Airthings 2930 Wave Plus Smart Radon CO2 and TVOCs Detector with Temperature
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| | RadonAn invisible, colourless, odourless, tasteless radioactive gas emitted from rocks and soil. As radon levels fluctuate daily and can accumulate indoors, the only way to ensure radon levels stay low is through long term radon testing. | Carbon DioxideAn exhaled gas impacting sleep, health, and productivity. Occupancy and daily activities can increase carbon dioxide indoors. Know when levels are high and adjust ventilation accordingly. | Volatile organic compoundsVOCs are chemicals found in everyday items including cleaning products, furniture and paint. Our Total VOC sensor alerts you to high levels of a long list of chemicals. |
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Humidity.Moisture promotes mould while dry air can lead to cold and flu. To get the best indoor humidity level for your home, use the temperature sensor in the Airthings Wave Plus and monitor daily. | TemperatureAffects sleep patterns, mood, comfort level and alertness. A temperature sensor is a necessity for every home. | PressureThe weight of the air can cause headaches, joint pain and fatigue. The barometric pressure of the atmosphere changes depending on elevation and weather patterns. | |
Complete air quality detectors for every home
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Be protected.Live and local pollen data right in your Airthings App. Track your pollen levels outdoors and optimize your air quality indoors. Know when to ventilate, purify your air or close your window to avoid asthma attacks, sneezing, runny nose, puffy eyes, sore throat, hay fever. | Breathe easy.Know your air is free of harmful chemicals (VOCs) found in everyday items. VOCs can cause serious health effects when you are exposed over both short and long periods of time. | Perfect balance.Make sure humidity levels do not rise too high or fall too low. The ideal level of humidity for a home in the UK is between 40% and 60%. Healthy humidity levels are key to prevent mould and the spread of infectious disease. |
| Dimensions: | 12.07 x 12.07 x 3.56 cm; 222 Grams |
| Model: | 2930 |
| Batteries Included: | 2 AA batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | Airthings |
| Origin: | Tunisia |
Overall I like the product which has provided a whole new level of awareness of the air quality in my home.
My favourite feature is the IFTTT integration. I’ve programmed Airthings to turn on my bathroom exhaust fan when the indoor CO2 reaches 900 ppm and to turn it off when it reaches 800 ppm. This works very well with my Lutron Casseta light switch. I’ve also tested this setup with a Philips hue smart plug and an inline fan and humidifier. Awesome smart home set up which allows you to automate your home to maintain ideal air quality.
However, there is room for improvement. I have 2 HEPA filters in my house to clean the air which has carbon filters in them. I find the carbon filters affect the TVOCS readings on the Airthings. Carbon filters are supposed to remove VOCs not added them. Not sure why the sensors react this way. I find a noticeable difference when I turn off the air filters than when I turn them back on.
Also, the price is ridiculous, especially when you start buying multiple units and the wifi hub. I would prefer to have a desk monitor to read the indoor air levels at a glance than always having to check my phone or computer manually.
I bought this as an add-on to my started kit. (Meaning I already have a Wave and a Mini and the network hub.) It connected up, and updated to the current firmware, with ease. It was easy to add to the hub. It shows up on the web page as expected. It provides all the readings it promises, which should be what all the other (cheaper) units provide but don’t. The readings on this unit seem approximate to the readings from other units.
So I used this in my living room to start and after a week I got a CO2 alert in the middle of the night. I noticed that it would go into the fair “yellow’ every night but last night it sent an alert to my phone with C02 in the “red” zone at 1034ppm. We close the house up at night with the air conditioner on so that must be why. As soon as I open up the windows in the morning the levels go back down. VOC’S and Radon level are so far in the “green” zone so I’m relieved about that but I still need to check the rooms upstairs and also the basement. It gives me some piece of mind that it sends me alerts for warnings and a few times a day I wave my hand over the device as I pass by so see which color zone it’s in.
L’application sur notre cellulaire nous permet de suivre en temps rel nos taux de radon, d’humidit et polluants dans l’air (vapeurs de produits nettoyants, poussire, etc. ). Trs facile d’utilisation et mesures trs prcises. Je recommande.
I like it as it’s very easy to use, to configure and move around in the house.
I helps a lot to monitor Radon level in basement and I got peace of mind.
I’d recommend anyone to buy this.
Only down side is system update couldn’t finish, I’ve to email and chat online with the tech support, end up I have to replace batteries and it worked like a charm afterwards. (it happened only one time for me)
I’ve give it 5 stars for products and support.
I like that I have the ability to monitor at anytime. It provides a monthly report to see how the quality of the air fluctuates. In my case, I found Radon that had been increasing in my basement area. Because of this, I have contacted Radon Mitigation to fix it.
I live in the middle of Ohio where radon levels are high. I was worried that our newly built house was going to have high levels so I got an AirThings Wave to check that. Safe level is less than 4.0. Three days after activating the Wave read 52! I immediately set up a mitigation system to be installed. 3 days after that was installed our reading on the Wave is less than 0.3. Constant monitoring of humidity and CO2 are now what I’m looking at. Super easy to set up. The app is awesome. If you’re worried about radon, get one of these and get the info you need to make smart decisions.
Gert misst CO2, Radeon, Tvoc, Temperatur, Feuchtigkeit, Druck mBar. Kalibrierung war nach einigen Tagen abgeschlossen. Bei 2 Monaten nochmalige Erhhung der Genauigkeit. Batterien sind bis jetzt auch noch auf 85% Stromverbrauch ist dafr relativ niedrig (am 22.03.2021 in Betrieb genommen). Gut finde ich, das man mit Bluetooth die Daten mit dem Mobilteil der App auslesen kann. Account ist jedoch notwendig. Bei berschreiten der Grenzen, gibt das Gert hinweise, wie man die Raumluft wieder auf Standartwerte hinbekommen kann (z.B. Feutigkeit zu trocken). Die Grenzwerte fr Alarm sind nicht einzustellen. Bin aber sehr zufrieden damit.
Es gibt auch von der Fa. Gerte, wo man aus der Ferne die Daten dann ber Internet abrufen kann. Habe ein Airthings View Plus vorbestellt, was noch zustzlich Feinstaub messen soll (inkl. Internet ber WLAN) Zugriff. Mal schauen wie dieses sich schlgt.
I would buy again (and have) and would highly recommend,
Thanks
2023-01-09 update… I knocked off one star…
Our DYI mitigation system is installed and working better than expected; so now the Airthings are for monitoring. I asked the support chat 2 questions in the last 3 weeks:
I wanted an outdoor baseline RADON level to juxtapose my readings to and asked advice about how to use outdoors… I got a canned response indicating that the products are not designed in any way for outdoors… no suggestions were mentioned either… so not too good; I was assuming that they could be installed in unheated crawl spaces… I would have installed in a shed 8 feet away so covered from any precipitation,,,,
2nd question:
The colour coding of the thresholds is based on American recommended numbers (150 bq); we live in Canada and the level is 200…. the EU/WHO has 100… I asked if I could change the thresholds for my implementation…. nope American thresholds only. We would have chosen the EU/WHO numbers if we could have. After a few weeks I have realised that there is not much flexibility in monitoring only for notifications. I am not a fan of getting global Yellow for VOC or CO2 numbers when our focus is RADON. As a retired data analyst / coder I know that a user set layer of thresholds is not a big deal and has zero risk to the core code base… anyway 4 stars now.
It’s really good to know what is in the air you are breathing. You can keep your environment safer with this knowledge.
The device is easy to setup. The phone app is very simple and gives you the ability to see your air quality at a glance.
