The Best Home Air Quality Monitor
Home air quality monitors are limited in their abilities—as well as their reliability—so if you’re concerned about the air quality inside your home, the first thing we suggest you do is measure what’s in the air outside, because outdoor conditions often determine indoor conditions. There’s no simpler way to do that than to use the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow mobile app , available free on iOS and Android . Searchable by zip code or place name, and presented on a map, AirNow’s air quality readings come from direct measurements by hundreds of monitors around the US, offering an air quality forecast in addition to real-time data.
The type of home-focused indoor air-monitoring devices we evaluated for this guide offer less information by comparison, as they typically measure only the local airborne particle levels and sometimes volatile organic compounds—gases like the vapors from paint, cleaners, and glue. They rarely measure carbon monoxide and radon, two potentially deadly gases. Many smoke detectors also detect carbon monoxide; see our guide to smoke alarms for more about them. The EPA has a guide to radon, including state-by-state resources for knowing whether your region is at risk and how to get your home tested. And whether you have measured proof or just a hunch that your indoor air quality is poor, there are simple, consistently effective ways to clear the air as much as possible: Run an air purifier or upgrade your HVAC filters to capture fine airborne particles, and open your windows on nice days to vent any volatile organic compounds.
For 2022, we have added a recommendation for a CO2 (carbon dioxide) monitor. Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder found that CO2 levels could be used as a proxy for coronavirus risk in crowded public indoor spaces because we exhale both CO2 and, if we’re sick, viruses in the same breath. And even absent the virus, both public spaces and homes can accumulate high levels of CO2 from everyday activities—not just breathing, but from using gas stoves and water heaters. We contacted a researcher to talk about using CO2 monitors for air quality measurements, and together we came up with a product recommendation, as well as some advice on how to interpret and react to its information when monitoring CO2 at home.
We recommend using the AirNow app as your first step because outdoor conditions usually cause any indoor air quality issues you may experience. Although AirNow isn’t the only app of its kind, we found in our research that many other air quality apps simply repackage the data that the EPA stations gather, often without adding much clarity, new information, or interface improvements. Compared with AirNow, some apps make it harder to pinpoint your location, whereas others use a less complete network of monitoring stations to gather the data. AirNow offers you the simplest way to get the info and interpret what it means. And—unlike other apps we tested—it doesn’t bombard you with ads the whole time.
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Also great
SAF Aranet 4
Reliable CO2 monitoring
The SAF Aranet 4 is one of the most accurate CO2 monitors available, and its measurements can act as an indicator of your indoor air quality.
Buying Options
$249
* from
Amazon
*At the time of publishing, the price was $250 .
The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in indoor spaces is usually higher than in natural outdoor air, and it can rise to levels that impair cognitive function. The main reasons are the combustion of natural gas and of simply exhaling CO2. If you’d like to know how much CO2 is in your home’s or office’s air, the Aranet 4 is our pick. Its measurements are easy to read onscreen, as are its alerts when the level is getting too high. Its app also sends alerts, works with both iOS and Android, and adds seven-day trend monitoring to help you identify patterns of high CO2. And, helping to offset the cost, the high-quality sensor should last for up to seven years.
Also great
Temtop M10 Air Quality Monitor
Simple and solid
This device sits on a desk or table and presents indoor air quality readings of particulates, but we’re concerned about its VOC measures and its long-term durability.
Buying Options
$90
* from
Amazon
*At the time of publishing, the price was $96 .
We understand that many people reading this guide really do want to take indoor measurements, and for that we suggest the Temtop M10 Air Quality Monitor—with caveats. A lot of the air quality monitors we’ve considered over more than two years of research for this guide have too many credible reports of faulty sensors and connectivity problems for us to strongly recommend them. The M10 is distinguished by its simplicity, though, with a bright display showing particulate measurements (that we confirmed to be accurate), a tiny size, and a lack of Wi-Fi connectivity (a good thing in this case). It’s also affordable enough for you to keep your expectations relatively low—and there’s good reason for you to approach it that way. As with other inexpensive air quality monitors, its VOC measurement is dubious, and some buyers have reported that their M10 arrived damaged or failed within a few weeks.
