes, bro, the same thing happens to me, there are so many models that I get confused. But I would like to know about what you mention... does it have an airtag slot?
@@KrisH544_d Dudee, I'm in love with it. They are so elegant that when I take them out I feel like I'm in a movie from the 20s. It also has RFID technology to protect dataa
Great video, thank you! Radon sensors are very important if your area has radon. Radon has a tendency to spike out of nowhere, so it's a good idea to ventilate your basement when it happens. Also, if you have a radon mitigation system, a sensor is a must because the system may fail, and you will not notice that.
Dont fuck around with radon. If you live in a zone that has elevated radon I would strongly suggest the airthings sensor because it gives you a trend over time which is way more accurate for radon detection.
Ya, he glossed over RADON as if it was nothing. It is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Check if RADON is prevalent in your area then, if it is, everyone should have their home tested. You can't see it or smell it.
Very important subject. AirGradient, Airthings, Apollo, and Aranet - and perhaps others on this list - use a nondispersive infrared (NDIR) sensor. NDIR is the gold standard, and I really think it should be an explicit table dimension. All sensors are not equal. And watch out, some manufacturers claim NDIR sensors but don't actually use them! I personally have ecobee Premiums, and an Aranet4 on my desk, and an Airthings View Plus (currently) in my basement. The ecobee sensors are mid, but it's something. The simple and portable Aranet4 surged in popularity during the pandemic after it became clear that CO2 levels are a great proxy for general air stagnation, and thus airborne risk.
@@ApolloAutomation We should probably clarify that the SCD40 uses photo acoustic NDIR versus most other NDIR CO2 sensors use light spectroscopy. We tested both methods some time ago and wrote on our blog about it. Indoors (and within typical temperature and humidity levels) the two methods perform very similarly. So in normal conditions, the Apollo monitor should give similar results, however more extensive tests e.g. measuring CO2 outdoors showed that light NDIR is more accurate. The best ones are probably made by SenseAir which we use in the AirGradient and also used in the Aranet (not sure about the other brands). (Achim from AirGradient)
If anyone buys a sensor that makes claims for VOCs or CO2, a quick test is to open a carbonated beverage near the sensor. A CO2 sensor should respond instantly. For VOC, open a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and the sensor should respond. Some cheap sensors claim they detect VOCs when they really only detect CO2.
Radon does vary quite a bit over the course of the year. Having that information could be particularly useful if you have a system that removes it and has the potential to fail, or if you plan on adding a system soon so you have before and after Data to compare.
Very nicely timed. Recently got the Airthings sensor after we had a mold issue that caused my wife asthma issues. Found out our CO2 is terrible, explaining headaches at home
Radon detection is key if you’re in an area with lots of rocks, especially ledge near the surface. It can cause lung cancer and it can be treated with a mitigation system (essentially a pipe and fan that pull radon and other gases from under your house and release them safely above it) so make sure you use a radon detector!
Yeah! I have two Air-1's one with gas sensor - they're awesome! Air-1 is not as user friendly as other sensors in this review (no screen), but it's more affordable, smaller and has better sensor (10 yrs life)
@@jeffkirk4761 I’m using a few Qingping Air Monitor Lites into HA, as well as some Awair. I have a few Mila air filters that have great sensors built in too.
I bought my Dad a NetAtmo device it had one sensor outside one inside. One Christmas there were eight people in a 15'x15' living room of a small bungalow. No HVAC in the house, all windows closed because it's winter in Canada. I felt lethargic, and everyone else seemed a bit tired. I checked and the CO2 was at about 2,000ppm! I opened a window -10C or not it had to be done. Myself and everyone else immediately felt better it's amazing how instant of an effect it is.
Since I have mostly an Amazon smart home, I use the Amazon smart home air quality monitor. It's able to measure air quality inside you mentioned, and it has the ability to run routines in the alexa. Great for those who might not be home assistant users. Usually, I use a fan routine and announce on my echo speakers.
The video says at 9:43 that the IKEA VINDSTYRKA's VOC measurement doesn't show up in Home Assistant. It does if you're using Zigbee2MQTT. I know that it didn't used to with ZHA, don't know if that's still the case though (I use Z2M, not ZHA).
Standalone air filtration units with HEPA filters and (crucially) active carbon filters can scrub VOC's. Obviously the HEPA filter scrubs particles. Also, Vindstyrka means wind strength directly translated, so Windspeed, in case you were dying to know.
