What Does an Air Quality Monitor Do?
Rising pollution levels, fine particles in the air, toxic fumes from facilities, and more—how are you making sure the air you breathe is clean and not harmful?
Air quality monitors like SOLUM Roommate are truly becoming a necessity nowadays. If you live in a populous city, having a handy air quality monitor is even more important. This can help people be more cautious about air pollutants that greatly impact their health. So, what is it, and what does an air quality monitor do?
What is an air quality monitor?
An air quality monitor is a device that monitors the air quality in an indoor space or establishment. It monitors pollution levels in the air, detects any chemicals or toxins, and more. Air quality monitors can be commonly found or used in households, workplaces, businesses or establishments, manufacturing facilities, and more.
These devices can be used for personal reasons—to stay healthy and active and prevent any harm or accidents within households. It can also be used for business purposes, and to stay compliant with specific rules and regulations regarding air quality at sites, chemical plants, and more.
What does an air quality monitor do?
Once plugged in or activated, the air quality monitor identifies air pollutants and measures overall air quality in a room, space, or specific location. After collecting the necessary data, it can then send the information to handheld devices through an app or software.
Here are the things a good air quality monitor can do:
- Assess the quality of the air you breathe in a vicinity
- Detect any presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- Detect any presence of particulate matter (such as PM2.5, which are smaller particles that can get into the lungs or the blood, or PM10, which can irritate eyes, nose, and throat)
- Provide information about harmful substances in the surrounding environment
- Detect odorless and colorless gasses, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and ozone, to prevent any kind of poisoning
- Provide air quality index (AQI)
- Some air quality monitors also provide information about weather conditions
- Some air quality monitors can also detect moisture content
People can use this data to place preventive measures or perform immediate actions. These devices allow people, communities, businesses, and other professionals to protect their well-being and create a safe, habitable, and workable environment.
Why would you need an air quality monitor?
People need air quality monitors for a variety of reasons. Air quality monitoring has a lot of benefits itself. However, mostly it stems from the need to protect their health and the environment.
For instance, some people might need air quality monitors because of their vulnerable health. If they have asthma, specific allergies, or any of the chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), an air quality monitor would bring them great benefit. There are various diseases and health conditions that make it hard to breathe for children and adults. An air quality monitor can come to their aid.
Some people also get air quality monitors as a precaution. If they live in an area close to construction sites, chemical plants, industrial sites, factories, or more, monitoring air quality would be helpful. This is because these places are likely emitting fumes and chemicals that are harmful to humans. In Karachi, Pakistan, 18 people have reportedly died in the span of 16 days, allegedly due to toxic chemicals from factories in the area. Monitoring the air quality can help people stay vigilant and be aware of what’s going on in their community. A simple device like an air quality monitor can help families and communities stay safe.
Air quality monitors also allow workplaces to monitor their environment. Creating a safe workplace is absolutely essential to ensure employee safety and even productivity. There are also regulations or guidelines pertaining to managing air quality, which means an air quality monitor is necessary for some locations. Office buildings and indoor workplaces can be affected. Business owners, building managers, office managers, tenants, and more should be monitoring their indoor air quality.
How accurate are air quality monitors?
Ensuring that air quality monitors are accurate is important. If an air quality monitor doesn’t give accurate readings, it won’t be able to give valuable and life-saving insights regarding the air quality. So how accurate are air quality monitors?
Air quality monitors and their accuracy will depend largely on what kind of sensors they have. Most air quality monitors have a PM2.5 sensor, which can detect finer particles that can get into people’s lungs or blood. Air quality monitors should also have sensors for other particulate matter, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, temperature, and more. All of these sensors should work together to provide accurate and reliable insights regarding air quality.
Check the device’s specifications or official accuracy testing. It’s also best to check reviews and testimonials from others to help gauge if a particular air quality monitoring device is accurate.
Can air quality monitors detect mold?
Mold can cause serious indoor air quality problems. Repeated exposure or overexposure to mold can cause severe allergic reactions. It can irritate the eyes, nose, and skin. It can also pose a risk to people with compromised immune systems or vulnerable health conditions.
So can air quality monitors detect mold? The short answer is: yes, it can. Air quality monitors can act as mold detectors for households and establishments.
The long answer, however, is that even though these monitors can detect mold, they might not be able to tell users that they have mold specifically. This is because mold falls under the category of particulate matter or PM10, which are coarse particles like dust, dirt, soot, or pollen. This means that air quality monitors with PM10 sensors will be able to detect mold particles in the air. However, they will not be able to tell users that these specific particles are, in fact, mold.
What is the best air quality monitor for homes?
The best air quality monitor for homes should be equipped with suitable sensors, easy to use, portable, and efficient. An air quality monitor, like the SOLUM Roommate from SOLUM Group, is the ideal air quality monitoring device for households.
SOLUM Group has developed this smart air quality monitor to help people achieve cleaner air at home. With this device and its mobile app, air quality monitoring is easier, and indoor air quality can be managed and improved over time. Here are some features that make SOLUM Roommate the best smart air quality monitor for homes:
It measures potential pollutants and overall indoor air quality
SOLUM Roommate is equipped with the right sensors to measure or monitor potential pollutants. No matter what room or living space it is plugged in, this device will detect harmful airborne contaminants. It can also detect gas leaks and identify toxic gasses from food waste and other sources.
This will help assess the overall air quality indoors, and provide valuable insights for the people at home. Households can use this device to improve indoor air quality, stay observant, and ensure that the air they breathe is fresh and clean.
It has a 3-color LED indicator
SOLUM Roommate also has a 3-color LED indicator for easy air quality readings. Once plugged in, the LED indicator will change its color depending on the quality of the indoor air.
The device will turn Blue to indicate good air quality in a specific room. The LED indicator will turn Purple to indicate moderate air quality, and no immediate action needs to be taken yet. For poor air quality, the indicator will turn Red. And in the event that the air quality becomes extremely toxic for the occupants, the LED indicator will blink continuously in Red. At this point, people would need to evacuate and call the necessary authorities. The LED indicator will only stop blinking in Red once the level of air quality goes back to normal.
It has a motion detector
Built-in motion detection is an added bonus for SOLUM Roommate as well. This smart air quality monitor automatically triggers its LED light when it detects some sort of motion. This means that, apart from monitoring air quality, SOLUM Roommate is also a perfect solution for keeping hallways or bedside areas illuminated when needed.
It can assess air quality in different environments
SOLUM Roommate also works in different types of environments. It can monitor the air in living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and more. And since it’s a plug-in type of air quality monitor, it also makes a portable air monitoring solution. It can be plugged into outlets at the office, schools, restaurants, libraries, and more. This helps ensure that people breathe good air at home and in various establishments.
It provides information on temperature, humidity, and weather
This smart air quality monitor has sensors to keep track of the temperature, humidity, and weather conditions as well. Through the mobile application, users will be able to check temperature and humidity levels. They will also get data regarding the weather outside of their homes. These insights will help people get ready for their day outside.
It is energy-efficient
Being energy efficient is also a big advantage for air quality monitors for homes. SOLUM Roommate consumes little power only, at a rate of about 25 watts monthly. This means that households can easily integrate an air quality monitor device into their lives without it costing much. This is a cost-effective solution that will keep homes safe and habitable.
At the end of the day, an air quality monitor can do a lot for individuals, families, and businesses. It’s an essential device that can change health and indoor living. Start monitoring your indoor air now.