After years of wondering about Radon in our house and reading up about it, I decided to get a monitor/sensor instead of buying single use test kits that had to be sent out and analyzed. Based of reviews I chose this one and we are very pleased. I also bought the hub. The app installs easily and works simply and well. The unit got us a ‘lot’ smarter about Radon and how it fluctuates quite a bit with weather and heating season ventilation. I ordered a second sensor/monitor as well to pinpoint where to focus on in our basement and confirm that the sump pit is the main entry point/culprit in our house. I like the fact that the unit(s) are transportable and could be used in another house as well. We use the app and the dashboard and both are great. In addition to Radon, it also monitors CO2, VOCs, … after 6-12 months I will be putting in a mitigation system and the sensor will provide my report card…
I would buy again (and have) and would highly recommend,
Thanks
This little sensor alerted us to high levels of radon gas at our cabin. We were able to get remediation done and the sensor shows that the remediation works and our cabin had very little radon when we run the exhaust fan in the crawl space. (Which we bought on Amazon!)
Hi
das Ding tut was es soll aber ohne das Web Portal geht gar nix. Und dann sind die Daten erst mal aus dem Haus und fr geschftliche Zwecke weiterverwendbar denn den Standort soll man auch nocht gleich mit freigeben.
Desweiteren bezieht sich die Eintiegsseite auf den 24h Durchschnitt, den kann man aber in der App/WebPortal gar nicht auswhlen.
Wenn ich das richtig sehe interpretiert das Ding auch Wassertrpfchen aus der Luft , denn wenn der Umlufttrockner luft und man das Ding im gleichen Keller hat sind die Werte schon sehr interessant.
Ich werde das Ding erst mal behalten aber mal ein Konkurentzproduct denaben stellen.
Sobald ich mehr habe hier ein Update.
Im Moment haben die ei
We’ll be installing a radon vent system when we do the foundation, and a whole-house fresh air heat exchanger, and we’ll continue to monitor over the next year (and beyond too I guess).
Easy to setup and use (on iPhone) and very helpful in improving my air quality.
I learnt that the indoor air quality (IAQ) for my home office was low enough to potentially affect my ability to think well and be productive due to high CO2 levels. Made changes to room ventilation, got CO2 down to levels closer to atmospheric amounts, and now I breathe much better and feel more focused. I did the same with my bedroom and my sleep quality has improved.
The device notifies you when your IAQ is inadequate throughout the day so that you can take action. Would highly recommend it and have done so with my friends and family.
The Radon fan in the attic had stopped working. We got the Airthings device and it detected levels > 4 in the basement. We got the fan replaced and the levels dropped dramatically and we got it tested. The levels that the test revealed were quite close to the ones being calibrated by the device
I had a stand alone co2 and voc meter before this purchase.
It worked, but I found I did not action any changes (e.g. air our the house) as it was hard to read it or see if it was getting worse or better over time.
This system is amazing. it’s so easy to setup and I especially like the 3 color led indicator on the wall unit as well as that there is a hub.
The hub means there is long battery life in the sensors and there is no setting of WiFi passwords.
After getting one sensor I got two more. will probably get more in time.
It’s one of the more expensive solutions on the market but we’ll engineered.
My only suggestion would be to make a cheaper version without the Radon sensor but with Co2 and VOC and temp and humidity. Not all rooms need raydon measurements (my house doesn’t need them at all)
This device makes monitoring the air quality in your home an easy task. There is an app that allows you to see the current readings as well as historical readings. If I could improve it in one way, I would make it easier to integrate into a smart home without the need for yet another device specific hub. In some cases you may be able to integrate the device with your smart home hub using usb and they even have a GitHub repository with some sample code that works with RaspberryPi.
Ordered this mainly to utilize the radon detection. It was extremely easy to setup. After the week where the sensors are calibrating, I was interested to radon trend. It has now been running for several months without issue
Works great overall. Unbox, pull battery tab, create account at airthings.com, install app on my Pixel 4XL, and it worked. They mention in the docs, apps, and website that the baseline can take up to 7 days for accuracy. Note that this device will upload data to your phone through bluetooth (BLE actually) and your phone can upload to the cloud. But if you are not close to the device you can’t read it. They have a github (github.com/airthings) if you want to pull data with a Raspberry Pi or similar, or buy the airthings hub (they have a package) which will upload for you via wifi. Do not buy this without A) just wanting to check occasionally from your phone physically close by B) buying the hub or C) planning on tinkering with a Raspberry Pi.
My family had been sleeping more than usual, sometimes couldn’t find the right word, etc.
Part of the reason I bought the sensor is that I had also noticed the plastic on top of my water heater had been melting. Further investigation let to me noticing the water heater exhaust got quite hot when the furnace was on. Turns out hail damage had blocked my furnace exhaust and the exhaust was pumping into my basement (via the water heater exhaust) and the pressure was forcing the basement air (full of burned natural gas and radon) into my living space.
Turns out I was getting CO2 readings in the 1500-2000 range which can cause drowsiness, and I only recorded for one night, I suspect over the last months there might well have been higher readings, sometimes the family would sleep for 15 hours without being particularly behind on sleep.
After I fixed the exhaust the numbers dropped quickly from the red, through the yellow, and into the green (see the attached picture). Similarly the radon dropped quickly as well.
I just bought a new house and paid for a professional radon testing. It tested at 9.8, I bought two airthings and put one in the room with a sump pump and one just outside. They tested at 11 and 9 respectively, so that checks out. Keep in mind the radon sensors are slow to respond. I paid for mitigation of the sump room and was very pleased at the result, see graph.
Recommended.
Be careful out there and make sure your furnace (and anything else that burns natural gas) exhausts well. I also liked the notifications to open windows (CO2 or radon), hang laundry to dry instead of using a dryer (humidity under 25%), etc.
While I bought this for radon, CO2 had also been interesting. I was very surprised to find very high CO2! Radon mitigation seems to have helped reduce that too. I suspect CO2 from limestone-rich subsoil, together with leaching effects of acid rain.
VOC peaks seem to be diurnal, maybe related to cooking.
Overall, excellent and interesting insights from real data.
Unsure of accuracy yet for radon. That was my main concern. It has been up to dangerous levels and down. I will be getting another radon test to confirm if it’s accurate
gut , die werte hab ich ausgenommen die von radon mit anderen fremdgerten verglichen , werte alle sehr nah beianander, app gut aber besser ist das dashboard, also die airthings seite ber den browser, dafr braucht man aber den hub , dafr ein punkt abzug
Our radon levels fluctuated wildly and as we entered our 3rd radon system in 10 years the contractor Finally recommended this specific gadget. It relieved our fears as the radon levels were shown to have dropped and it corroborated with the tin charcoal test results – good! but then I made the mistake of moving the thing upstairs to asses the other features of air quality and I nearly heard the nuclear alarm honk sound ! Turns out moving it requires a lag time to adjust and within a few days the reading calmed down. It’s not a live action movie, it’s an ongoing recording that requires gradual assessment. The contractor did warn us not to become obsessed with its levels but it does give piece of mind that remediation has worked .
Glad I’ve got it, we’ve used it on 6 house tests already. The radon testing alone was worth it for us, and the VOC and CO2 is a revelation. (I wasn’t too happy to learn my radon level).
All is not perfect though. This company is a little immature, and obviously run by whatever we call the under 32 year old group. So no phone support, poor programming discipline and testing, and a certain amount of “look at as, aren’t we great” that you get to put up with.
However, if you can put up with what are usually minor programming stumbles with the thing it gives you very useful information. Certainly worth the investment, and who knows, someday the company may grow up.
