Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor Try out
Routines triggered by temperature changes are currently supported by this device. Other sensors do not currently have full Routines capability.
This device is a carbon monoxide (CO) monitor that measures CO levels in the air. It is not a replacement for a carbon monoxide detector or alarm, and it is not certified as one. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) or Radon are not measured by this gadget.
This item is only meant to be used indoors.
- Sends out notifications when there is a problem with the air quality
- The indicator light indicates the current air quality
- Hourly, daily, and weekly graphs or measures are available
- The app discusses indoor air contaminants and gives advice on how to reduce them
- It doesn’t clean the air
- One per room is recommended by Amazon
Running an air purifier in your house might help you relax regarding harmful gases and inhalable particles. The Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor ($69.99) does not purify the air, but it does measure particulate matter (PM 2.5), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), humidity, and temperature around the clock to help you understand what’s in your indoor air and whether you need a purifier. It can send notifications to your phone, make an announcement via associated Echo devices when it detects a high amount of airborne contaminants, and provide detailed graphs of your home air quality over the last hour, day, and week. In the end, a purifier will be required to remove dangerous particles and other impurities from the air so that they do not enter your lungs. However, Amazon’s Smart Air Quality Monitor can provide you with piece of mind by letting you know when you’re breathing clean air.
What Is Detected by the Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor?
Amazon’s Smart Air Quality Monitor is 1.8 by 2.6 by 2.6 inches in size (HWD). On the front, there’s an air intake vent and a multicolor LED indicator that shows you your current indoor air quality (IAQ) at a glance. It also works with the Amazon Alexa app (for Android and iOS) and Echo devices to allow you to monitor your indoor air quality using your phone and voice.
The device measures temperature, humidity, particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in size (PM 2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), and volatile organic compound (VOC) levels as air passes through the intake vent.
PM 2.5 particles are extremely small (about 30 times smaller than a human hair) and easy to inhale. Any source of smoke, such as candles, cooking, a fireplace, incense, or industrial emissions, can result in higher PM2.5 levels. This particulate matter can irritate your airways and cause breathing problems; it’s especially dangerous for people who have asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure, or coronary artery disease.
The Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor only detects and reports on PM2.5 matter (particulate matter up to 10 microns, including dust, mold, and pollen). Most smart air purifiers measure both PM2.5 and PM10 matter (particulate matter up to 10 microns, including dust, mold, and pollen).
CO is an odorless, combustible gas that, at high amounts, can be dangerous. Cars, clothes dryers, fireplaces, furnaces, generators, grills, ovens, power tools, stoves, and water heaters are all examples of fuel-burning appliances that produce this. While the Smart Air Quality Detect can monitor CO levels, Amazon recommends that it not be used in place of a CO alarm. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and radon, two more potentially life-threatening invisible gases, are also not measured by the device.
It does measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are potentially dangerous gases produced by cleaning chemicals and paint. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “thousands” of products emit VOCs, which can cause everything from headaches to cancer. These include air fresheners, dry-cleaned clothing, and office equipment like copiers and printers. Indoor VOC concentrations are often substantially higher than outside VOC values.
Your IAQ (indoor air quality) score is calculated using all of these criteria by the Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor. It considers an IAQ score of 100 to 65 to be “Good” and displays it as a green light. Scores between 64 and 35 are labeled “Moderate” on the monitor, which is highlighted in yellow. Scores of less than 35 are labeled “Poor” and are highlighted in red.
The Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor: How to Set It Up and Use It
A power cord and adaptor are included with the display. To set it up, make sure it’s in a well-ventilated area and that the air intake vent isn’t blocked. Then, using the power adapter, plug it in; the LED should glow blue, indicating that it’s in setup mode.
After that, open or download the Amazon Alexa app on your phone and sign in using your Amazon credentials. A pop-up notified me that the Smart Air Quality Monitor was ready to be set up once I launched the Alexa app. The app then instructs you to locate and scan the QR code for your device, which can be found in two locations: the quick start instructions included in the box and the bottom of the display.
Scanning the QR code, waiting for the device to connect, and then assigning it to a room group via the app are all options. It should calculate your IAQ score after a seven-minute initial calibration. As it adjusts to the environment, the monitor will continue to calibrate for two more days.
You may check your IAQ dashboard in the Alexa app after you’ve set up the monitor. Your current IAQ score is displayed on the dashboard, along with the current temperature, humidity percentage, and PM2.5, CO, and VOC data. Your average hourly, daily, and weekly IAQ scores are graphed below. Select one of the tabs at the top of the dashboard to see trend graphs for individual parameters.
