Fight The Pollution: Here is How to Keep a Check on The Air Quality Inside Your Home

How do you keep a tab on something that you cannot see? Such as air. The general perception is that unless you can see smoke or smog, the air is clean. And that is a thought process quite prevalent when we talk about indoor air. We just do not realize how polluted the indoor air is, once the extremely polluted outdoor air streams in and mixes with the cocktail of pollutants indoors—dust, volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, pet dander, smoke from cooking and more. To see the unseen, there are air quality monitors that tell you exactly what the quality of air inside your home is. And that also gives you an idea of how effective your air purifiers might be, and whether there are some leaky windows and crevices that need to be patched up.

Here are three of the best air quality monitors that you can buy for your home, as we speak.

IQAir Air Visual

Around Rs 22,000

This is one detailed air quality monitor for your home which can not only tell you the detailed specifics of the present air quality but also allows you to plan for the day ahead. The IQAir Air Visual, on the device itself, lets you monitor the indoor air quality, including PM 2.5 and CO2 in the room it is kept in. You can then compare that data with the air quality outside, the information that the IQAir Air Visual pulls from the nearest air quality monitoring station. It uses artificial intelligence to also forecast the air quality and also tells you which outdoor activities may not be recommended at the time. The Air Visual uses laser to detect the air quality changes and also has an infrared gas sensor (NRID). You also get a companion AirVisual Air Quality Forecast app (free for Android and iOS) that has the air quality data from more than 100 countries and allows for live tracking of PM2.5, PM10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide.

Laser Egg 2+

Around Rs 12,995

This is another smart air quality monitor that really should find a place in your home. Not only can you monitor the air quality at a quick glance, but this is also smart. You can download the Kaiterra Global Air Quality app that accesses the data from more than 10,000 air quality monitoring stations globally and lets you compare the air outside your home and inside. You can even set notifications if the air inside your home passes a certain threshold. This is compatible with the Apple Home Kit platform, and you can even access it via the Home app on your iOS devices. And also works with the IFTTT standard.

Prana Air Pocket Air Quality Monitor

Around Rs 2,990

If simple and easy to use is what you need, nothing really gets simpler than the Prana Air Pocket Air Quality Monitor. This simply does the PM 2.5 detection and tells you when the air inside the room is good, moderate or bad. It is so compact, that you can pretty much carry this around anywhere you go. This has a battery that runs around 4 hours. We tested this with the other air quality monitors in the same room, and the readings were very similar. Simplicity does come with a few omissions though, such as the lack of a display brightness setting and extensive air quality monitoring.