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As a Los Angeles resident, I’m experiencing firsthand the impact that the historic California wildfires are currently having on our air quality. However, you don’t have to be in the middle of an extreme climate event to want to monitor the cleanliness of the oxygen inside your home. Luckily, this affordableAmazon device can help — and even better, it’s on sale right now for 29% off.
This is the newest model of Amazon’s smart air quality monitor, a petite gadget that many reviewers claim has offered “eye-opening insights” into the air they breathe every day inside their homes. (The Environmental Protection Agency’s website has a helpful guide to the capabilities of low-cost air pollution monitors like this one.)
It works by tracking and measuring five key air quality factors like allergens, harmful chemicals, carbon monoxide, temperature and humidity levels that are potentially responsible for mold production. Based on some of our previous reporting, these concerning factors can be caused by common household appliances like gas stoves, which may result in nitrogen dioxide exposure.
The monitor will reflect real-time air readings using a color-coded LED display on its face, while also sending you notifications and in-depth information to the free app on your phone. Amazon promises that air quality scores are simple to read and understand, so you can immediately address what factors in your home are causing compromised air quality.
If you’re hoping for a more automized system that will do all the thinking for you, then you’re also in luck — the Amazon air monitor seamlessly connects with Alexa-compatible devices such as air purifiers, fans and home thermostats. A good example is a HuffPost-favorite Levoit air purifier, which offers a three-stage HEPA filtration system to remove at least 99.97% of dust, pollen, and any airborne particles in the air.
Using the smart app or voice commands, you can have full control over the air monitor and coupled appliances by setting timers, scheduling run times based on air quality readings and more.
Feel free to take a gander at some promising reviews from people who made this air quality investment down below. (I for one will not be waiting a moment longer to scoop this up while it’s currently discounted.)
Promising Amazon reviews:
“I bought this monitor as a quick way to check on paint fumes after I painted our living room. It was easy to set up and worked as expected, showing elevated VOC levels when I stopped ventilation and clearing out when I started it again. Worked well for my needs! Kinda weird to only give relative values on a scale to 100, but it was less annoying than I expected.
After the paint project was done and the VOC levels were back to normal, I was surprised at how many other things triggered the VOC sensor, like gas cooking. It made me look into the health concerns with gas and start using the stove vent hood every time, so I guess that’s good!” — masonhm“I have a home gym setup in my garage and I noticed there were some mildew/mold growing over the wet winters in PNW last year. I have serious doubts about the air that I breathe in during my intense cardio workout sessions. I setup this nifty air quality monitor to detect high moisture in the air to turn on exhaust fans automatically to reduce moisture build up, and now my garage is constantly below 60% relative humidity, preventing mildew/mold growth. In addition, I also hooked up an air purifier to turn on automatically when it detects poor air quality. Now I workout confidently knowing that the air I breathe is fresh!
One thing that I wish it has is CO2 so that I can recycle air during my work out, but I just tell Alexa to start my workout routine and that turns on the air purifier too – would be nice if this is automated tho! Overall, 5 stars!” — Charles Lin“I ended up getting two of these; one for each room in my apartment. Super useful in tracking humidity, particles, etc. You can then set up triggers to turn on things like air filters and A/C’s if you have them hooked up to smart plugs and controllers, or just send a notification to your phone. Handy to know when things are starting to get icky so you can try to deal with them before your allergies or asthma let you know instead. I tend to have problems with humidity messing stuff up in my apartment, so it’s good to be able to monitor temperature and humidity when I’m away and have A/C’s come on as needed. For an inexpensive device, it has more uses than I anticipated.” — uebergeek
“Such a great investment in your health. love these! I have them in each bedroom to allow me to keep an eye on the air quality. We all have asthma so it was important for me to watch the quality. It tracks humidity which is helpful for my daughter’s room; it also tracks VOCs. I know it is accurate because my wife went a little crazy with hair spray in our bedroom a few nights ago and this thing immediately showed the massive volume of VOCs in the air. Although not all VOCs are harmful, it’s great to know and also be able to see trends.” — Christopher Hutchins