Month: June 2022

A good indoor air quality monitor should be able to measure the level of pollution in your home or office, although it won’t be able to do anything to reduce it. 

Even if you’ve been using an air purifier for years and are confident in its effectiveness, you probably still don’t know what air quality conditions it faces and when its performance is most important to you. This is because very few purifiers offer direct air quality readings. Certainly, some models have built-in sensors that can measure air quality and adjust machine settings to fix problems. They don’t usually tell you how much (and what type) of pollution they’re measuring, or why they’re adjusting.

An air quality monitor can help you see things more clearly by providing you with measurements of the air that is present at a given time in a given room in your home. Knowing what’s in the air can give you peace of mind, reveal sources of pollution and help you take action. If you live near a highway, for example, your air quality may drop during rush hour, prompting you to adjust your air purifier or air conditioner in anticipation. Some instructors may also offer simple tips and advice to improve your air. 

That said, most of the time, the decisions you make based on what an air quality monitor shows are decisions you should be making no matter what. Typically: opening the windows on sunny days will help you eliminate volatile organic compounds (VOCs or, more simply put, gases and odours). If a monitor confirms your concerns about particulate pollution (like smoke, pollen, and mould), you’ll need to keep an air purifier running. Monitors can augment, but not replace the air quality management by you.

That’s reason enough to make this device a useful companion to your other filter equipment. 

It also helps you to know when to replace HEPA filter. It can be difficult to tell when to replace a HEPA filter. Should one go by looks? Probably not. Going by looks turns out to be a poor measure of filter efficiency. The best way to test a HEPA filter’s efficiency and determine when to replace it is to use an air quality monitor.

Why HibouAir

Its design is sleek and navigation of its desktop and mobile applications are simple and effective. The app presents information in a logical way, with a clear display of air quality. The device is easy to set up and use, as it doesn’t require connecting or pairing. It doesn’t make any sound or show up any LED lights so as not to disturb your sleep, while the device continues to monitor the air. 

Its small size and simple shape make it easy to place on a desk or bedside table. This device has two versions, CO2 and Particle. The BLE version doesn’t offer Wi-Fi connectivity. This is not a weakness, however, just a different approach to air quality monitoring that meets the needs of many people. In addition, the BLE version generally costs less than the wifi version.

It measures particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) or CO2, along with other environmental factors such as VOCs, temperature, humidity, pressure, and light. 

The interface of the application is both simple and rich in information. It displays the current indoor air quality data and shows reading graphs for the past 7 days. Clicking on either graph opens a short menu that allows you to view only specific measurements (like CO2 or VOCs) and adjust the time window (in minutes, hours or days). The colour codes (green, yellow and red) indicate whether the measurements represent good, moderate or severely polluted air. 

The HibouAir app has proven to be extremely stable.

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What is carbon dioxide (CO2) and where is it found?

Composed of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms (CO2), carbon dioxide is a colourless gas of natural origin that appears in the atmosphere as a trace gas (that is, it occupies a volume of less than 1% of the total atmospheric ). It is a pillar in the terrestrial life cycle and plays a significant role in controlling the planet’s climate.

Carbon dioxide is caused by natural geothermal and biogeochemical phenomena that include the respiration of living things and their decomposition. It is also generated artificially by various human activities and industries, as well as the burning of fossil fuels, natural gas, and coal. And, with them, their concentration in the atmosphere is increasing.

The effects of CO2 on humans

In normal concentrations, carbon dioxide is generally not a toxic gas for people. Although it is exhaled in the breath, it is a necessary gas for life that is diffused throughout the body and that assists in many physiological functions, such as haemoglobin. However, when CO2 is found in higher concentrations in environments, it can become a gas that is harmful to humans.

CO2 is expressed in ppm (parts per million), and a limit value of 1000 ppm is recommended for a healthy indoor climate. Above 1200 ppm, the indoor climate is unhealthy and ventilation is required immediately. Air humidity is also important. Air that is too dry irritates the respiratory tract, and air that is too humid can cause mould. Air humidity is expressed in RH (relative humidity), it is recommended to seek a percentage of humidity between 40% and 60%.

An unhealthy indoor climate can cause the following health problems:

• Headaches, fatigue, and drowsiness (which often increase during the day);
• Mucosal irritations and other non-specific discomforts;
• Communication of infectious diseases that leads to an increase in sick leave;
• Increased incidence of allergies;
• Increased risk of asthma attacks.

THE MEASUREMENT OF CO2 AS AN INDICATOR OF AIR QUALITY

The correct ventilation of indoor or closed environments is essential to control possible exposures to respiratory viruses – among them, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. But how to ensure that the environments we occupy are properly ventilated or maintain air circulation and purification systems that protect us?

