The Six Best Indoor Air Quality Monitors for Your Home
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The quality of the air you breathe has a huge impact on your health : poor air quality is linked to a range of health problems and is thought to be responsible for millions of deaths worldwide each year. And it’s not just about physical health – there’s growing evidence that poor air quality can negatively impact your emotional and mental health.
While you may pay attention to reports of poor outdoor air quality on the evening news or in your Weather app, you should also pay attention to indoor air quality . After all, Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors, and indoor air quality can be many times worse than outside. If you want to protect yourself, monitoring your indoor air quality (IAQ) with a monitor is a good idea. Here are some of the best ones you can buy right now.
Best Simple Monitor
The SAF Aranet4 Home is a small, battery-powered air quality monitor that can be easily moved from room to room or taken on the go to monitor the air quality in hotel rooms and other spaces. Battery life is impressive (up to four years), and the app is simple and easy to use. The device monitors carbon dioxide ( CO2 ), temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure, but not particulate matter like dust. If you’re looking for a simple, portable monitor, this is a great choice.
Best suited for situations of information overload
If the amount of data that hits your head every day feels overwhelming, PurpleAir Zen is the perfect choice: This air quality monitor uses simple color coding to tell you how the air is at any given time. A soft green glow means everything is fine; yellow means it could be better; orange means people with sensitivities or health issues should exercise caution; and red, purple, and violet means the air is hazardous. It can be used indoors or outdoors to quickly determine whether the air you’re breathing is hazardous.
Best Budget Monitor
If you want to monitor your air quality but don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend, this stylish model from Ikea is a great choice. It monitors particulate matter levels in the air, as well as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), giving you a visual indication of how polluted the air around you is at any given moment. While it’s designed to connect to an Ikea smart hub (and can be paired with an Ikea air purifier for comprehensive air quality monitoring), it works just fine on its own.
Best All-round Monitor
The Airthings View Plus gives you a comprehensive view of your indoor air quality, measuring radon, particulate matter, CO₂ , volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as well as temperature, humidity, and air pressure. Radon monitoring is a great extra feature, as radon is virtually undetectable unless you’re specifically looking for it. There are some minor downsides: it requires an internet connection and an app on your phone or tablet to work, and the display is very small, so it can be difficult to see what’s going on from across the room (though you can always just look at the app).
Best Multifunctional Monitor
For a relatively low price of $150, the Qingping AQM packs a lot of punch. It measures particulate matter, CO2 , temperature and humidity, as well as noise levels, which are indirect indicators of air quality that most monitors ignore. It also shows the weather, so you don’t need a separate app or device for that, and it can even act as a clock and set alarms. If you want an air quality monitor but don’t want to clutter your home with unnecessary devices, this is the option for you.
Best Easy to Use Monitor
Most monitors require setup and calibration. If that’s intimidating, the Qingping Lite is your best bet: just plug it in and it’s up and running. It’s small and simple, and displays a color scale and some basic data. You can connect it to smart home platforms if you want, but it also works right out of the box. It’s under $100, so it’s a great starting point for indoor air quality monitoring.