AirThings, a Norweigan tech company, is educating and helping homeowners monitor their indoor air
quality and radon levels with their range of sensors. They recently sent me a Wave
Plus monitor to review. It costs $230 on their website but you can sometimes find it for $197
on Amazon. I’ll link it in the description. It’s a sleek white disc, 12cm or 4 ¾ in diameter. It
weighs 219 grams or 0.5 pound and it runs on 2 AA batteries that can power the device for a year.
Set up is very simple. Download the AirThings app, create an account and log in, turn on your device
and connect it to your phone via bluetooth. When you wave your hand over the Wave Plus a
colored ring illuminates in green, yellow or red to give you an indicator of air quality.
The mobile app provides more details about the readings on each sensor. You can view the
same data on your desktop through the Airthings dashboard. The Wave Plus has 6 trackers for Radon,
VOC, CO2, Humidity, Temperature, and Pressure. Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas
that is the main cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Uranium 238 in the Earth naturally
decays into radium 226 and then radon 222 gas which can enter our homes through the foundation.
This emits a radioactive alpha particle composed of two protons and two neutrons.
When an alpha particle hits our DNA it can damage a cell’s blueprint. These broken cells replicate
themselves to form a cancerous tumor. The Wave Plus uses "alpha spectrometry"
to measure the level of radon. It was designed by their CERN scientists, the European Organization
for Nuclear Research. The sensor consists of a passive diffusion chamber that air flows
into. A photodiode counts the amount of radon particles in the air sample. Radon is not an
instant measurement, but an average value over a long period of time because the amount of
alpha particles can vary dramatically. The longer the measurement, the more data points, the more
accurate the readings become. You must measure it for at least 30 days in a single location.
If your levels are more than 4 pCi/L for more than 30 days,
contact a professional radon mitigator. Readings between 2.7 and 4 pCi/L for more than 3 months
need to be addressed. Readings less than 2.7 pCi/L are safe. The readings in my office
are consistently less than 0.4 pCi/L. I made a video on radon mitigation systems a while back,
I’ll link it up here. The easiest way to reduce high radon levels is to open a window and increase
ventilation in a room. Airthings believes that their sensors are more accurate and reliable
than charcoal tests that you can buy off Amazon because they are prone to human error and don’t
measure readings over a long period of time. Wave Plus also measures TVOCs or Total Volatile
organic compounds. Not all VOCs are bad, many naturally occurring ones are non-toxic.
However, harmful VOCs can cause short term effects like headaches, nose, throat and eye inflammation,
coughing and pneumonia. In the long run, it can affect the central nervous system, liver, spleen,
blood and reproductive system. It can also cause cardiovascular diseases, asthma and cancer. VOCs
can be emitted from candles, fragrances, cooking fumes, new furniture, cleaning products, glue,
children’s toys and paints. It can’t detect a natural gas leak,
but it will show a spike in VOC levels. It also detects formaldehyde in its total VOC reading.
Airthings uses a metal-oxide based sensor with a sensitive layer that reacts to chemicals by
adsorption. The sensor reacts to most VOCs, but can't differentiate between good and bad
VOCs and the different types. The sensor also adapts to the environment over time. Levels
over 2000 ppb are dangerously high, 250 to 2000 is moderate, while 0-250 is acceptable. The readings
in my office are usually under 100 ppb, unless I burn a candle for a long period of time. Then,
the levels spike to 200ppb. The easiest way to reduce VOC levels is to ventilate your space.
Next, the Wave Plus measures carbon dioxide or CO2 levels.
In small quantities it is natural and harmless, but as levels rise, it can affect productivity and
sleep. It can lead to restlessness, drowsiness, increased heart rate and blood pressure, nausea,
sweating and headaches. Carbon dioxide is mainly produced by the air we exhale.
Airthings uses NDIR or non dispersive infrared sensors to measure CO2 levels. It collects a
sample of air in a chamber, shines a light, and measures how much light has passed through
excluding the CO2 molecules. CO2 levels over 2000 ppm need to be addressed immediately
through ventilation, 1000-2000 ppm are moderate, while the ideal levels indoors are under 1000ppm.
My new house has serious issues with ventilation. I don’t have ceiling fans to move air,
the old windows don’t open, and the old HVAC unit doesn't move enough air in the house.
The CO2 levels in my office spike every morning and afternoon when I’m working.
The Wave Plus also measures Humidity levels which is the amount of water vapor present in the air.
Relative humidity of 100% means that the air is saturated and can’t hold any more water vapor.
High humidity creates excess moisture and condensation
and leads to mold and rot, asthma, allergies and dust mites.
Low humidity can cause dry skin and eczema, lower educational performance, and the spread
of viruses. The Wave Plus probably measures humidity with an optical hygrometer.
Humidity levels over 70% and less than 25% is poor, 60-70% and 25-30% is fair,
while 30-60% is ideal. The Wave Plus says that the humidity levels in my home are always around
50%, the same number reported on my Trane sensor. However, since my bathrooms don’t
have an exhaust or operable windows, the humidity levels in there always spike after a shower.
Temperature levels are also measured. 68-74 degrees fahrenheit or 18-24 degrees Celsius is
considered to be safe. Higher temperatures can affect cognitive abilities,
while low temperatures can lead to respiratory disease. The temperature in my office spikes to
78 during the day even though the thermostat is set to 76. This is an indication that
my old HVAC system is underperforming and unable to cool all the spaces evenly.
Finally, the device measures air pressure, which should ideally be around the same as the outdoor
atmospheric pressure, 1013.25 mbar. Positive air pressure means that air gets pushed into walls
and insulation. It can lead to doors slamming shut, whistling, and random drafts of air. CLIP.
Negative air pressure causes outdoor air to rush in and balance out the pressure differences. In
winter, this draws cold air in and increases heating costs. The air
in your home becomes dry and can cause nose bleeds, chapped lips and static.
In summer, negative air pressure draws hot air in and increases cooling costs. It can lead to
condensation, mold and mildew. The pressure in my office is consistently around 995 mbar.
The Wave Plus monitor can be accessed through a mobile app, dashboard, Alexa, Google Assistant,
and, this is new to me, IFTTT which stands for If this then that. After downloading the IFTTT app,
create an account and then create your own applet. Choose airthings as a service,
then select a trigger: you can be notified if humidity falls below a certain threshold,
or if radon, CO2, or temperature, or mold level are too high.
Finally, choose a service, you can tweet this notification, or send yourself an email.
I’m very impressed with the WavePlus. Setting up the app and pairing it was very easy and I didn’t
have any connectivity issues. I love the fact that you can just move this from one room to another,
just make sure that you monitor each room for at least a month to get accurate results.
I get that they were trying to be discreet with the design, but I wish it was a little
sexier. It looks very similar to a carbon monoxide monitor. I think its price is justified because
of all its features and the peace of mind it offers. It also has an 8-10 year lifespan,
like a smoke detector. It really should become a standard in every home, especially since the
industry is moving towards airtight homes. I haven’t tested similar products, so if you
have a recommendation, leave me a comment below. I’ll link my Patreon page in the description.
If you can support me, I’d really appreciate it. A big thank you to everyone already supporting me.
Dont’ forget to hit the like button and subscribe to my channel. Thanks for watching. See ya.