Being produced naturally by people, closed or poorly ventilated environments will always have higher concentrations of particles and gases such as CO2 than those with adequate air flows. And it is environments with little ventilation in which the effects of poor air quality, in addition to a possible source of contagion, are found.

Since CO2 is the gas that is most abundantly produced by the respiratory process, gas and particle concentration meters have become a fundamental tool for health care. 

These air quality monitors take a sample of the air in environments to provide certainty about the ppm values ​​of carbon dioxide and other particles found in them. Air quality monitors allow us to understand exactly if space is safe and healthy, or not. 

Monitor CO2 levels with HibouAir

In the personal and specific environment for shared indoor environments, keeping an eye on carbon dioxide concentrations is essential to take ventilation and correction actions, and take care of ourselves. To do this, it is recommended to have a monitor that can monitor air concentrations, provide intelligent information to improve decision-making, and help take quick action in controlled environments to create conditions for a healthy and productive workplace or home.

Incorporating all these functions; the HibouAir is the most accurate air quality monitor in its category. 

It enables intelligent and remote monitoring for homes or offices.

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Sources:

https://www.co2.earth/daily-co2

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z3fv4wx/articles/zndkxyc

Improving employee productivity is a key goal for companies of any size. Having a healthy workplace is one of the concerns of companies. In fact, indoor air quality greatly influences the health of staff by influencing their well-being and creating productive and healthy work environments.

A company that does not take care of its employees does not inspire trust and can lose everything: customers, turnover, talent drain, etc. Therefore, the quality of the air breathed at work is a very important factor influencing the health of workers. Employers, therefore, have every interest in ensuring that their teams breathe good quality air. Good indoor air quality improves working conditions. In fact, the exposure to diseases increases by sharing closed spaces where the air circulates little and is hardly renewed. Not in vain, the indoor air is twice as polluted compared to the outside air. For several decades, this issue has fortunately been taken very seriously and the evolution of technology facilitates awareness of the subject. In addition, the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a review of indoor air quality standards.  

Indoor air is on average 5 to 7 times more polluted than outdoor air, whereas we spend 80 to 90% of our time there, mainly in our workplace. In question, many factors and pollutants can have an impact on health. To mention just one, CO2, which is one of these factors, is very present in buildings.

It is measured in ppm (part per million) or µg/m3. Indoor CO2 levels are generally higher than outdoors, due to CO2 exhaled by occupants. It should be noted that there can be harmful consequences when the concentrations are higher than approximately 1000 ppm such as health risks and a reduction in efficiency at work.  If the threshold is exceeded, the air is considered polluted and it is recommended not to temporarily occupy the room.

Most important, to minimize the risk of virus transmission through the air is keeping CO2 levels as low as possible in all indoor spaces. 

How to improve indoor air quality and CO2 impact

The following steps can be taken :

• Ventilate the rooms: it is recommended to open the windows as well as the doors on a regular basis to ventilate the premises and reduce the effects of confinement.
• Have good ventilation: an effective ventilation system is recommended to ensure good air renewal.
• Control sources of pollution: there are many sources of indoor pollution and it is important to limit them. 
• Take measurements using air quality sensors: these sensors make it possible to measure the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the room but also other indoor pollutants (volatile organic compounds (VOC) etc.. in order to be able to make the right decisions and apply appropriate corrective measures.

For this, there are devices for measuring air quality which will allow knowing more about the air currently breathed. HibouAir is receommended in this regard. HibouAir is an affordable air quality monitoring device with a simple setup that provides all indoor environmental data for observations of CO2, VOC, PM, pressure, temperature, and humidity for a healthy environment. It is suitable for offices and other indoor places with a wide range of applications. This device comes with a cloud dashboard which allows accessing historical data remotely along with mobile and desktop applications. There are several solutions provided by HibouAir for indoor air quality monitoring.

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The air quality at home can affect both adults and the child. However, children are extra sensitive to air pollution.

Clean air has been linked to children’s health and well-being. Children are particularly susceptible to air pollution because their bodies and lungs are still developing. For example, you get asthma much easier as a child than as an adult. Then children are also a little more active, so they breathe more in comparison with body weight. This makes them absorb air pollutants much more easily than adults.

As a parent, the safety of children is a top priority. Most parents, on the other hand, do not realize the danger that risks their children’s health every day because they don’t have access to visible air quality data. Children come into contact with environmental pollutants in their rooms every day. Toys and other items make the child’s bedroom a fun, safe space to play, learn and sleep. These items are likely to release toxic air pollutants into the room.