Works very well all around. Some are saying radon readings are two points higher or so, but with the airthings showing our basement with a reading of 12 – I think it was worth the alert that there is a problem I need to take care of.
It uses bluetooth, which is fine – I’ve found that data is cached on device, so you don’t need a constant connection.
I only use bluetooth for the airthings, allegedly there are issues if you connect to other bluetooth devices at the same time – but that’s easily rectifiable with the receiver. That or, you know, take two seconds and use about about five neurons to disconnect from your other devices.
Most issues in ratings are pretty obviously user error.
Easy to use the device and the app. Very straight forward and wonderful to have for peace of mind. We’ve been doing a few home Renos and I wanted to know how it was effecting our air quality, plus Calgary is a known spot for higher radon exposer so that was another reason I wanted one. It’s been great to know when air quality is dipping so j can throw on the purifier or open some windows to help freshen and clear things up!
There really is no price on safety and this seems to be able to check other things in addition to radon. So far so good.
The mitigation installer was great. He did a really nice job. $1000.00. However, after reading more about these systems I learned that most installers are lazy. They install the largest unit (GP501) no matter what level radon you have and how big your house is. One size fits all. The fan was not loud but very noticeable. After researching I learned most homes only need a 20 watt fan. They installed a 90W fan. Our house is small 960 sq/ft footprint and Radon was not that high. So I swapped the fan out (FanTech RN1 and FanTech Quiet Couplings). And confirmed with the Airthings the level is still below 1.0 in the basement. That alone saves me $150/yr in electricity and I cannot hear the fan at all.
So the Airthings confirmed we had a problem. And confirmed reducing the system size still functions safety.
One other thing I noticed is VOC’s are way down and CO2 is as well.
Win win win.
The App on iOS has also been flawless.
Highly highly recommended.
I’ve used this with just my phone and it was a pain to sync. After buying and installing the hub, syncing and reading the info is instant. Definitely buy the hub if your getting this for a long term. I’ve placed 1 unit in the basement and 1 unit in the kid’s room (2nd floor) and already pinpointed potential radon issues in their room as well.
It’s not perfect but definitely better then guessing. This thing is great.
Upping the stars from 1 to four because it does actually work.
–original review–
My Wave Plus appeared to work (I have no idea of the Radon accuracy) and then lost the ability to use Bluetooth. So the app would simply report old readings because it couldn’t collect new ones from the device.
A chat with customer service was a classic example of pseudo-service: the agent sent me boilerplate responses telling me to do things I’d already told then I had done, like replacing the batteries, cycling Bluetooth off and on, and some useless crap like going to airplane mode on my iPhone.
On my own, I unpaired the Wave Plus and tried to set it up again from scratch. This got to a certain point and then reported a Bluetooth error. When I reported that in the chat, the agent blew me off and just stopped responding.
So if you want an unresponsive device from an unresponsive company, AirThings Wave Plus is your dream come true.
This all happened a week after the warranty expired.
Download the app on your tablets, phones, wherever, then remove the battery tab. You see all of the parameters immediately, although Radon and TVOC takes 7 days to calibrate for maximum accuracy. While I was looking at the levels in my home, the Airthings folks checked to make sure I was getting along with the unit well, and understood the readings. Very great customer service. I’ll be monitoring my high Radon and TVOC for a month or so, then they will even let me know what steps I need to take, if any. A mail in test is not really worth much, you need to monitor levels constantly over time. That is what this device does for you. Plus some nice extras.
As deadly as indoor air can be, especially the radon, this tiny investment is worth every penny.
Very useful piece of equipment that allows you to monitor your air quality in your home.
Really easy to set up – takes 7 days for initial configuration, excellent customer service (helpful emails during configuration). When you move rooms with it, make sure to consider that it will take 7 days to re-configure. I’ve had it for a couple of months now – the battery is still almost full, the system hasn’t had any problems at all. Seeing the rates across time is enormously helpful.
This was my second air tester – I returned the last one because I had no sense of what it was doing – the buttons were unclear, the instructions incomplete. This one is the opposite – REALLY clear app and instructions. You have the ability to click right on the rating (for example, I click on the current CO2 number) to see detail on what it is describing (including what healthy rates are, what to do if you are worried, etc.).
Je suis tellement satisfait du produit que j’en ai achet un 2e.
Trs prcis et super facile utiliser. Aprs une semaine, vous avez dj un rapport dans votre tlphone de la qualit de l’air dans la maison. Test le radon, le cov, le co2, l’humid etc… Gnial quand il y a du radon dans votre quartier et souhaitez connaitre l’air de votre maison!
I was originally looking just for a smart radon tester before I installed a radon mitigation system and found the airthings wave system.
at first I purchased the home kit which comes with a older wave 2nd gen, the hub and mini wave from Amazon warehouse (openbox). I had some issues with the hub as it was already registered and didn’t want to mess with support who wasn’t available 24/7 and ended up returning everything .
during the initial setup I also (wrongly assumed) that the units would be WiFi/Ip based but the stand alone sensors only work via bluetooth or via radio with the hub. also without the hub the data isn’t constantly recorded .
I then ordered this new sensor wave plus, 2 mini waves and the hub (quite costly). setup was a breeze, unbox the sensors, download the app, register for an account, connect the sensor via bluetooth to your phone , update firmware and it’s readym Then you plug in your hub add to the sensors to the hub via your phone.
With the wave2 the radon level was high (as suspected as ally neighbors got their radon level tested professionally for 150 bucks . What I didn’t expect was the co2 and VOC levels to be high in the house as well as high humidity levels in the basement.
the co2 we were able to lower by opening windows and airing out the house, and humidity levels controlled with a dehumidifier in the basement.
As far as the VOC i started looking into UV lights in the hvac and ultimately ended up with a Airscrubber by aerus installed from my hvac guy.
after the airscrubber and hvac fans running the airthings wave sensor picked up the improvements.
the web dashboard also is has a lot better data and is easier to see track historical data than the app as the app will show you real time stats we well as historical but can’t zoom in on the data or set a custom time frame (zoom in).
also the wave mini has mold detection but the wave plus does not and the wave plus (primarily for radon) has co2 detection but the mini does not so would like a unified sensor even if it cost more as well as the ability to have wifi (although this will prob drain the battery)
I’d also like an option of hardwiring the sensor similar to a smoke detector and alert/push notifications for user or presets thresholds so I don’t have to constantly monitor.
overall great product but will make you think about how to improve the air quality after seeing the data 🙂
We were unaware just how bad our air quality was. Both our Radon and CO2 levels were very high. As an asthmatic it was important to determine exactly what the air issues were. We have since installed an ERV system and the AIRTHINGS verified that we now have clean air. We like the ability to continually monitor our air quality.
Me gusta la app con las grficas. Fcil instalacin. Todos los parmetros que quiero medir. Aunque a ese precio podran haber puesto tambin medicin partculas de polvo de diferentes dimetros.
I bought this because it measures several air parameters besides radon. I’ve been using a Corentium radon monitor since 2016 and wanted something else to visualize on my smartphone. It’s been 6 months since I bought the monitor which has been working flawlessly.
This setup works great imho. I strongly recommend getting the Hub so you can view the data anywhere including the computer. The Wave and Wave plus units can “link” to the Hub to upload data hourly automatically. This is the way to go.
Almost anyone who was struggling seems to have not bothered to get the Hub. The Hub automates the data collection so all you need to do is look at the dashboard whenever you want.
I really like seeing the ongoing graphs of all data in their dashboard, showing fluctuations in Radon, Temp, Humidity, Air Pressure (if you understand Radon you know why), etc.
