Case in point: 9in1 Air Quality Monitor (ZN-2C09)
Dangerous snake oil.
EDIT: Doh. I see you have already commented there.
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From where you get $7 NDIR sensors??
So, is it MiCS-4514, which is supported in esphome the “right one”? It’s pretty expensive (40USD on dfrobot)… i’m planning on buying it, i’m especially interested in CO measuring, but other data will be welcome, too.
No. Don’t waste your money. https://www.reddit.com/r/Esphome/comments/168fi6k/anyone_successfully_using_the_mics_4514_gas_sensor/
Hm… thanks for that. Thant’s interesting… it “should” be supported… it’s a year old, so it’s unknown if guy managed to run it or not…
I guess a bit more searching will be needed, to see if anyone has successfully got it running.
The point is that ESPHome is pretty limited in CO measuring support. There are quite a few CO2 sensors, but not many CO. Now i have MQ7, but supposely it’s “a very bad sensor”…
I need one because my workshop is in the same room as central heating stove (pellets) so i guess it’s a good idea to monitor CO…
EDIT: i found THIS on github, it seems that issue is still not resolved… so, i guess i’m stuck with MQ7…
Get a genuine, off the shelf CO monitor. If you want to go fancy, there are some linked detectors which have z-wave interfaces
The last thing you want for safety-of-life is to have a DIY solution fail you. Any Home Assistant monitoring should be auxiliary to the primary alarm
The MICS 4514 seems to be intended as an exhaust gas analyser. It’s far too insensitive to be useful in general purpose air quality monitoring applications
Edit: The manufacturer datasheet says “The MiCS-4514 is a robust MEMS sensor for the detection of pollution from automobile exhausts”
This is the kind of device you stick up a tailpipe or hang on the wall of an automotive workshop whene engines are being regularly tested
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Addendum for the CO questions: Fireangel fire/CO/heat alarm network bridge integration
Note the problerms with the vendor gateway and general discussion
Thanks, that makes sense…
So the next question is to find a quality ready-made CO sensor which can be connected to HA…
I use the netatmo indoor air quality device for measuring CO2: Smart Indoor Air Quality Monitor.
Not cheap, but gives you also temperature, humidity and sound level.
Uses IR for measuring CO2:
https://helpcenter.netatmo.com/hc/en-us/articles/17050796221714-CO-Sensor
Integrates easily with HA.
Thanks, but these are all CO2 sensors. I’d like CO sensor (monoxide, without ‘2’)… the killer in wooden stoves is CO, not CO2.
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One option could be quality made CO alarm wired to esp32.
Sure, that was my first intention anyway, but, as explained above, not all sensors are good for CO measurement. MQ7 is supposely very bad, while MiCS4514 doesn’t work on esphome… with these two i think we’re pretty much at the end of CO sensors support in esphome.
EDIT: oh, do you mean ready-made sensor’s output connected to esp? Well, with that i’d only get alarm, not CO levels…
What I mean, CO alarm/detector, not a sensor. Just an idea that “approved” detectors are more easily available than quality sensors.
I might be wrong as well…
I’ve just dismantled a FireAngel CO-9D (it was EOL) - This unit has a PPM display, as does its replacement.
These things have a PIC19F614 inside - and more importantly a set of pogo contacts on one end of the board. It may be possible to fit a Beken or esp32 module to obtain what you need - importantly, these things are factory calibrated
Fire Angel CO-9D Carbon Monoxide Detector Teardown – Experimental Engineering has a teardown, so I won’t repeat what’s there
Ei’s RadioLink+ systems have data extraction capablities but like Fireangel’s WiSafe need their own gateway (it would be nice if these companies adopted Matter)
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Worth checking, sure. At the end, CO level is not as important as alarm trigger when dangerous level is achieved. For that matter i could choose any decent CO detector and use it’s output…
Better reliable alarm than unreliable level readings.
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True, and, at the end i guess i’d never look at levels anyway (except at the beginning…)
I know what you mean…
This appears to be suitable for those who want a real CO detector
aliexpress.com/item/1005006255453561.html - right now it’s on promotion for less than $6 so I ordered one to test out
Did this work?