Indoor air pollution can be up to five times more severe than outdoors. They are there even though we can not always see or smell them. 

Air pollution in the home can have many different health effects on children, including childhood asthma, allergies, poorer learning ability and a higher risk of early cancer and cardiovascular disease later in life. This is especially serious because studies show that high exposure to air pollutants early in life can have lifelong consequences for children’s physical and mental development. Installing an air quality monitoring device at home will make sure that children are breathing in the best air.

Choose the best air quality monitoring device for kids

HibouAir is an affordable air quality monitoring device with a simple setup that helps you accurately measure indoor environmental data for observations and studies to preserve a healthy air quality environment. HibouAir comes with two different variations; particule and CO2 sensors. 

There are several indoor air quality monitoring solutions provided by HibouAir:

• Indoor air quality monitoring cloud solution
• Indoor air quality monitoring desktop solution

Users can choose the best solution that meets their requirements.

HibouAir mobile and desktop applications work for any solution which provides real-time air quality data of nearby devices over Bluetooth. HibouAir Dashboard account is available for cloud solutions, which provides real-time data with various maps, charts and graphs for analysis. It can also generate alert notifications and periodically reports upon request.

With HibouAir, parents can feel calm in the knowledge that children can play happily, sleep well and stay healthy. 

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Many people think, that instead of installing a long term air quality monitoring device if they use the environmental data detector and read the value several times, it will help them understand the air quality of the environment. This article will discuss the importance of historical air quality data for the indoor environment.

Generally speaking, people do not actively care about indoor air quality. Only when there are peculiar smells, physical discomfort, mucous membrane irritation in the room etc. Of course, some people don’t care about air quality because they don’t have access to visible data. The real-time data released by indoor air quality monitoring will gradually develop people’s habit of caring about the air quality of their environment. With such a habit and the basis of environmental data, people will take the initiative to find ways to control indoor air quality, thereby improving the health of the environment in which they live.

Air pollution has many characteristics, but there are two related to the need for air quality monitoring: dynamic change and invisibility. Many reasons affect indoor air pollution, such as building interior surface materials, decoration materials, all kinds of furniture, children’s toys, copiers, printers, use of pesticides, use of cleaning agents, outdoor haze/air pollution entering indoors, etc. The main parameters involved are also quite extensive, such as formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, inhalable particulate matter, carbon dioxide, etc., which can be described as quite complex. And because of another characteristic of air: invisibility, people do not know what pollution sources and air pollution problems need to be solved after any adjustments have been made, or no adjustments have been made at all. This makes real-time and long-term air monitoring of great significance. The real-time data can give an early warning of the polluted environment, and the historical data can show the length of time people are exposed to the polluted environment and analyze the degree of damage that may be caused to human health.

Air quality monitoring equipment is usually equipped with an air monitoring system platform and cooperates with mobile phones, computers and other electronic screens to release and display real-time or historical data. Reading these values can help understand the causes and sources of indoor air pollution and make necessary adjustments for living in a healthy environment.

Recently, more people are paying attention to indoor air quality while building smart and healthy places. Introducing air quality monitoring device that can store data over time and gives the access to it can be one of the important options for comprehensive consideration and assessment of the health level of the indoor space.

In this regard, Smart Sensor Devices has developed an air quality monitor device called HibouAir. HibouAir is an affordable wireless device with a simple setup that helps you accurately measure indoor environmental data for observations and study to preserve a healthy air quality environment. There are several indoor air quality monitoring solutions provided by HibouAir:

• Indoor air quality monitoring cloud solution
• Indoor air quality monitoring desktop solution
• Indoor air quality monitoring for Cisco DNA Spaces

The device connects automatically to your HibouAir Dashboard account, which provides real-time data with various maps, charts and graphs for analysis. It can also generate alert notifications and periodically reports upon request. HibouAir mobile app provides real-time air quality data of nearby devices over Bluetooth.

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How do we know if the air we breathe is clean and healthy? To some extent, we can trust our senses. When the sun shines in through the windows, for example, we can sometimes see large particulate pollutants in the air with the naked eye.

The nose is also great at detecting a variety of pollutants at very low levels. Contaminated air is often experienced as trapped. Some of these contaminants are filtered out in the nose and upper respiratory tract. But far from everything. The rest goes down into the lungs. Some particles are so small that they penetrate the lung tissue and are absorbed directly into the bloodstream.