Their support personnel are really great, so responsive, kind, and knowledgeable.
We don’t spend much time in the basement, and I wondered if the levels were high elsewhere. So I bought two more Wave Plus devices and put one in the family room and one in our bedroom. The online Airthings Dashboard has a nice screen that shows all the locations side-by-side for easy comparison. It was interesting to see that the radon is not consistent throughout the house. It rises and falls in different areas at different times. Our furnace fans run constantly on low speed to circulate the air and keep temperatures consistent throughout the house. When I shut the fans off, the radon levels increased in the basement (above safe levels), and dropped elsewhere, indicating that the fans were spreading the radon from the basement to the other occupied areas of the house – which was a bit disturbing!
My next step was to try to isolate where in the basement the radon was entering. So I put all 3 detectors in different parts of the basement. Each detector showed high levels, but at different times, indicating that there were numerous entry points. The builder had drained the AC condensate through holes in the concrete floor to the gravel under the floor. I re-routed the drains properly and sealed the holes with silicone in two locations. The radon reduced significantly in both of those locations, but is still very strong in the area around the sump pump, not surprising.
Next step is to get and install a good sealed sump pump lid vented outside and then monitor the levels to see if further professional mitigation is required. There is a floor drain near the sump pump, so I’m not sure if that needs to be covered and vented yet, but should be able to tell once the sump is sealed up.
I actually have a fourth Wave Plus that I have been lending out to friends and family. Including my neighbor who has discovered high levels of radon in his house, possibly the cause of his recently diagnosed stage 4 lung cancer…
The Wave Plus is expensive, but in my opinion well worth it for the value of getting real-time data compared to a long-term sensor in a can. It has allowed me to take action much faster, and in a more focused and inexpensive way.
The Wave Plus also provides data on CO2 and VOC’s. I have focused only on Radon so far, but once that is solved, the sensors will be very useful analyzing and reducing those sources as well.
You really only need one sensor as well, but it is certainly better to have more. I started with one Airthings Wave Plus in the basement. It showed there was some radon, just below the recommended safe level.
We don’t spend much time in the basement, and I wondered if the levels were high elsewhere. So I bought two more Wave Plus devices and put one in the family room and one in our bedroom. The online Airthings Dashboard has a nice screen that shows all the locations side-by-side for easy comparison. It was interesting to see that the radon is not consistent throughout the house. It rises and falls in different areas at different times. Our furnace fans run constantly on low speed to circulate the air and keep temperatures consistent throughout the house. When I shut the fans off, the radon levels increased in the basement (above safe levels), and dropped elsewhere, indicating that the fans were spreading the radon from the basement to the other occupied areas of the house – which was a bit disturbing!
My next step was to try to isolate where in the basement the radon was entering. So I put all 3 detectors in different parts of the basement. Each detector showed high levels, but at different times, indicating that there were numerous entry points. The builder had drained the AC condensate through holes in the concrete floor to the gravel under the floor. I re-routed the drains properly and sealed the holes with silicone in two locations. The radon reduced significantly in both of those locations, but is still very strong in the area around the sump pump, not surprising.
Next step is to get and install a good sealed sump pump lid vented outside and then monitor the levels to see if further professional mitigation is required. There is a floor drain near the sump pump, so I’m not sure if that needs to be covered and vented yet, but should be able to tell once the sump is sealed up.
I actually have a fourth Wave Plus that I have been lending out to friends and family. Including my neighbor who has discovered high levels of radon in his house, possibly the cause of his recently diagnosed stage 4 lung cancer…
The Wave Plus is expensive, but in my opinion well worth it for the value of getting real-time data compared to a long-term sensor in a can. It has allowed me to take action much faster, and in a more focused and inexpensive way.
The Wave Plus also provides data on CO2 and VOC’s. I have focused only on Radon so far, but once that is solved, the sensors will be very useful analyzing and reducing those sources as well.
Product is unobtrusive, built well and the software is very informative. Good buy.
Really appreciate the fact that it gives you a definition of the different indoor air contaminants and that it also provides you with some advice on how to reduce them.
Le gaz RADON et un tueur silencieux.
Il faut le mesurer avec grande qualit et doit tre trs fiable.
C’est ce que j’ai eu….bravo.
Ich habe zwei Sensoren. Nach der Trainingsphase liefern sie plausible Werte z.B. steigt das CO2 wenn man sich lngere Zeit in einem Raum aufhlt oder die TVOCs steigen nach dem elektronische Gerte (TV, Computer) ber lngere Zeit aktiv sind.
Mit der Verbindung und dem SW-Download habe ich zu keiner Zeit ein Problem gehabt (iPad Pro, iPhone 6s).
i’d like to see a manual calibration option for Radon, not sure how accurate it is
rather than that device is great
the main reason purchasing was the Radon detector, not really interested abt the rest … only humidity is the other useful reading
I purchased this product to help get a better understanding of the air quality in my home. Immediately after setting up it was able to show there was above normal levels of CO2 (>1000ppm), which can effect cognitive abilities among other things. I was able to resolve this by opening some more windows in the house and within a day I could see the decrease across the house with the two Wave Plus I have placed.
The radon measurement is also very useful, I live in an area where it’s an elevated risk so it’s nice to make sure the levels are staying within the limits. One thing I have noticed is the natural variation with the weather, especially when it rains. I’ve seen it raise as high as 200 Bq/m3 but only briefly during the rain storm before returning normal. It should be noted radon mitigation should only be needed if the levels remain >100 for 1-3 months.
Overall I’m very happy with the product and support from the Airthings team. I look forward to see what else they will be bringing to the Smart Home market.
Initially, this detector was almost unusable. It kept disconnecting from my phone and was unresponsive. Customer support was good but what the unit really needed was an update. With the most recent software update for the detector, it now works almost flawlessly. I can sometimes even download the data from my second floor and the detector is in the basement. I am very happy with my purchase. One thing that would improve the product is the ability to connect it to WiFi rather than bluetooth to a phone.
I rarely write Amazon reviews, but this is a genially good product. I would absolutely recommend this if you’re looking to get readings that this device lists. It’s a little on the pricey side, but that’s because it’s not built for pros, it’s built more for home owners. It integrates great with my other smart devices, and the phone app had a recent update that mad the software much better. It’s nice to have and easy to move from room to room if you want to take readings in different rooms of your house. Also the magnetic bottom is really nifty. All in all I’d recommend this if you’re a home owner, but not if you’re a professional disaster recovery tech. There are much cheaper sensors out there for pros that give more readings. This is great for peace of mind if you’re a home owner though. I’m a little said it’s only Bluetooth and not WiFi enabled. Other than that I have zero complaints.
Also, on github they provide some example code how to read sensor values directly from BLE, so that you can develop your own custom integrations if you’re into that (which is what I’ve done to work around app issues it used to have).
Can’t say much about precision of the sensor, but it seems to react to big changes. For example, VOC sensor reports elevated levels when I use sprays in the room, and reports reduced levels when I turn on HEPA air filter. CO2 sensor reacts to things like opening/closing the window, or me breathing right into it 🙂
Overall, happy with the purchase. A bit costly, but for for my money I’m getting a CO2 sensor which precision I can trust, and a BLE API for my custom integrations.
Had good experience with the Wave and wave plus. Customer support is responsive and very helpful with any questions that arise, they seem quite passionate about increasing awareness of air quality issues. Firmware updates every few months increase features, and accuracy, making it the best option out there. The radon monitor is amazing, every house should have one, and the humidiry/temp is a bonus that makes forna great connected home.
