Air Quality Sensors that wont break the bank

[RockFlagEagle]

Hi All,

I’m in the market for some indoor air quality sensors for my house. After just briefly scanning the market this morning they looked to be much more expensive than I anticipated. I’m not necessarily looking for something that covers every single measureable statistic about the air soup-to-nuts. Just something that can give me a good idea of the quality of the air I am breathing in and may provide some indication as to when I should freshen things up. My preference would be zigbee but I’m open to any suggestions. Thank you

[Saoshen]

ikea vindstryka

[BambamNZ (David)]

Living on the edge making a recommendation as there are so many personal preferences and sometimes an irrational negative reaction to Tuya based devices… Nonetheless, I have 3 of these (WiFi models) for 18+ months, been rock solid.
Favour the power versions as the updates are near real-time

Tuya Zigbee / Wi-Fi Air Quality Sensor

[tom_l]

Those Tuya devices do not have real CO₂ sensors. They “derive” the value from the VOC sensor. In other words: complete bullshit. They also don’t have a particulate sensor, which is important for assessing air quality.

Tuya Wi-Fi Smart Air Box V2 Review

[dproffer (David Proffer)]

The reality is that canaries are not inexpensive … after all they are ‘all in’ on their mission

IMHO, 2nd to smoke and CO sensors, air quality sensors are a place to invest ‘your coin’, or you may well die at the same time or before the canary… look for companies that stand behind their product with science and reports.

good hunting!

[dproffer (David Proffer)]

Just wondering what this specification means from the Tuya device, WTF :
“In environmental parameters exceed bid automatically when the graffiti smart home air conditioning, new fan, humidifier, air purifier on household environment optimization.”

[tom_l]

I have a couple of Apollo Air-1 sensors with CO₂. Wifi not zigbee. Highly recommended. If you look at the individual part prices they are not making a lot of profit.

If you are into DIY you could make your own for a bit less using ESPHome (surprisingly easy).

Particle, VOC, temp and humidity sensor SEN55

CO2 Sensor S8 004-0-0053 or SCD-40

Temp & Humidity SHT41 (or just use the SEN55 temp and humidity)

Pick an ESP32 from the recommendations here: What's your favourite ESP32 board? (# Best, good, cheap, quality, reliable)

[edwin-2023]

Depends on the bank. You could take a look at https://ultimatesensor.nl/en/mini
They have more nice products https://smarthomeshop.io/en

[Mahko_Mahko]

@RockFlagEagle

I’m not necessarily looking for something that covers every single measureable statistic about the air soup-to-nuts.

Did you have some rough priorities on what you want to measure.

PM and CO2 are the main priorities for me. And temp/humidity.

Air quality is an area where price and quality of the underlying sensors do correlate a fair bit.

[Saoshen]

also not cheap but if you need/want co2, switchbot has some bluetooth sensors

[parautenbach (Pieter Rautenbach)]

@RockFlagEagle

Just something that can give me a good idea of the quality of the air I am breathing in and may provide some indication as to when I should freshen things up.

Air Quality sensors - CO2/CO - dangerous fakery

BE VERY CAREFUL when looking for a device which measures CO2 or CO DO NOT use any kind of air quality sensor as a substitute for a dedicated and certified carbon monoxide monitor. The consequences may be lethal Many “multi-in-1” air sensors are only useful as a way of indicating that a window should be opened/extractor fan switched on (eg: when the kitty litter box has just been used) If you do want to measure CO2, look for a device containing a NDIR sensor The problem: Many/most of the che…

Because:

@tom_l

Those Tuya devices do not have real CO2 sensors. They “derive” the value from the VOC sensor. In other words: complete bullshit. They also don’t have a particulate sensor, which is important for assessing air quality.

[Psh]

I have the Ikea Vindstyrka integrated into Home Assistant with the Conbee II. This allows me to pull all the data from the Vindstryka and display nicely in Home Assistant. See the attached print screen. I also have an Airthings Wave connected via bluetooth.

I am having one minor issue, on occasion Home Assistant looses contact with the Vindstyrka which requires a restart of Home Assistant. This is probably a user config error due to my inexperience with Home Assistant.

All the hardware the Vindsyrka and the Conbee II was less than $100