I recently built a CO2 sensor for my home office using an scd40 and esp32 as i was getting headaches and losing concentration. It turns on the fan and I can see the data on a home assistant tablet at my desk, and now i see your video doing exactly the same thing with ready made products
As usual, great comparison! I just got the air gradient a couple of weeks back and loving it. Rich insights with data about what we can’t see in the air! Only issue with air gradient so far is that the leds and display won’t turn off at night and that becomes an issue as they are way too bright. They do have an option to turn them of on their cloud portal but doesn’t seem to work at the moment. I’ve raised a ticket with them a few days ago but no response. Their equipment is great quality but as any new product, still minor teething issues here and there!
Ok, problem solved in 6 days! Great support! According to the support person, when you enabled the Home Assistant integration, it changes one of the configuration parameters on the device to only accept configuration commands locallay (i.e. not from the cloud). a simple http put command (curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{\"configurationControl\":\"both\"}" airgradient_xxxxxxxxx.local/config (replacing xxxxx with your monitor's serial number) via terminal fixes it straighta away.
Thanks for the great video Reed. Another video that will end up having me spend money on the smart home . . . . which is inversely related to the magic in the bedroom 🤣
Reed, time to get some plants for your office. You can for sure cut down the number of events you have pretty easily and then you can review various watering and water monitoring sensors for us. Win win.
We’ve had CO2 sensors in the home for a long time, and another outdoors. We use an automation that forceably kicks on the home ventilator (and hvac fan) if any room tops 1000ppm, then runs for an hour. Really has helped. The outdoor sensor prevents the ventilator from running when the outdoor air is bad. Another automation runs the house fan to clean the air if the PM2.5 gets too high and warns it not go outside.
An important and well-researched video, thank you @smarthomesolver. Inspired by your effort, I bought an Ecowitt WH46 air quality sensor and integrated it with my Hubitat network. I have already learned that I need to open the window more often in my work-from-home office, based on CO2 levels.
Radon happens any place you've moved earth to build. It's more prevalent in places with basements. It is a radio active gas as I understand it. Living in a house for ~30 years with a reading of 4.0 or higher is the equivalent to 100 extra chest x-rays (or so I've been told)
Ecobee doesn't measure CO2, it approximates it (you can look it up in their docs). And in my experience, it does this poorly. Get yourself an Apollo Air1. Huge miss that it wasn't even reviewed in this video as it's way better than any of the others mentioned.
Thank you for this video! I use the Netatmo weather station (indoor and outdoor) and lately it's been reading very high on the CO2. I've been looking for something to act as a sanity check and help me determine if the unit is bad or if all of a sudden over the past few months, our house (guests included) have been putting off more CO2. The problem is, so many of these devices are very expensive just to validate if something is broken. On the other hand, it may be a worthy investment. I do really enjoy your videos and content, please continue.
Thanks for your comment! Our outlet mounts were created based on community feedback as a way to mount your sensor without needing a cable. Our outlet mount and 90-degree adapter allow you to plug the sensor directly into a wall wart or receptacle. We're happy to answer any questions! Best, Justin Apollo Automation
I have the AirGradient, the Apollo AIR-1, and the ecobee. The ecobee is always way off and (after a call to their support verified) simply provides estimated values. I actually purchased the other sensor because the ecobee numbers raised so many concerns. A big concern in our area is radon and only the Airthings monitors those values AFAIK.
Achim from AirGradient here. Thank you for your support! The Ecobee does not measure CO2 directly but estimates it from its VOC sensor. This is highly inaccurate and not recommended at all. This is why it's important to use an NDIR CO2 sensor that measures the CO2 molecules directly.
I've been using the Awaire Element. It works immediately with Home Assistant without special drivers. Seems pricey, but since it was used for a while in some crypto computing thing, tons of people have been selling them used on eBay for $99 or less. Sensors are commercial quality rather than consumer/basic level.
The devices you mentioned measure for co2, but the drowsiness that kills your productivity is not caused by the high level of co2, it is the low level of o2. The human body converts oxigen to carbondioxide.
In a video about air quality, i don't see any plants in the house! Might be a solution to your problem thats a lot easier than running fans and automations.