I have not had any bluetooth issues like some other users mentioned, but I always update my devices to latest firmware.
I can’t speak to their app because I have a script that tosses the data into my Hubitat hub, but so far the data seems very accurate. I’m not totally sure about the Radon since I have an AirThings Corentium one level down and it reads lower than above, but Radon is about averages and this one has less than a month, while the other has over a years worth of data.
It was a lot more work than my FooBot, but I feel it is definitely more accurate and I got the impression from FooBot’s site that they were moving out of the consumer arena. I ordered this to replace the FooBot before it faced the typical IOT device’s fate when a company folds or changes focus.
RADON – C
TVOC Accuracy – A+
CO2 – A
HUMIDITY – A
TEMP – A
PRESSURE – A
The good: This is a very comprehensive detector that is easy to use. The Phone APP is 5/5 stars. It tracks 48 Hours, 1 week, 1 month, even 1 year! The graphs used are easy to read and interactive. Selecting different options and different detectors (I purchase 4 total) is extremely simple and straightforward.
I tested 4 of these units placed in different locations (2 in my basement). I found the accuracy of all the readings to be what was promised except for RADON.
Temp and Co2 – I vented my basement and the temp sensor responded accurately for the decrease in temp as well as the increase when I shut the windows. Same with Co2 levels and air pressure which was a little more challenging to test.
Humidity was in the yellow on my Airwave Plus detector in my great room. I placed a humidifier nearby and this unit responded with accurate readings as promised. The humidifier ran out of water and the readings dropped. The Airwave Plus detector responded reporting accurate readings again for the decrease.
TVOC detection – This was impressive. The VOC readings responded with accurate and detailed readings when the Radon technician was using glue to seal my sump pump. Again the readings decreased overtime as the glue fumes disapaited. The readings from the 2nd closest detector also responded with a graph curve almost identical to the closest detector except for slightly lower readings (70ft away in the same basement).
The bad: Radon detection was off by what I think is an unacceptable amount. This detector has an accuracy issue when adjusting to fluctuations in Radon levels resulting in higher averages over the short and long term. This could be difference between your home being within “acceptable” EPA levels of 4.0 pCi/L or above acceptable limits. My testing showed that Radon levels would be up +2 pCi/L higher than actual amounts after 1 week.
I purchased an AIRTHINGS Corentium Home Radon detector (see attached picture) and placed it next to the unit. The Airthings Corentium detector unit would read -1 lower and almost match the professional certified Radon tester used by the professional Radon Technician.
Here are the current readings of three detectors next to my sump pump with the newly installed radon mitigation system –
Airthings Airwaves Plus – 1.2 pCi/L (same for long term)
Airthings Corentium Home – 0.43 pCi/L (0.75 pCi/L long term)
SunNuclear Professional Certified – 0.19 pCi/L (0.62 pCi/L long term)
Summary: Everything performed up to my expectations except for the Radon detection. Radon detection DID WORK but it was just a little too high to earn a B grade or higher.
Prior to the radon mitigiation system the levels in my basement (worst part of my home) averaged around 5.7 pCi/L (long term, 1 week) when using the Airthings Airwave Plus. The Airthings Corentium Home would always be 1 pCi/L lower on average. The professional certified Radon unit that was used by the Radon technician was 2 pCi/L lower short term (48 hours) and 1 pCi/L lower long term (1 week).
Did I really have a serious Radon problem? Probably not one over 4.0 pCi/L (average) and certainly not one over that amount year round. It’s winter season where I live, rain / snow, etc. Radon is considerably worse under these conditions. However Airwave Plus detector would be red constantly indicating a serious problem that needed to be addressed immediately.
On the positive side I do like the fact that the Radon reported was HIGHER rather than LOWER. That at least alerted me to a potential issue so I can check it out with a professional. Ultimately I did install a Radon mitigation system because of the Airwaves Plus. Better safe than sorry?
RADON – C
TVOC Accuracy – A+
CO2 – A
HUMIDITY – A
TEMP – A
PRESSURE – A
The good: This is a very comprehensive detector that is easy to use. The Phone APP is 5/5 stars. It tracks 48 Hours, 1 week, 1 month, even 1 year! The graphs used are easy to read and interactive. Selecting different options and different detectors (I purchase 4 total) is extremely simple and straightforward.
I tested 4 of these units placed in different locations (2 in my basement). I found the accuracy of all the readings to be what was promised except for RADON.
Temp and Co2 – I vented my basement and the temp sensor responded accurately for the decrease in temp as well as the increase when I shut the windows. Same with Co2 levels and air pressure which was a little more challenging to test.
Humidity was in the yellow on my Airwave Plus detector in my great room. I placed a humidifier nearby and this unit responded with accurate readings as promised. The humidifier ran out of water and the readings dropped. The Airwave Plus detector responded reporting accurate readings again for the decrease.
TVOC detection – This was impressive. The VOC readings responded with accurate and detailed readings when the Radon technician was using glue to seal my sump pump. Again the readings decreased overtime as the glue fumes disapaited. The readings from the 2nd closest detector also responded with a graph curve almost identical to the closest detector except for slightly lower readings (70ft away in the same basement).
The bad: Radon detection was off by what I think is an unacceptable amount. This detector has an accuracy issue when adjusting to fluctuations in Radon levels resulting in higher averages over the short and long term. This could be difference between your home being within “acceptable” EPA levels of 4.0 pCi/L or above acceptable limits. My testing showed that Radon levels would be up +2 pCi/L higher than actual amounts after 1 week.
I purchased an AIRTHINGS Corentium Home Radon detector (see attached picture) and placed it next to the unit. The Airthings Corentium detector unit would read -1 lower and almost match the professional certified Radon tester used by the professional Radon Technician.
Here are the current readings of three detectors next to my sump pump with the newly installed radon mitigation system –
Airthings Airwaves Plus – 1.2 pCi/L (same for long term)
Airthings Corentium Home – 0.43 pCi/L (0.75 pCi/L long term)
SunNuclear Professional Certified – 0.19 pCi/L (0.62 pCi/L long term)
Summary: Everything performed up to my expectations except for the Radon detection. Radon detection DID WORK but it was just a little too high to earn a B grade or higher.
Prior to the radon mitigiation system the levels in my basement (worst part of my home) averaged around 5.7 pCi/L (long term, 1 week) when using the Airthings Airwave Plus. The Airthings Corentium Home would always be 1 pCi/L lower on average. The professional certified Radon unit that was used by the Radon technician was 2 pCi/L lower short term (48 hours) and 1 pCi/L lower long term (1 week).
Did I really have a serious Radon problem? Probably not one over 4.0 pCi/L (average) and certainly not one over that amount year round. It’s winter season where I live, rain / snow, etc. Radon is considerably worse under these conditions. However Airwave Plus detector would be red constantly indicating a serious problem that needed to be addressed immediately.
On the positive side I do like the fact that the Radon reported was HIGHER rather than LOWER. That at least alerted me to a potential issue so I can check it out with a professional. Ultimately I did install a Radon mitigation system because of the Airwaves Plus. Better safe than sorry?
We did a radon test from CAA (Canadian equivalent of the AAA: they provide radon tests for 20$). These tests are done over 3 months, you send back the little detector, and they give you the radon report. We were close to 200, which is above WHO targets. So, the next step was to make some remediations (air the room, add heat/air exchangers, etc). But then, when you’re done, you have to test again, wait 3 months, hope that the problem is fixed.
