I wanted to share a little about my High School Senior Capstone Project, which is a graduation requirement at my school.
For my project, I chose to focus on air quality in classrooms, its effects, and how we can improve it. I’ve spent a lot of time researching, (Link to some documents I worked on):
But to be honest, I put this project aside for a while, and now I’m really behind. The most urgent thing I need to do is start testing before exploring and implementing solutions.
To do that, I need to find an air quality monitor, but I’m struggling to find one that fits both my needs and my budget, and I have little knowledge on what I need it to be capable of to gain data on the overall air quality of classrooms. Since this is still a school project, I don’t want to spend too much, and I actually would be happy to buy something used. I would say that a device under 100$ would be nice, but I usually find good deals used, so I can spend some time researching there too.
Does anyone have recommendations for a good air quality monitor? Also, does anyone know the best way to go about testing air quality? I need the study to be professional, and I want to test in different schools, not just my high school-this includes local middle and elementary schools.
If anyone has experience with this or any advice on how to approach testing, and even this entire project as a whole, I’d really appreciate it!
Hi @Hippovrm, thanks for joining! I haven’t yet had a chance to read the Google Docs that you shared fully, but I did have a brief look over them and I think this is a fantastic topic to cover! I’m happy to help if I can.
Firstly, I think it would be good to define the scope of the project a bit more. In the ‘Plan for air quality testing’ document, you mention a wide range of pollutants, but in the research essay, the focus is on carbon dioxide and ventilation. Have you decided exactly which pollutants you will be focusing on, or are you going to look at carbon dioxide and ventilation instead? Knowing the answer to this will make it much easier to recommend a monitor.
Please let me know, and we can discuss this further!
Hi, thanks for your response, and sorry for the late reply! Thanks for pointing the difference in topics covered, the research essay was written earlier, so it focused mostly on CO2 and ventilation, while the testing plan includes a wider range of pollutants. I am doing this entire project on the side so I struggle to remember everything I have worked on already, and what I need to focus on
Right now, I’m leaning toward CO2 because it’s a good indicator of overall air quality, but I also want to consider other factors like particulate matter or VOCs since they can have different impacts. The main challenge is figuring out what’s both relevant and practical to measure with the kind of air quality monitor I can afford.
Based on your experience, what would you recommend focusing on? I would love to hear your thoughts!
I can totally understand this as I’m often in the same boat! I just wanted to clarify this before getting too much into the specific details.
I think this is a good choice, too. Indoor carbon dioxide has a lot of focus at the moment, and it’s for good reason. PM would also be good to look into, but VOCs might be challenging due to how most sensors use relative scales. You could mention it, but I think focusing on CO2 and PM would keep everything a bit more focused and provide more reliable results and discussions.
As for the monitor itself, I guess you need something with good connectivity or data retention (or both) so you can gather the data without worry. Within this price range, the Qingping Air Quality Monitor Lite might be a good choice as it measures both PM and CO2. Alternatively, one of the Temtop monitors with PM and CO2 could work (but ensure you get one with connectivity).
The AirGradient ONE and Qingping Air Quality Monitor are also good choices, but they’re a bit more expensive. If you can find one on sale/secondhand, they might also be worth looking into!
Did you have any particular devices in mind already?
Thank you so much for these recommendations, I did not have any specific devices in mind, but I was looking into handheld devices to test at specific times and in different locations. These monitors do seem more practical. I will definitely look into the devices you shared, and will probably order as soon as I have decided which one. I will be working on my capstone for the next few hours so I will send an update. Again, thank you!
A handheld device is a good idea, too. It really depends on how you intend to go about this. Do you think it will be possible to place a monitor for at least a few hours to get data, or does a portable monitor seem more feasible? If so, the Atmotube could be a good device, but it doesn’t have a CO2 sensor.
Please feel free to reach out at any time if you have further questions!
So, small update: I bought the Qingping Air Quality Monitor Gen 2 as it seemed like a good option that I could actually use after the testing. I also bought it as it will arrive by tomorrow, letting me start testing by Friday. I will update you soon once I start testing! Do you have any ideas about possible solutions I can try? Right now I will probably test with air purifiers, and plants (even tho they will likely not make a difference, they will help my presentation and study). I also can test with simple window ventilation for some, but many classrooms do not have access to windows, and/or have students with allergies which could increase with this type of ventilation. So if you have any ideas on what can improve air quality, feel free to share. I will also search on my end. Thank you again for your help through this project!
To answer your question, yes I should be able to leave the monitor on for multiple hours. I will also have to test in different schools so the monitor will stay the entire day, or an entire morning/afternoon which will probably be easier than having to come back more often. Thank you again!
Good choice! I don’t know if you’ve already seen this, but I have a full review of the device here:
Long story short, I think it’s a great monitor!
I don’t think you will be able to notice any difference with plants (from what I’ve read, you need a LOT of plants to make an obvious difference), but it’s worth trying!
This is a great idea, and I would suggest looking at both CO2 and PM trends when the windows are open. I would expect CO2 to drop, but PM may increase depending on the outdoor air quality where you live. I’m not sure if the classrooms also have some other form of ventilation system (or even something like AC), but it could be worth testing these as well if you are able to.
This is great as it will give you a long enough period to draw some conclusions from. The longer, the better - but obviously within the constraints of what you can feasibly manage for this project.