An even more over-the-top and more expensive sensor is the 'air-Q pro'. I bought one, loved it, and bought 3 more. It works great and has native integration with Home Assistant. You can see the output of those sensors in this shot from another Smart Home Solver's video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EBT1mnLMPmI.html (The charts were created using the mini-graph-card) The Air-Q Pro can detect: - Oxygen - O2 - Carbon Dioxide - CO2 - Carbon Monoxide - CO - Particulate Matter - PM1 + PM2.5 + PM10 - Nitrogen Dioxide - NO2 - Hydrogen Sulfide - H2S - Ozone - O3 - VOC - Temperature - T - Relative Humidity - ρrel - Air Pressure - p - Noise - Lp (averages over 20 minutes)
Great video. A lot of useful sensors I also do not expect thay I needed. Btw In your intro, the solutions for your productive problem is add natural light in your room. decent amount of Sunlight during work room add more productivity and energy. That’s why Apple Park HQ want office to have the most natural light as possible. Hope this help.
Pretty cool, have you seen any that can detect natural gas? In my area we use natural gas for our house heating up in the attic. We also get a lot of lightning storms. There are always a couple of houses every year that get the unfortunately combo of a gas leak and lightning strike that makes their house catch fire. There are even more that just have a slow leak that fills the attic with gas requiring the fire department to rush out. Having something up there that could sense it and warn you would be really awesome.
Dude I’ve been telling people this for years!! My friends and work colleagues just shrug it off and think I’m special. 😂 Then when I show them my Airthings data from BEFORE & AFTER my ERV install they know I’m Telling the truth!! Also, I automated my ERV with one of those Aqara Relays and it worked perfectly! 😁
Nice chart! I wish there were more options in terms of Radon sensors. It's very prevalent where I live in Oregon. Samsung has ERVs as well but I think it's either exclusive to other countries or just not advertised here.
Interesting video. Would love to see a follow up video about air purifiers that have these sensors already built in AND are usable in Home Assistant (hopefully locally).
Having an AirThings radon detector and monitoring it for the past 2 years, I can say it is not true that Radon is just there or is not. I see tremendous variations based on whether my air exchanger is running or not. If it is not running for a while, radon spikes. If it is running, radon remains to a safe level. I automate my air exchanger based on Radon, CO2 and VOC levels.
In Germany: yes. In the rest of the world, HVAC (optionally with heat exchange) is getting more and more common. I adjust the speed of my HVAC to keep the air quality within acceptabel levels while not sucking out too much hot air in the winter (or cool air in the summer)
I have ERV ventilation at home and since many years I made an automation with HA: the level of CO2 are monitored in each room and thr level is kept constant
Overhere in Europe they want to isolate houses to the max, so they can heat them electrically and not with gas. This implicates having little ventilation. So Insel a huge market for air quality sensors and automation in the future here
@smarthomesolver , I have the govee air quality monitor and it’s linked to my govee air purifier, I have it set whenever pm2.5 reaches x amount it turns on high speed until the air quality is set to the range I set , I have 4 of these in my home one is in the dining room area so whenever I cook/fry it goes on the highest speed until the air quality is ok .
It is cheap. US$40 on the web page but it would be good to have CO2 as well. Are you using Home Assistant? Does it connect using Bluetooth or do you need Wi-Fi? TIA
My Dyson air purifier has taught me how bad the air can be, has the PM sensor etc. When you cook smoky stuff you can just see those numbers go through the roof. I was at a house the other day and they had some sort of whole house fresh air exchanger thing in the basement, that might be the way to go.
Agreed, and I don't think people should be ignorant of it in an area that has high radon levels. I'm from Iowa, and we're evidently one of the states with the highest radon levels. I invested in an Airthings Wave Plus so that I at least know what I'm being exposed to in the long term. It's not even crazy expensive for that model since it is bluetooth-only. That's not a downside to me since it means it can integrate locally with Home Assistant (no cloud dependencies).