The app makes it simple to see your air quality trends as well as the factors that influence your IAQ score. It also does a fantastic job of describing each indicator and its health implications, as well as providing suggestions for improving air quality. “Try decreasing indoor PM levels by using an air purifier or cleaning vents and fans on a regular basis and replacing filters in home ventilation equipment,” the app says. It also suggests that you “service and ventilate fuel-burning appliances appropriately.”
Most smart air purifiers, like the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07 ($549.99), have comparable monitoring capabilities. The TP07’s companion app displays graphs of your general air quality, PM2.5, PM10, VOC, NO2 (nitrogen dioxide and oxidizing gases like gas stoves and car exhaust), temperature, and humidity levels. It also provides educational materials to assist you in better understanding the pollutants that effect your air quality.
The Smart Air Quality Monitor from Amazon doesn’t include a built-in speaker to sound an alarm if it detects high amounts of airborne pollutant. It may, however, send a notice to your phone and voice an alert via associated Echo smart speakers and smart displays when your air quality deteriorates. You may also ask Alexa about your interior air quality after syncing it with an Echo device.
During my testing, I discovered that Alexa is picky about how you word your questions. When I asked Alexa, “Alexa, what is the interior air quality?” my Echo Show displayed graphs of the most recent temperature, humidity, PM, CO, and VOC readings as well as the current IAQ score. “That’s not supported currently,” the virtual assistant answered when I framed the question somewhat differently—”Alexa, how’s my indoor air quality?”
The Palo Santo Test: How the Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor Performs
I placed the Smart Air Quality Monitor in the same room as a Dyson TP07, and the values for overall air quality, temperature, and humidity were nearly identical. I ignited a stick of palo santo wood within equal distance of both devices to further examine their performance, then timed how long it took each one to measure a high level of particulate matter and rate the overall air quality as poor. The TP07 rating system has a few more levels: good (green), fair (yellow), poor (orange), very poor (red), extremely poor (maroon), and severe (maroon) (purple).
Both devices evaluated the overall air quality as good before lighting the palo santo. The Smart Air Quality Monitor recorded a room temperature of 79°F, a humidity level of 55%, PM2.5 levels of 6 micrograms per cubic meter, CO levels of 2 ppm, and VOC levels of 1. The Dyson TP07 recorded identical initial conditions, including a 74-degree ambient temperature, 54 percent humidity, 8 micrograms per cubic meter PM2.5, and zero NO2 and VOC levels.
The recorded PM values progressively began to grow when I lit the palo santo and fanned the smoke about both devices. After 3 minutes and 22 seconds, the TP07’s air quality indicator light went yellow, then maroon after around four and a half minutes. It turned purple after around 10 minutes.
The Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor reported a moderate quantity of PM after five minutes, but still rated the overall IAQ as satisfactory. Its LED turned yellow at the seven-minute mark, indicating a moderate IAQ level. It recorded a high level of PM after around 10 minutes yet a modest IAQ grade. The Smart Air Quality Monitor’s LED turned red at 12 minutes during the test.
On both of my Echo devices, Alexa vocally cautioned, “The indoor air quality in your home recently changed to poor,” as soon as the Smart Air Quality Monitor‘s LED turned red. The monitor also sends a notification to my phone at the same time.
The Smart Air Quality Monitor does not state how large of a place it can manage, but Amazon recommends placing one in each room. I only seem to need one unit for my little open-concept kitchen, dining, and living room. The Smart Air Quality Monitor in my living room detected smoke one day when I was cooking in the kitchen, and Alexa informed me that the air quality had deteriorated to poor. Obviously, installing a monitor in every room in your house could be expensive; I’d rather spend my money on a high-quality smart air purifier that can manage a wide area (like the $449 Coway Airmega 250S) than a slew of monitoring devices.
What’s in the Air You Breathe?
According to the EPA, the air inside your home is probably more contaminated than the air outside, regardless of where you reside. The Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor, which is quite inexpensive, can help you keep a closer check on your indoor air quality. It effectively monitors the temperature, humidity level, particulate matter concentration, carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds, and general air quality of the room it’s placed in—but it doesn’t clean the air. I’m willing to guess that Amazon will eventually include this technology into a full-fledged smart air purifier, but in the meanwhile, the Smart Air Quality Monitor can work in tandem with a standard purifier to help you better understand the air you breathe.
Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor Try out
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Viggo Petersen, a writer with a wide-ranging curiosity, who is always looking for new ways to explore the world and the human experience through my work. I believe that writing is not just about expressing oneself, but about exploring the world and the human experience in all its forms and complexities. I strive to create stories that are both entertaining and enlightening, that reveal the beauty and complexity of the world and the human experience. I believe that writing has the power to connect us with others, to bring us closer together, and to help us understand ourselves and the world around us.
