Thank you so much for the work you do and this amazing passion project that you’ve created in the process!
I wanted to request a review for one of the indoor air monitors by Praan Air, which has emerged as a popular company in India since I was considering getting one for my own home back in Mumbai:
It comes in the budget category and I’m not sure if you would be able to review it since shipping might not be possible, but this is a link to it’s brochure:
Until we are able to get a piece and do a comprehensive review, would it be possible for you to comment on the quality of the specs, and maybe compare it with the existing budget category ones (it would really help me in making a decision about it). Here is a screenshot of the specs for your reference:
Hi @lakhi! Thanks a lot for joining the discussion (even with the issues you had - I’m sorry about that!).
I believe I mentioned it in my message, but it’s good timing as I actually have a few devices from Prana Air on the way at the moment! I will hopefully receive them next month, but an initial review (I’m unsure which device I will test first) is probably 2-3 months away.
It’s hard to know for sure (without knowing the sensor they use in this device), but the specs look very comparable to most other monitors - even those significantly more expensive. The normal accuracy bands for sensors like the Plantower PMS5003 and Sensirion SPS30 tend to be ±10ug/m3 at < 100ug/m3 and ±10% at > 100ug/m3. With this in mind, the Pocket PM monitor has a slightly worse stated accuracy, but I don’t think that it’s significant enough that it would make a difference.
One thing I would keep in mind - and this doesn’t just apple to the Pocket PM, but to almost all consumer-grade air quality monitors - is that the PM10 readings are likely very inaccurate. I wouldn’t rely on this, and would only pay attention to the PM1.0 and PM2.5 readings created by the device.
I see they also advertise showing particle counts (as seen in the screenshot above). I would be very hesitant to trust these readings, especially for anything larger than PM10.
Again, it’s hard to tell based on specs alone, but I would say this likely has decent accuracy when it comes to PM1.0 and PM2.5. However, be careful with the PM10 concentration and the individual particle counts. This, however, is something common across all low-cost devices.
One more thought just came to mind. Do you know how often this device takes measurements? I see that it has quite a small 400 mAh battery, and they advertise 4-hours of screen time. I worry that this may mean the sensor has quite a low sampling rate which may reduce usefulness.
I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any further questions. I am also excited to try these devices myself in the near future and I will be sure to share more thoughts once I am able to.
Out of curiosity, are the Temtop and Qingping devices available in India at reasonable prices? They also have a few budget-focused options that can be decent.
Thank you so much for such a comprehensive repsonse, @Ethan. And sure, while it might take a few months, I look forward to the Praan Air device reviews. I am not sure of the sampling rate btw.
Yes, the Temptop is available in India, and they have a nice budget variant:
No budget variant is available for the Qingping devices though. I also have the option of buying the IKEA Vindstyrka one for 40 euros.
Now I am not sure which one to choose among Temptop, the ikea one or Praan Air. One conceptual lack of understanding comes from figuring out whether the devise should measure PM 2.5, or CO2, or both. I know CO2 is more important for indoor air pollution, but my context is placing it in my living room of a relatively small house in a moderately polluted city of Mumbai. Would it be possible for you to share your inputs on this?
PS: I’m sorry if this is not the right place to ask that (please let me know the right category, and I’ll move my question there in case that’s better)
I reviewed this unit (or perhaps the one above it - I think this is the S1) a few months ago and you can find the full review here: Temtop S1+ Review - The Most Affordable Portable Air Quality Monitor. It’s a decent unit, but the main issues stem from a lack of transparency about how the data processing work. With that said, it’s an okay unit for occasional readings and getting a general overview of the air quality.
Perhaps I can try reaching out to them regarding this. It could make quite a big impact on the usefulness of the device, so I think it’s worth asking at least.
This is a great question and one that comes up often! There are a few important things to keep in mind here:
PM2.5 (and other types of particulate matter) are harmful to health and it’s important to reduce your exposure to these as much as possible. On the other hand, CO2 itself is not harmful in day-to-day concentrations, but it is a good proxy for ventilation and it can impact things like sleep quality and cognitive performance.
Having information on the CO2 concentration is very helpful, but unless you have ways to ventilate and decrease the concentration (without letting more PM inside) this data might not be too useful for you.
Due to this, CO2 isn’t a ‘pollutant’ as such, but it can be very helpful to monitor. If possible, I would definitely recommend getting a device with both parameters.
No problem at all! I just moved this to a new thread
What is the price difference between the three devices you mentioned in India?
Again, thank you so much for your comprehensive response!
There’s not much price difference between the three devices, I can get either of them for anywhere between 40-45 euros. But since I last posted on the forum, my questions and what I’m looking for have changed…
Firstly, the three pointers on PM 2.5 and CO2 that you shared, I did get the same response when I tried to ask ChatGPT, but I wanted to ask you to get an expert’s perspective and verify if it’s actually saying the right thing. I now get that it is! Considering ventilation isn’t too much of a problem at home, I think CO2 would not be of much importance to me though.
However, the way in which my thinking has shifted is the following. It would be useful if you could please point out if I’m thinking in the right direction:
earlier I was considering getting an air quality monitor device to figure out if the AQI in the house is bad enough to eventually get an air purifier;
However, based on my self-research, I understood that if the AQI in the city/area is in the polluted range (in Mumbai the avg AQI is 100-150 and PM 2.5 concentration hovers between 30-40), and considering we ventilate often
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This implies that the PM 2.5 concentration at home would be around 50-80% of that figure (gpt quoted stat). That means that there is already some pollution in the air we breathe at home, and makes enough of a case to get an air purifier (which could reduce the PM 2.5 concentration from 25 to less than 10 range, ideally)
Is the above reasoning correct, wrt being justified in wanting to get an air purifier? In that case, while I would check out your reviews of air purifiers, which are the top three that I should be looking at for my use case, according to you?
Assuming that the ventilation is opening windows/doors then yes, this is very likely true. I have no idea where ChatGPT got the 50-80% figure from, but the general idea is sound - if the outdoor air is moderately polluted and you often have windows/doors open, it is fair to assume that your indoor air quality is being impacted too.
Based on what I know of the air quality in Mumbai and the fact that you ventilate often, I believe that an air purifier is probably a good investment. However, it is worth noting that to get the most out of the air purifier, you would want to ‘lock down’ a bit and close the windows or doors. If you’re consistently introducing new particles into the indoor environment, the air purifier will likely struggle.
For the best air purifier, I would highly recommend checking out HouseFresh. They have much more experience than me with these devices and I trust their reviews: https://housefresh.com
