Good indoor air is a basic requirement for good sleep. However, dry heating air, lack of air circulation and vapours from furniture, wallpaper and floors worsen the air quality in the bedroom. Indoor plants - especially succulent species - provide a remedy.
Houseplants improve air quality
The special advantage of succulents is their air-purifying effect and, of course, their low maintenance requirements. Some green representatives are particularly suitable for this. Their leaves absorb toxins, neutralise them in the cells and release purified oxygen back into the environment. Some plants can even absorb and convert pollutants such as benzene, carcinogenic formaldehyde or trichloroethylene. In addition to this air purification, houseplants offer other positive properties for the indoor climate: they increase the humidity and convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into oxygen as well as biomass.
For our practical tests our partner provided us with Feey - the online shop for houseplants provided us with three green houseplants: Dragon tree, arching hemp and green lily. We took a close look at the air fresheners in our air-Q Lab. Today we show you the test results for the dragon tree. You can find the results for the bow hemp here.
Why is the dragon tree particularly suitable as an indoor plant?
Like the other houseplants in our practical test, the dragon tree is an easy-care houseplant that likes it sunny, but also grows in partial shade or shade from 15° C upwards. The African dragon tree filters many pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene from the air.
The dragon tree houseplant in the air-Q Lab: Our test results
In our air-Q Lab, we placed the dragon tree together with the air measuring device in a box that was about 50 cm high, airtight but transparent. For sufficient light supply and so that the plant could also photosynthesise during the experiment, the box was given a place near a window. We looked at the development of the data over a period of about 24 hours, so that we could make statements about the air quality during the day as well as at night. During the entire time, the air-Q recorded the air components. We were then able to read the development in our web application. The following measured variables were examined:
At the start of the experiment, all measured values show a normal level. With the increasing sunlight in the morning, the temperature also rose constantly. In the afternoon, values of just under 22 degrees were measured in the box. After 3 pm, the temperature dropped and fluctuated between 20 and 21 degrees between nine in the evening and nine in the morning. The average temperature during the experiment was 20.05 degrees. Like the temperature, the absolute humidity in the box also increased in the morning of the practical test. Also around 3 p.m., the values reached a peak at the first maximum level of just under 18 mg/m³. Thus, the humidity increased by about 10 mg/m³ within six hours. In the early evening, the humidity value decreased somewhat, but increased again around midnight and reached the second peak at the end of the test with just under 19 mg/m³. During the test, the air-Q recorded an average absolute humidity of 17.67 mg/m³.
As in the test with the bow hemp, we also noticed a constant increase in the carbon dioxide concentration in the box in the test with the dragon tree. The measurement curve resembles an ascending line that almost triples from an initial value of about 600 ppm (parts per million) to a maximum value at the end of the experiment of about 1,700 ppm. We interpret the values as an indication that the plant produces oxygen very effectively and converts extremely little oxygen even at night.
In addition to humidity and carbon dioxide content, we also analysed the VOC concentration in the room air. At the start of the test, a concentration of 440 ppb was measured. These values halved within six hours and reached a low of about 290 ppb around 3 pm. By the evening, however, the values rose again significantly and almost reached the initial level again around midnight. By the end of the test at nine o'clock, the VOC concentration dropped again and almost reached the low of the previous day again at just under 310 ppb. From the results, a strong air-purifying effect of the dragon tree can be deduced.
In our video you can watch our experiment in fast forward.
Conclusion
Dragon tree influences the humidity in the room very strongly. In our test, the values increased by 125 percent. During the day, the VOC values also dropped significantly by 35 percent. So we can confirm that the indoor plant reduces pollutants in the room air very well. During the day, the CO2 values in the box dropped by 64 percent. This is an inference of increasing oxygen saturation in the box. Therefore, we can assume that the green plant produces oxygen very effectively as soon as it performs photosynthesis. With these values, the dragon tree is ideal for the bedroom. You will by no means compete with the plant for oxygen shares in the room air. Rather, the indoor plant contributes to good indoor air and supports healthy sleep. Dragon tree thus demonstrably provides better air quality and is therefore also excellently suited for your bedroom.
(Contributed image: Canva)
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