Be AWAIR of what we breathe
What quality is the air in your home? This device will tell you
Air purifiers are becoming increasingly popular in houses and they can help to reduce the number of allergens you breathe in at home. But they do so without giving you much information about the general quality of the air you are breathing.
The second edition of the Awair Air Quality Monitor aims to do this in a smart, hi-tech connected way. Unboxing the Awair reveals a device that is much more pleasing on the eye than I’d expected. It has a mesh grille at the front and is made from walnut and resembles in looks a small stylish retro radio, though it’s just six inches across.
The Awair plugs into a mains socket via the included USB power adaptor and USB cable. Once powered up, a discreet but quirky white LED display behind the grille lights up and this is where the statistics and information will be displayed.
I downloaded the Awair app, and paired my smartphone with the Awair. The set-up process is straightforward and the Awair will join your Wi-Fi network. Once connected, the app walks you through customising the Awair’s display and apart from displaying useful air quality information, the unit actually works very nicely as a digital clock.
As you customise the set-up, you can select what you want the Awair to focus on. This is where you decide if you want to focus on sleep, baby, allergies or other areas. If the Awair knows what’s important in your home, it can measure the elements and recommend changes to improve the environment for the selected focus area. This gadget monitors five specific factors. As well as temperature and humidity it also monitors C02. The Awair also monitors chemicals, or VOCs that can occur when cleaning products or solvents are present. However, it also tracks PM2.5 which are tiny particles that can cause itchy eyes or aggravate allergies. All of these factors are displayed on the app using a simple to understand colour coded system, where green indicates good air. The scores also combine
AIR APPARENT:
The Awair app is accurate and easy to understand QUIRKY: The device resembles a retro radio to give an overall Awair Score as a general picture of air quality.
For easy reference though, you don’t need to use the app as the measurements are displayed on the Awair’s LED display, and a button on the device lets you cycle through those measurements if you prefer.
The display can be difficult to read at times, depending on the room lighting and the insights the app gives you to improve the air quality could be more explanatory.
However, I found this to be a far more useful device than I’d imagined it would be. It made me conscious of over-heating rooms or of not using the kitchen fan – small changes that can make a difference. It’s certainly not a budget device, but it could appeal to a broad range of people who care about the air in their homes and the family that breathes it.
IT ALSO MONITORS PARTICLES THAT CAN CAUSE ITCHY EYES