What can an air purifier do?
House dust, bacteria, viruses, mold spores and pollen are things that should only be present in our ambient air in very small quantities. This is exactly what air purifiers are for. The devices filter the room air, remove pollutants and thus ensure clean air. Used correctly, air purifiers can alleviate the effects of dust or animal hair allergies and help with hay fever, for example. Sensors are integrated so that the devices can detect poor air quality and start cleaning the air. These react to particulates (PM₁ - PM₁₀) and volatile organic compounds VOCs.
What does an air meter do?
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, we attached great importance to fresh indoor air. Every child knew that you should open the window in the classroom during breaks to let out the stale air. First and foremost, indoor air measuring devices are there to check the indoor air for pollutants in places where people spend long periods of time.
Indoor air measuring devices can do more than particulates and VOCs: they provide information on many other air components such as temperature, humidity and pollutants in a room. All these factors are important for the so-called "feel-good climate" of a room. However, this is not only important in public areas, but also in your own four walls.
Air Meters & Smart Home Systems
With the option of integrating air measuring devices into a smart home system, you can also ensure a healthy and innovative home. Some air measuring devices send their measured values to apps so that smart home systems such as Apple, Google and Amazon can use them. The devices can then be controlled via voice commands and linked to other smart home devices. For example, query measured values via voice control or let your air measuring device use the data for your smart window openers, humidifiers & air purifiers, fans or even for smart radiator thermostats and underfloor heating. If you combine all these technical options and provide the devices with a database thanks to the room air sensors, you can set up an automatic system to control your indoor climate.
The air-Q sends its measured values to its smart control center, the air-Q smartphone app. On your personal dashboard, you can see your health index, the performance index and receive information on the individual measured values: displayed in detailed and easy-to-understand diagrams. This makes it easy for you to keep track of the air quality in your rooms.
Note: If you do not connect your air measuring device to your smart home, you will still receive digital information about the air quality - on your smartphone or tablet.
An air purifier also has sensors to detect pollutants. Do I still need an air measuring device?
Our recommendation: Yes. The reason is obvious. Although smart air purifiers also offer automatic control, this is usually only based on a single sensor value: VOC. However, there are many more air pollutants. This is why air measuring devices such as the air-Q examine a large number of measured values. This gives you detailed information on the air components and allows you to control your air purifier much better. This is because you activate air purification not just with regard to one, but many air pollutants.
Measured values that the air-Q air measuring device can check:
- Oxygen (O₂)
- Ozone (O₃)
- Absolute humidity (φ) & relative humidity (ρ)
- Carbon monoxide (CO)
- Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)
- Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
- Sulphur dioxide (SO₂)
- Particulates (PM₁ - PM₁₀)
- Methane (CH₄)
- Formaldehyde (CH₂O) or (HCHO)
- Radon (Rn)
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
- Air pressure (p)
- Noise Maximum (Lp_max) & Noise (Lp)
- Hydrogen sulphide (H₂S)
- Hydrogen (H₂)
- Air temperature (T)
- Dew point (Td)
- Ammonia (NH₃)
If you combine an air purifier and air measuring device, you can react comprehensively to poor indoor air and improve the air quality more quickly. By optimally controlling the air purifier, you also reduce the usage time, which ideally leads to a longer filter service life.
(Contributed image: Shutterstock/ Papin Lab; Image: Shutterstock/ 220 Selfmade studio & Canva edit)
