Odds are good your answer is short: nothing. Tens of thousands of monitors across the globe provide up-to-date metrics for outdoor air quality that you can easily access through weather apps and websites, but indoor air quality is less frequently measured. AirThings View Plus can change that, in your home, at least. Now available for pre-order at $299 (with delivery estimated for September), the View Plus delivers simple, actionable measurements of your home’s air quality.
One Monitor, Six Measurements
The AirThings View Plus can measure seven metrics of air quality: radon, particulates (PM2.5, to be specific), VOCs, carbon dioxide, air pressure, humidity, and temperature. These metrics aren’t new to consumer air quality monitors, but the View Plus stands out by combining them in one device. Prior monitors from AirThings didn’t include particulates, while popular alternatives like the Kaiterra Laser Egg+ included particulates, but not radon. Not everyone lives in an area susceptible to radon, but I do. It’s so common that, when I purchased a home, my real estate agent said I’d be crazy not to do a radon inspection. The results were dire: radon levels were seven times higher than the EPA recommendation. A radon mitigation system was installed and a new test found levels in safe limits, but that was years ago. Fortunately, the View Plus found my home’s radon levels remain low. The View Plus was less kind about particulates. I soon learned the smell of bacon has a dark side. Any use of my oven spiked particulates above recommended levels. This alarming insight not-so-gently nudged me into using my oven’s vent. I already knew I should use it, but before I knew how bad my home’s air quality was, I often left it off. I never thought this simple oversight could leave particulates produced by dinner lingering in the air past midnight.
The App Is an Undeniable Success
Measuring air quality is one thing. Turning that measurement into actionable information is another. Most people, myself included, aren’t familiar with the particulars of air quality. I mean, what even is a VOC? AirThings clears away the confusion. The View Plus has an e-Ink display that shows two chosen metrics, but you can wave a hand across the device to see if air quality is good, fair, or poor. This judgement is based on the lowest of all measurements. You can dive even deeper with the AirThings Wave app. It provides data on each metric and includes a history of how each has changed over hours, weeks, months, years. The app also has tooltips that link to more detailed explanations of what each measurement means. It helps that the app is intuitive and fast. The app opens to a summary of connected AirThings devices with green, yellow, or red circles that show air quality at a glance. You can even set up notifications to alert you when air quality exceeds a specific threshold.
Easy to Set Up, Easy to Install
AirThings’ focus on ease-of-use extends to setup. I wasn’t sure what to expect before opening the box and didn’t read the instructions beforehand, yet I had the device functioning and connected to my smartphone in less than 10 minutes. One source of friction is the seven-day calibration period. The View Plus begins to report results almost instantly, but the sensors require a week of calibration before measurements are accurate. Fortunately, the View Plus doesn’t require permanent installation. While you can plug it into power over USB, it includes six AA batteries for operation away from an AC outlet. This is how I used the monitor, and after two months, the batteries report 83% charge remaining. The View Plus works perfectly well on a shelf, which is where I placed it. That’s good news for renters. Ease of installation is critical here. The AirThings View Plus has changed my habits, and will likely change them more over time, but this only happened because I understood how to set up the monitor and what the results meant. The View Plus is easier to install than most smart home thermostats, security cameras, and locks, lifting a key barrier between you and better indoor air quality.