SOLUTION: we ordered this device. Although a little steep in price, it works very well and it went pretty quickly to the number we got using the CAA “mail-in” test: 209. We could also see how it fluctuates throughout the day. So, it seems accurate. As for CO2 levels, we can definitely see that when we’re a couple of people in the basement, the CO2 goes up. So, that’s accurate as well (it’s not random data 😉 ). Setting up was a breeze. I’d add a little sticker on the back to say that you can remove the plastic part to screw into the wall (I was a little afraid of pulling hard on it). A sticker would help: “pull on this magnetized plastic to screw in the wall” type of thing. Very minor. The cool thing is that we can now try some remediations and see the impact on radon levels: ex: vent the room. We also added water in the sump pump area and the drain was probably dry as well, adding water might help stop radon. So far, we didn’t get a way to reduce it much so we might need to do a more expensive radiation. I’m just glad we didn’t do a room downstairs and have someone live there. Also, the company has a cool map where they show radon levels on a map (you can opt-in to include your geographically-anonymized [I hope] radon readings. This is very good for the greater good, you participate in very good actionable data (for cities and govs). I have friends local who have rooms downstairs and we probably want to do something about this (maybe a tax break for remediation, etc.). Because, here, in Canada, if someone gets lung cancer, it’s cheaper to remediate at the source (reduce radon levels) than to treat a bunch of people with lung cancer. Anyway, I’m VERY happy with my purchase. Only drawback is that you can’t monitor from offsite but this is probably intended for people who only have one and who visit the location often (live in it). They have a separate product to make it reachable over the internet (some kind of bridge device). To me, having long battery life and reachable by Bluetooth is much better (change batteries every 6 months and no ugly cables = much better). Those design decisions seem very sound. I give it 90%, the 10% more it could get is if it were cheaper. Like in the 200$CDN range. But I bought it and am happy. I just would love it if it were cheaper and more people could get it (I bet if I tell my friends they’ll love this device but won’t buy it due to price). Maybe a cheaper randon-only stripped down version would be cool.
We did a radon test from CAA (Canadian equivalent of the AAA: they provide radon tests for 20$). These tests are done over 3 months, you send back the little detector, and they give you the radon report. We were close to 200, which is above WHO targets. So, the next step was to make some remediations (air the room, add heat/air exchangers, etc). But then, when you’re done, you have to test again, wait 3 months, hope that the problem is fixed.
SOLUTION: we ordered this device. Although a little steep in price, it works very well and it went pretty quickly to the number we got using the CAA “mail-in” test: 209. We could also see how it fluctuates throughout the day. So, it seems accurate. As for CO2 levels, we can definitely see that when we’re a couple of people in the basement, the CO2 goes up. So, that’s accurate as well (it’s not random data 😉 ). Setting up was a breeze. I’d add a little sticker on the back to say that you can remove the plastic part to screw into the wall (I was a little afraid of pulling hard on it). A sticker would help: “pull on this magnetized plastic to screw in the wall” type of thing. Very minor. The cool thing is that we can now try some remediations and see the impact on radon levels: ex: vent the room. We also added water in the sump pump area and the drain was probably dry as well, adding water might help stop radon. So far, we didn’t get a way to reduce it much so we might need to do a more expensive radiation. I’m just glad we didn’t do a room downstairs and have someone live there. Also, the company has a cool map where they show radon levels on a map (you can opt-in to include your geographically-anonymized [I hope] radon readings. This is very good for the greater good, you participate in very good actionable data (for cities and govs). I have friends local who have rooms downstairs and we probably want to do something about this (maybe a tax break for remediation, etc.). Because, here, in Canada, if someone gets lung cancer, it’s cheaper to remediate at the source (reduce radon levels) than to treat a bunch of people with lung cancer. Anyway, I’m VERY happy with my purchase. Only drawback is that you can’t monitor from offsite but this is probably intended for people who only have one and who visit the location often (live in it). They have a separate product to make it reachable over the internet (some kind of bridge device). To me, having long battery life and reachable by Bluetooth is much better (change batteries every 6 months and no ugly cables = much better). Those design decisions seem very sound. I give it 90%, the 10% more it could get is if it were cheaper. Like in the 200$CDN range. But I bought it and am happy. I just would love it if it were cheaper and more people could get it (I bet if I tell my friends they’ll love this device but won’t buy it due to price). Maybe a cheaper randon-only stripped down version would be cool.
Radon:
By comparing the two units, I do see high levels in the basement and the results do make sense because: First, The sources/rocks is more close to basement, and Second, Radon is heavier than air so it should be concentrated in basement (although I do have forced air circulation system, but it appears that Radon is not fully mixed in the house).
Humidity/Temperature: it is not that important for me, the results are close to my weather station, so it is ok/acceptable.
CO2: I have attached a graph above the two spikes are the time kids sleeping in the bedroom and it seems reasonable.
TVOC: This is the one I do have a BIG QUESTION MARK about!!! TVOC is supposed to be a measure of organics from the environment. e.g. furniture, chemicals etc. I know cooking can cause the spike, this is still ok, but the results (see attached) show it is very well correlated with CO2 and spikes at the same time during night and drops to low level during day time. This makes me question about the usefulness of TVOC (because it appears that it is actually measuring human associated TVOC, not much from other sources).
Pressure: I do Not really care about this one.
In conclusion, this Wave Plus is a nice device, but I do not trust its TVOC measurement, unless you do need to know the CO2 level, I consider the Wave as a sufficient device.
This gives us a nice picture of the air quality in our house. More than a year ago. I bought the Wave standard version and I always regretted not go directly with the Wave +. So U finally did. No regrets! A bit expensive but all in all I am happy despite this.
We purchased the Wave+ from Airthings following the Consumer Reports review that revealed that you can CONTINUOUSLY monitor your Radon radiation risk. Purchased for Christmas it showed how variable this risk was for our house: some time below the mandatory remediation level but often very much above it. The other sensors like volatile air pollution and CO2 levels were also very informative. We now are mitigating our radon risk and are able to monitor, other than by a single instance expensive test, that the radiation risk is actually gone. It works!
It is good to know what your radon levels are, but if you are in the Winnipeg area, you may as well get the radon fan and pvc piping at the same time.
The Voc sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are interesting, but I’m sure the humidity sensor is bogus with a reading of in the 30’s when my house is as dry as bone from running the HRV extra to remove some radon.
Originally I only gave Airthings Plus one star because it had stopped functioning after one year. I changed batteries multiple times but was not able to get the ring light to come on. I gave up and wrote my review. However, the next day I found the unit functioning normally, and checked the readings with another device, and it was working flawlessly. A few days later Dalton from Airthings contacted me to see if he could assist. Although the unit was already working, he suggested next time I wait 1 hour after changing the batteries, and try triggering the device ring light from the app.
I have other tools for my job that give me immediate results and measure moisture content, humidity, temperature, GPK, HCHO, TVOC, PM2.5/1.0/10 etc., but these do not keep history.
One of the things I like about Airthings Wave, it keeps history from the first day it is turned on. In addition, you can move it to other rooms, give each room a unique name and then log in online to the web dashboard and compare differences between each room.
The Airthings Plus was easy to set up, the app is easy to navigate, and reading are relatively close other the devices I have.
Airthings Plus is a great addition to any home, and is ideal for anyone with health concerns like allergies, headaches, etc. If the ring light is not green, open a window and refresh your indoor air. Yup, it’s as easy as that. For some you may find you’ll have to take out the smelly garbage and clean house a bit more often.
The app on iOS has been very easy to use and has a nice clean interface. The setup also went without any issues.