Asthma and poor air quality in homes

A healthy and good indoor climate is important for us to function optimally in everyday life. If the indoor climate is bad, we risk developing dangerous respiratory diseases and other health problems, which in the long run reduce the quality of life. Many people have respiratory illnesses that are often caused by bad indoor air. People with asthma can quickly get worsening symptoms if they stay in buildings with poor air quality. Of course, many of the symptoms can also be caused by things other than bad air, but studies show that the symptoms occur more often in buildings with poor air quality.

Carbon dioxide in homes!

Many dangerous substances in our homes and the indoor air do not smell or give any clear symptoms. Therefore good ventilation is very important for healthy living.

With simple measuring equipment for household use, we can measure the air temperature and humidity. But to find out if the air we breathe is really clean and healthy, we need air quality monitoring devices.

Improve the indoor air for asthmatics and allergy sufferers by monitoring air quality

In this regard, Smart Sensor Devices has developed an air quality monitor device called HibouAir. HibouAir is an affordable wireless device with a simple setup that helps you accurately measure indoor environmental data for observations and study to preserve a healthy air quality environment. There are several indoor air quality monitoring solutions provided by HibouAir:

• Indoor air quality monitoring cloud solution
• Indoor air quality monitoring desktop solution

Using HibouAir Mobile and Desktop application, users can easily access real-time air quality data of the surrounding environment. The cloud solution allows the device to connect to the users HibouAir Dashboard account, which provides real-time data with various maps, charts and graphs for analysis. It can also generate alert notifications and periodically reports upon request.

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Indoor air quality is a very relevant indicator when it comes to maintaining the comfort and health of a closed space, whether it is intended for housing or any other use. To maintain proper standards, you need the tools and regulations to monitor indoor air quality.

The quality of the air inside is essential for healthy living, especially when we spend around 90% of the time in closed spaces, as pointed out by The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS).

The Swedish legislation has established guidelines that must be met to ensure the highest quality of the air in enclosed spaces.

Therefore we will discuss why it is important to monitor air quality for our health.

Importance of monitoring indoor air quality

Several diseases and conditions can be derived from poor indoor air quality. From mild symptoms such as eye stinging or itching, to much more serious diseases such as lung cancer.

The circumstances that can lead to poor indoor air quality are varied, and all must be controlled and supervised through the assistance of professionals. From simple dampness or mould to inadequate smoke extraction facilities can be the cause of these ills.

Unlike outside air, indoor air can be trapped and accumulate pollutants. And here we are dealing with a major problem, given that the WHO estimates that 3.8 million people die each year from air pollution in homes.

The International Well Building Institute cites the following parameters to ensure conditions or standards of indoor air quality:

• Particulate matter: 10 microns or less in diameter: 50 ug / m³; 2.5 microns or less in diameter: 15 ug / m³.
• Carbon monoxide: Less than 9 ppm.
• Volatile organic compounds: Less than 500 ug / m³.
• Formaldehyde: Less than 27 ppb.
• Carbon dioxide: Approximately 700 ppm above outdoor air levels (generally around 1,000 to 1,200 ppm).
• Humidity: Below 60%, ideally between 30% and 50%.
• Temperature: from 20 ° C to 23 ° C (winter); from 25 ° C to 27 ° C.

How can we monitor indoor air quality?

It is obvious that there is a need to monitor and evaluate the indoor air quality of spaces. To control and monitor this air quality, there are sensors designed to detect a specific contribution (some particular pollutant) and convert that information into a quantifiable signal to transmit it electronically. The rise of the IoT (“Internet of Things”) and the digitization of home automation have led to smart and connected sensors for measuring air quality.

Sensors can measure different types of contaminants depending on their function. They are usually intended to detect carbon dioxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, no2 etc.

In this regard, Smart Sensor Devices has developed an air quality monitor device called HibouAir. HibouAir is an affordable wireless device with a simple setup that helps you accurately measure indoor environmental data for observations and study to preserve a healthy air quality environment. There are three models:

• HibouAir indoor PM Sensor (SSD002/1): This device includes Particle Matter (PM 1.0, PM 2.5, PM 10), pressure, temperature, humidity, als, VOC sensors.
• HibouAir indoor CO2 Sensor (SSD002/2): This device includes CO2, pressure, temperature, humidity, als, VOC sensors
• HibouAir outdoor Sensor (SSD021/1): This device includes Particle Matter (PM 2.5, PM 10), pressure, NO2, temperature, humidity, als, VOC sensors.

The device connects automatically to your HibouAir Dashboard account, which provides real-time data with various maps, charts and graphs for analysis. It can also generate alert notifications and periodically reports upon request. HibouAir mobile app provides real-time air quality data of nearby devices over Bluetooth.

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Photo by Poppy Lin on Unsplash