It’s no surprise that if you live in a built-up area of the country, the air quality won’t be as good as in the countryside. You need just look at the fact that seven of the UK’s major cities – Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London – have all enforced (controversial) Low Emission Zones in recent years.
However, not many people realise that the air quality within your home is also likely filled with low-level toxins, too. Tech is keeping up though, with a whole raft of new devices and gadgets to keep pollutants in check.
From at-home monitors that keep track of the various contaminants and alert you when they hit high levels, to multi-tasking air purifiers that catch the offending gases and extract them, releasing clean air in their place, with these machines in your home, you can rest assured that your air will be as clean as it could possibly be.
There are oodles of ways that clean air can be compromised in your home. Emissions caused by a fire or stove, and even cooking smells are to blame.
Airborne toxins like Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which include a range of harmful chemical gases emitted from paint, furnishings and detergents, also add to poor air quality indoors.
Finally, dust and pollen can fill the air, aggravating existing allergies and asthma. While opening your windows when you cook or investing in some of the best air-purifying indoor plants might filter out the pollutants, it’s not always the most practical option – it may be too cold or you may live near a main road.
Keep track of your air quality with a monitor
Air quality monitors are small devices that regularly test a room’s airborne particle matter (or PM). According to the UK Government, PM is ‘…everything in the air that is not a gas. Due to the small size of many of the particles that form PM, some of these toxins may enter the bloodstream and be transported around the body, lodging in the heart, brain and other organs.’
Most air quality monitors will also track the following indoor emissions, too: CO2, humidity, temperature, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds or airborne chemicals), and radon radiation.
Many monitors have smart capabilities so you can control them via companion apps on a smartphone. They can also be linked to a voice assistant, allowing you to ask for a current reading, hands-free.
When certain contaminants hit higher than normal levels, you are prompted to open your windows for some fresh air.
The majority of air quality monitors measure particles with a width of 2.5 microns (PM2.5), although some particles can be a lot smaller (and the smaller a monitor measures, the more sophisticated it is).
When we breathe in PM2.5 particles, they can transfer to our organs and bloodstream, which exacerbate the symptoms of existing lung conditions.
Clear the air with an air quality purifier
If you’re concerned about the air quality in your home, the quickest way to remedy it is to invest in an air purifier.
The best air purifiers have built-in air quality monitors that continuously scan the ambient air in a room, and when certain pollutants are detected, they draw the air into the machine and send it through a filter to clean it, eventually releasing purified air back into the room again.
Depending on the model, they do this several times an hour. This can naturally make a huge impact on any allergens. How quickly or efficiently a machine does this is measured in CADR (or Clean Air Delivery Rate). The higher the CADR rating an air purifier has, the quicker it will be at purifying the air.
Many air purifiers feature smart functionality too, so just like you can programme your smart heating to go on at certain times of the day, you can do the same with your air purifier.
They’ll also alert you when their filter needs to be cleaned or replaced. Just make sure you choose one that can effectively cover the size of room that you’re placing it in.
Shop around and buy from the best brands
If you’re keen to buy a monitor, look for brands like Airthings, Eve and Netatmo, as well as Ikea and Amazon. Depending on what exactly they monitor, prices can differ.
For instance, the Airthings 292 Wave Mini, £50.51 at Amazon will gve you accurate readings for VOC, humidity, but the Airthings 2930 Wave Plus, £148.91 at Amazon, detects levels of CO2, VOC, air pressure, radon, humidity and temperature for almost £100 more. As a rule, expect to pay upwards of £50 for a monitor.
As air purifiers do both jobs, they’ll nearly always cost more than monitors. Look for trusted brands like BlueAir, Dyson, Meaco, and Vitsey, with the BlueAir Blue max 3250i air purifier our top scoring on our tried and tested list. Look to budget upwards of £100.
The Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde HP09 purifying fan, £699.99 at Currys is also worth mentioning since it’s a multitasking machine that purifies air, is a fan heater, and also a cooling fan so you’re guaranteed year-round use from it.
FAQs
Is it worth getting an air quality monitor?
If you are curious or concerned about the air quality in your home, or indeed one of your family members has allergies or respiratory issues, it’s definitely worth investing in a monitor.
However, if you can spend a little more, an air purifier is a far more convenient option as it both monitors and cleans the air, doing two jobs in one. Just make sure you check that a purifier can handle the size of your room before buying. You can do this by working out the square footage by multiplying the length of a room by the width.
Is indoor air quality testing worth it?
If you tend not to open windows often, then all that stale air from cooking, burning candles, fireplace emissions, and off-gassing from furniture, paint, and carpet all adds up. You won’t know how bad it is unless you actually do monitor the air.
Plus if you have someone who suffers from asthma in your family or is prone to allergies, there’s absolutely no harm in monitoring the air, so when it does register as being of poor quality, you can then take the necessary steps to improve air quality at home.
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