I purchased this unit while living in an apartment, waiting for our house to be ready, and I suspected we had an air quality issue… I was right, there was an air quality issue, but I was surprised to find out that rather than particulate matter, the apartment we were staying in had a huge radon issue. I learned a great deal about radon, and we have been able to change ventilation to improve things somewhat. The app works well, and the online dashboard gives an even better view of air quality. Very impressed.
A really easy to use air quality measuring device. I would have liked some way to narrow down the TVOC to individual chemicals, but I can understand the cost behind such detail. The web dashboard and app give lots of data points, customizable timelines, and a really neat trick where you can see the values of all the measurements simultaneously for any given time stamp.
The Airthings Wave Plus is an excellent device, and builds on the success of the Wave (which I purchased a year ago) by adding an additional three sensors. My Wave Plus is mounted in my bedroom, and measures the following:
Radon Level
Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC)
CO2 concentration
Temperature
Humidity
Air Pressure
THE APP
Via the excellent mobile phone app, all of the above are measured and logged, with current readings given plus average values for the last 48 hours, week, month and year, together with graphs that show you measurement fluctuations for the same choice of intervals. It’s a highly detailed and very informative system, and one that allows you to build up a picture of how and why your air quality is changing. I use this system not only for ensuring the air I breathe is safe, but for building maintenance too, controlling damp in my period property.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
All that data being logged is transferred to the cloud and stored, via the app. Over time, and as users multiply, this data set will become a valuable resource for Airthings, who will be able to commercialise the information. I’m not suggesting that it will happen in this case, but we all need to be aware of the possible consequences from the data we give away daily. Could a historical log of high radon, moisture or TVOC levels in your home or neighbourhood affect medical or home insurance for instance? Might it affect the value of your property? I’d like the option of opting out of data sharing for the Wave Plus, with data logs stored privately on my device. If this is a concern to you I’d point you towards non connected detectors such as the Airthings Corentium Home radon detector (I own several and they’re excellent)
THE DEVICE
It’s small and neat, looking very much like a standard smoke detector. Measuring 120mm wide x 40mm thick it mounts magnetically to a baseplate that can be screwed to any suitable surface. A quick traffic-light style visual indication of air quality can be read from the device by waving your hand near the front mounted proximity detector. The product shots make it look like the thing glows at you all the time but this is not so, thankfully, so it’s suitable for a bedroom.
Full functionality requires the use of a smartphone app to access readings and graphs, and the detector links via Bluetooth. The reason that WiFi isn’t used is power consumption, which can be up to 40 times greater and would eat the batteries alive.
WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?
Of the 6 readings given the most important to me personally is radon. Radon is a radioactive gas that leaches naturally from the soil, and is present in all homes. If it builds up it poses a real risk to health, and is a major cause of lung cancer in non smokers. This detector gives a timely indicator of danger and prompts you to open windows and ventilate the gas away during peak events. Radon emission is very sporadic and can be low for weeks followed by sudden very high levels. So a bit like NASA with its sun spot detectors, knowing when these events are occurring can help to significantly reduce the risk posed. Every home should have a radon detector in my opinion, and the cost of this device is worth it for this measurement alone. I’ve watched members of my family die of cancer, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Volatile organic compounds are chemicals released by the off-gassing of carpets, some plastics, engineered wood products like MDF, paint, air fresheners and anything with an added chemical scent. Limonene (lemon scent) in particular is a common household pollutant that decays to form formaldehyde. VOC’s have been shown to be a risk factor in asthma and other respiratory conditions (especially in children), heart attack, stroke and lung cancer. Common consensus is that we are far healthier if we avoid them.
Carbon dioxide is a waste product exhaled from our lungs as we breathe. A build up of it indoors leads to headache, poor concentration, poor quality sleep, drowsiness and generally feeling groggy. I’ve found this detector a very useful reminder that simply opening a window can make a big difference to how I feel. Two people sleeping in an unventilated bedroom can easily find themselves spending a third of their lives breathing six or seven times the concentration of carbon dioxide than there is in fresh air!
Temperature and humidity are useful to know, but of less importance to me personally. Air pressure is irrelevant as far as I’m concerned – I have no control over that.
CONCLUSIONS
My only disappointment is that a particulate sensor is not included, as this is arguably more relevant to health than temperature, humidity and air pressure combined. I’m not the only reviewer to say this, and perhaps Airthings might consider creating a fully featured device at a future date, with split particulate readings – I think it would be very successful, and I’d certainly be a buyer. In the meantime, the Airthings Wave Plus represents very good value for money and is currently the best on the market in my opinion, so despite the lack of a dust sensor still worth a solid five stars for the service it performs. Even if it’s just for the peace of mind from knowing your homes radon levels, I thoroughly recommend investing in one. What price the safety of your family?
I don’t get the hate from other reviewers. This is a fantastic air quality monitor that is very accurate in its VOC readings (as much as a consumer device can be) and is really one-of-a-kind for Radon measurements. I’ve confirmed its accuracy with standard lab kits and it’s a great piece of mind to continually monitor your home.
I’ve had no connectivity issues that others mention, so maybe that was a problem on a previous version or firmware.
The bluetooth works great, and despite what other reviews have stated, I’ve found that it does track results (I believe hourly) even if you aren’t in range. So next time you refresh the app, you can see the trends from the last 48 hours, one week, month, etc. I agree that WiFi connectivity would be nice, but this couldn’t possibly operate on Wifi on a small battery for any reasonable stretch of time. And who is going to run a power cord from the ceiling or wall to an outlet inside their living room?
It also happens to look great and blends well into my home. It’s a nondescript as a carbon monoxide detector.
Easy to set up, device and app are well designed.
You need to be in Bluetooth distance of the device to receive data.
Installing was easy, and, using the downloaded app, linking the iPhone to the detector was a simple matter. At first I tried to link just using Settings on the iPhone, and that didn’t work.
Once recording the different readings, it takes a few weeks for the data to build up and then the reports become very visual.
It all appears to work well, but I’m not sure it helps to be told that barometric pressure or one of the other indicators is in the orange or red zones. TVOCs for instance are always all over the place, up and down.
It will be interesting to watch the CO2 levels as winter advances and doors and windows are less often left open.
In summary, the detector seems to work well, just a little unsure how it helps me.
Recommended for simplicity of operation and for consistent measurement.
Great product, easy setup and the app is excellent. Peace of mind knowing I can monitor the air quality in my home.
I bought my first meter a good while back now, spurred on by learning that some of the streets in the town where I live have some of the worst air pollution in the country. Luckily, we live on a hill away from the town centre and its heavy traffic and our air quality regularly measures as “good”.
The Airthings is proving to be a very good product, as it should be for the high asking price. It seems to me that it is as accurate as matters in what it measures, and, within reason, gives similar results to my other devices. I’ve learned that worrying whether CO2 levels, for example, are being accurately measured when one device shows, for example, 650ppm and another shows 850ppm doesn’t matter. What matters is that both show when levels are really high (say 1200ppm) and indicate it’s time to open a window to let in some fresh air. Measurement of chemicals in the air (VOCs) is an area where all of my meters tell a different story but, again, within reason, they do work well enough to show when a window needs to be opened. I gather that professional monitors cost thousands, so these amateur versions are not in the same league — but surely do work well enough to advise when fresh air is needed.
Unlike any other meter of this kind, the Airthings Wave Plus measures radioactivity levels (detected as radon gas). Depending on where you live, this might or might not be very useful. Despite living on a granite-laden area, where I gather radon can easily be a problem, I was relieved that there is next to no radioactivity in our house. Whew!
The unit differs from others also in that it operates on a pair of AA batteries, so it has no plug and trailing wires. That is a real boon when so many electric sockets are filled with this and that these days; it also means it can be put anywhere and, being so attractive and small, it will always be unobtrusive.