Yep, for those who don't know, Radon is an invisible odourless gas which is produced when some rocks break down over time, so it depends on the geology under your house as to whether it's an issue for you. It's emitted from underground, and outside it just dissipates harmlessly into the air, but it can come through the floor-slab of buildings, and it's carcinogenic, so if high levels of radon build up inside your house (or office), occupants can develop lung cancer over time. I live in Ireland, where the geology of most of the country means it's an issue (two people a week die of radon-caused lung cancer in a population of 5 million). New houses have to have a radon barrier in the floor slab by law, but older houses like ours don't have one. Our original test readings, using the Airthings Radon sensor, were nearly 400 Bq per M3 (over 100 means you should take mitigation measures) so, during a remodel, we installed MHRV (Mechanic Heat-Recovery Ventilation) which changes the air every few hours, but uses a heat exchanger to recover the heat (or coolness) of the exiting air to heat (or cool) the fresh, incoming air. Our radon readings now range from 20-80 Bq/M3 (depending on the season, more radon is produced in wintertime). MHRV also keeps internally-produced CO2, VOC and PM levels low.
No but want one that dector of mold and cigarette. I live in an apartment With people who smoke and it comes in through the windows. Also bad neighbor smells Any ideas?
Achim from AirGradient here. We currently do not charge anybody. Wven after the free period or 1 or two years they have unlimited access. We might charge in future a very low amount for premium features but will always keep a comprehensive free tier. We are also open source and it is easy to send our data to any other platforms like Home Assistant and not use our cloud at all. So you are not locked-in into our platform at all.
One of my colleagues brought in a CO2 sensor to work and discovered we had high levels. The company spent 350k and a whole lot of time and disruption during new air con systems and two months after the work was complete we were sent home due to the pandemic. When we came back that building wasn't reopened as we are now only 2 days a week and it's now been demolished!
“Having sensors to prevent me from doing something dumb will help me improve my life.” Ummm wondering if there’s a sensor to prevent me from saying the wrong things at the wrong time to my wife… Reed?
You could tape a (door & window) contact sensor to your mouth and have an automation play "I agree with you, dear" on your closest media player any time your mouth opens. That could probably help!
Everything Presence One and Lite now have a CO2 module add-on, working great in my office, and it is amazing how much it goes up just from me talking, I knew I was full of hot air but now I have a sensor to prove it!
Great question and that was an awesome video! I cannot speak for the other sensors but our Apollo Automation devices are all fully supported in HA/Made For ESPHome, local and open-source. They do not require an internet connection or monthly subscription to work. Let us know if you have any questions! Best, Justin Apollo Automation
Reed, I very much disagree with the assessment on the radon detector. Radon exposure is linked to 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year. And while, yes your location is either at risk for radon issues or isn’t, very often that risk is only present during certain situations- like when running an exhaust fan to deal with these other issues. Creating a negative pressure in your house can cause the radon to seep in from the foundation. If you have a basement and don’t have a radon mitigation system installed already, you really should have a persistent radon test to make sure you aren’t going to give you or your family members lung cancer.
Nice job, sleepy head!! I see you already got the Apollo Air-1 input. Will be interesting to see a detailed comparison with the Airlytric ES1 (sold out). Same ESPHome controller with many of the same functions. But interesting to see what sensors are used on the Airlytric. Airlytric is out of the UK and Apollo out of Kentucky, US. Both couple of people startups.Wish them both success. The price you show on the Aranet 4 is incorrect. It should be $168. Actually, Inkbird, a more familiar brand, has an almost identical unit for $150 (the price the Aranet 4 was originally!!)
In your intro, the solutions for your productive problem is add natural light in your room. decent amount of Sunlight during work room add more productivity and energy. That’s why Apple Park HQ want office to have the most natural light as possible. Hope this help.
Enjoying the awair that integrates well into HA. They are a little bit more expensive on the website but have frequent sales with around 40% off. I have the Amazon ones as well and would not recommend it. The Amazon dashboard is horrible. Sensor though is good. Software terrible. I use them to monitor my HVAC equipment since it has a CO sensor.
It is a radar target tracking card for the LD2450 that was made by the community. I cannot post any links or the comment will be removed. Sorry! Best, Justin Apollo Automation
@@Bremend that's fair, but I have no interface other than alexa and the LED light on the front. As an Alexa fan for many years, it's sad to see how bad the overall ecosystem has gotten
@@DannerBanks I'm able to see the measurements from the Amazon AIQ sensor in both the Amazon app as well as Home Assistant with the Alexa Media Player HACS integration. It would be nicer if it had a small display though.
@@DannerBanksI use Alexa for the convenience and I have echos all over. But she is stupid... I ask her to turn on the same darn lights everyday and she gets it wrong 20-30% of the time 😂