I’ve knocked off a star partly because it cannot measure the fine dust micro-particles that are a real issue in our modern air quality, those that once gave rise to the London smogs, for example, but now are emitted by such as diesel engines and wood-burner stoves, etc.. The unit also has no wi-fi link, only Bluetooth, which means the app only works when you are at home. This latter isn’t a major issue, and is probably why it will work without a mains connection.
Overall, this is an expensive device, but then none are cheap. No cheaper product measures CO2 levels, and this one does (the otherwise excellent Netatmo weather station’s indoor module does this, but it doesn’t measure any other aspect of air quality). CO2 is a useful measurement in my view, not that carbon dioxide is in any way dangerous to health, but it can easily bring the air quality to levels that create stuffiness and tiredness. It’s useful to know what is causing this in a room, and when to open a window. It also — uniquely — measures radioactivity as well as VOC, humidity, temperature, and air pressure. I do wish it measured fine particles, as I’ve mentioned. I’m surprised it doesn’t.
Overall, this is an excellent product and won’t disappoint, for sure.
We have Radon in our home so it’s easy to get an up to date reading!
-AIrthings Plus
-Foobot
-Dedicated Carbon Dioxide meter
-Dedicated radon detector
I was mainly interested in radon levels, temp, RH, carbon dioxide and humidity levels.
I was suspicious of one combined unit being able to do all of these things and do them well.
As I compared the Foobot vs. Airthings plus against dedicated meters, the airthings has a more accurate relative humidity gauge,a more accurate carbon dioxide levels AND its radon detector was pretty on par with the dedicated one.
I didn’t love that the foobot didn’t have a dedicated carbon dioxide meter and just based its CO2 reading off of VOC levels because, if you’re interested in actual numbers, why would you want a proxy estimation?
The airthings measures ALL of the things you care about in air quality and does it well. I also think it looks better than the foobot and actually like that it can be mounted on the wall. I hate clutter and don’t want cords everywhere.
Yes, the airthings doesn’t support WiFI, yes, the setup was buggy at first, I had to reinstall once but, once it got going it’s been perfect. I found that the wifi responsiveness of foobot was lacking anyway and I don’t have the need to monitor air quality when I’m not at home via wifi because…uhh…I’m not at home.
It’s expensive but if you want a sleek, accurate, all in once air monitoring device I think this is literally the only thing on the market that exists…
The other cheaper version (Airthings AS 2900 Wave) does not measure TVOC, CO2, nor atmospheric pressure. It only measures Radon, Temperature, and humidity.
This review would perhaps help you in making the decision as to which unit to purchase, and also what to expect.
First, all the measurements will appear to fluctuate significantly. This is also because the scale of the graph automatically adjusts to fill out the screen on the app, which makes “normal” fluctuations throughout the day appear to go to extreme top and bottom of the chart. When you initially look at the readings, you wonder, what is “normal” fluctuation?
Radon:
– While the unit gives you hourly updates of measurements (as data transferred from unit to phone periodically), there is the possibility of incidental fluctuations in measurements based on the random chance of detecting the radiation in spikes of concentrations. These are small fluctuations overall. There are larger fluctuations from day to day. The greatest fluctuation is comparison of winter to summer readings, with winter readings being high and summer readings being low. This is because in the winter, when it is cold outside, and heat is produced indoors, it creates a layering effect. Colder air is in the basement, and hotter air rises. The layering effect causes the radon concentrations in the basement to be more concentrated, resulting in higher readings. Furthermore, as hot air rises and escapes upward, this creates an upward movement of air, which also draws in more radon from the foundation and into the house. This is why winter readings are higher and summer readings are lower. This is also why most people recommend long term measurements to get a long term average.
This unit was great in terms of detection. As soon as I had installed a radon mitigation pump (connected to the sump pump and drawing from weeping tiles), within a day the digital readings fell to almost negligible. The digital graph is great to know that the unit is working and the mitigation is working right away. (other home test kits take like 3 months to test and mail out for results).
Of note, Airthings has the following coding for Radon: Red >= 150 Bq/m3, Yellow >= 100 and <150 Bq/m3, and Green <100 Bq/m3. For comparison, Canada says mitigation needed when >200 Bq/m3, but WHO says it is needed when >100Bq/m3. So in part, by targeting the Green, you are following WHO guidelines. Overall, the lower the numbers the better because of reducing the amount of radiation.
Note: for measurements to be comparable to research, this unit should be placed in the lowest level of the building for which you spend significant time each day. (e.g. 7 hrs a day). It doesn’t make sense to put it on like a second floor bedroom, even though you are curious about the levels in your bedroom, because you are unable to compare the risk % of cancer compared to radon levels (research all done with levels of lowest floor).
Humidity
– This is pretty straight forward. However, in certain parts of the continent, some cities are known to be dry during the winter. Even with my humidifier at max on the furnace, it is still on the dry end. Not much can be done. Your unit would be placed on the lowest floor, so not likely to have a portable humidifier next to it.
Temperature
– this is straight forward. But my basement is cold in the winter, so the readings tend to be blue, which is normal for my house.
These 3 are measured by the Airthings AS 2900 Wave and is sufficient for use.
The Airthings Wave Plus also measures TVOC, CO2, and atmospheric pressure. I found these numbers to be confusing.
At first, I started to feel anxious when every single day the TVOC and the CO2 numbers swing from green to red, up and down every single day. I kept wondering what is doing this. I began to wonder if there is a leak in the furnace causing this?
After a few months of looking, I have some conclusions but still incomplete. I did find the following:
– the TVOC and CO2 number tended to go up every late evening to early morning, and went back down during the daytime. These were very clearly seen cycles when you look at the 48hr and Week graph. Because of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that human beings produce CO2, and just by returning home from work/school and then sleeping overnight, the CO2 levels rise. I’ve also concluded that human beings release some TVOC, but I can’t tell how much.
– secondly, the TVOC levels rose every time a meal is prepared for supper. There is a delay of several hours before these readings appear. I assume this is because all the cooking smells takes a few hours to diffuse and then go through the furnace system to circulate the house before it gets to the sensor. I did find that when we did not eat at home or if on vacation, the TVOC levels did not spike significantly. At first it was alarming because the spikes would go to yellow and red zones. But now that I see association to cooking, I think I am less alarmed. But just puzzled as to how to measure “harmful” TVOC coming from manufactured products.
– atmospheric pressure appears to slightly affect the other readings, perhaps due to the effect of layering of air.
On online forums, there are a lot of people confused with TVOC and CO2 high levels, and they try to find the source. From my few months of experience, this is what I have concluded for now.
Overall, I think the cheaper version (Airthings AS 2900 Wave) is sufficient. If you wanted to measure TVOC, CO2, and atmospheric pressure, you can get the Airthings Wave Plus, but I found some of these readings to be confusing.
Conclusion:
Getting this unit may create more anxiety for you at first. Before, you didn’t know what the readings were, so you are not worried. Once you get this unit, you are looking at it every single hour, trying to analyze the fluctuations. This does create anxiety. But once you get radon mitigation done, you have good peace of mind because now you know that the levels are low and you can see it every day. You also know that you have tested it yourself and that it is not the mitigation company finding their own measurements to sway you. It is like an independent test.
Airthings m’a renvoy un Wave plus qui cette fois-ci fonctionne. L’appareil permet de collecter un grand nombre de mesures et semble tre assez prcis, non seulement sur le radon mais aussi sur d’autres telles que temprature, CO2, humidit, etc. Je le trouve plutt pratique et intressant !