9 Indoor Air Quality Monitors To Track Toxins
Good Gear editors endorse products we’ve personally researched, tested, and genuinely love. Learn more about our methodology and business model here.
Good Gear editors endorse products we’ve personally researched, tested, and genuinely love. Learn more about our methodology and business model here.
Nothing beats a breath of fresh air to enliven our bodies and souls. Although gleaning clean air may seem as simple as opening up your windows or taking a walk outside, increasing outdoor air pollution due to a whole host of reasons, often keeps us indoors more than we’d like. And, with Americans spending more time than ever within their homes anyway and an estimated 90% of time indoors in general, it’s worth considering that concentrations of certain pollutants can still be two to five times higher inside than outside. And yes, polluted outdoor air can find its way into a home in unsuspecting ways. Often it’s the everyday household tasks that cause the degradation of our indoor air environment. Cooking, cleaning, and climate control factors like air conditioners, fireplaces, and heaters introduce gases and particles into the air, as do pets and off-gassing of furniture and other decor.
So, how do we figure out the levels of pollution in our indoor air to facilitate the best quality indoor air environment possible? In-home air quality monitors offer you a picture of potential contaminants looming in your home, making them increasingly relevant tools for gaining knowledge and peace of mind when it comes to the safety of the air you breathe inside.
What should you look for in an air quality monitor?
Air monitors offer significant benefits by ensuring indoor air cleaning measures like air filtration and purifiers are efficiently mitigating the dangers lurking within the indoor air environment. They alert you to shifts in air quality and dangerous factors so you can take precautions.
When looking for the air quality monitor most suitable for your home needs, consider that the ideal location for indoor air sensing is in the “breathing zone” height of 3- to 6- feet and should be placed some distance from pollution sources. While it may not be feasible for all, putting air quality monitors in each of the rooms you spend the most time in at home, like bedrooms and kitchens, is a comprehensive way to ensure the best indoor air. But if you must choose just one, there are portable options that utilize battery systems so they can easily moved around.
A good air quality monitor measures various factors, such as fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), temperature humidity levels, and high concentrations of hazardous and noxious gases. Here are a few of those factors and the ways they can affect air quality and health.
- Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5): PM2.5 is made up of microscopic liquids and solids that contain a mix of smoke, soot, aerosols, mold, bacteria, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and allergens such as dust, pollen, and pet dander. Reducing PM2.5 levels within indoor air is vital because consistent exposure to PM2.5 — which can reach deep into the lungs — not only causes short-term discomfort but has the potential for long-term health risks.
- Radon: Radon is a radioactive gas produced by decaying rocks and soil and is released into the atmosphere. You can’t see it, and it has no smell or taste, making it hard to detect without a device. It’s considered one of the leading causes of lung cancer.
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A colorless, odorless, non-flammable gas. We naturally produce and expel CO2 during respiration. Exposure to moderate to high levels (above normal atmospheric concentrations) can lead to feelings of stuffiness, headaches, fatigue, reduced cognitive function, and, in extreme cases, even loss of consciousness.
- Carbon Monoxide: Carbon monoxide is another colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas in the air. Because it is a byproduct of incomplete combustion carbon-based fuels like gasoline, natural gas, propane, and wood, it can come from vehicle exhaust, gas stoves, furnaces, water heaters, generators, charcoal grills, and kerosene heaters. When it is breathed in, it can prevent blood from carrying oxygen to the body’s tissues, which leads to headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and even more severe symptoms.
- Nitrogen Oxides (NOx): NOx gases are a group of nitrogen and oxygen-containing gases that are produced by both natural processes and human activities, including fuel burned in vehicles and to produce power or electricity. This is sometimes called smog in the outdoor environment. While everyone tends to be exposed to small amounts of these in ambient air, consistent exposure or increased levels of them can damage in the lungs. This is one to pay attention to primarily if you often use a wood-burning fireplace or gas stove within your home.
- Temperature & humidity: These two natural factors influence air quality in that higher and more humid environments facilitate the growth of molds, germs, and viruses within your indoor air. Because these factors also influence the density of air, they affect the dispersion of PM 2.5 and can trap pollutants at varying levels.
At the end of the day, indoor air quality monitors cannot and should not take the place of efficient air purifiers or air filtration systems within the home. However, adding one or more to your home will close the loop in implementing an innovative plan to maintain the best possible indoor air quality for you and your family.
Our criteria:
Our editors have researched and tested the best wellness products on the market. We’ve chosen the air quality monitors on this list for their accuracy, ability to detect fine particles and contaminants, smart features, and affordability, too. To make these selections, we looked at expert testimonies, customer reviews, and trusted brands so you can be sure you’re getting a high-quality, safe option.
- ACCURACY | At-home air quality monitors, especially less expensive options, can be difficult to calibrate for accuracy. We’ve chosen options that perform well in independent studies and give helpful, close readings (even if they’re not always precise!).
- DETECTS FINE PARTICLES (PM 2.5) | We all have different reasons for monitoring our air quality, and all of these selections identify irritants like pollen, pet dander, mold, smoke, dust mites, pesticides, ozone from air cleaners, pollution, viruses, VOCs (volatile organic compounds) from chemicals, and even formaldehyde.
- SMART FEATURES | Some of the options on this list pair with apps, air purifiers, or have other smart features that make them super effective and easy to use.
- AFFORDABILITY | We’ve even included some affordable air monitor options on our list that are effective for giving you a sense of your home’s air quality.
Now that you’re monitoring your air quality, you’ll also want to check out our favorite air purifiers for filtering out harmful particles. 💨
1. Purple
Best For | Visibility
Detects PM 2.5 | Yes
Features | IAQ trend tracking
Prices starting at | $209
Purple’s Touch Indoor Air Quality Monitor is considered an indoor particulate sensor. It uses a multi-colored LED ring to alert you to various air quality parameters. The Touch measures pressure, temperature, and humidity and also contains a gas sensor. This monitor connects to your wifi network, and all data collected by the monitor is stored in the cloud so you can track it. This is a corded monitor designed for indoor use only, but it can be placed on any surface for accurate readings. The double-tap feature allows you to cycle through brightness levels, which is excellent for implementing at night if you have it in your bedroom. Reviews call the colors “nice” and “non-intrusive.” People who reviewed this also consider it an easy system to set up. Any smartphone device is compatible with the Purple app. Just note that the power adapter must purchased separately!
Customer Review | “ I’m pleased with my new PurpleAir Touch. It seems to be very sensitive which will help me monitor and deal promptly with risks to my health. I like the ability to dim the light so it isn’t intrusive. I’m also happy to be able to see it on the map.” – Mary (Read more reviews.)
2. Airthings
Best For | Personalized IAQ education
Detects PM 2.5 | Yes
Features | Long warranty, pollen forecast feature
Prices starting at | $299
Developed by IAQ scientists and engineers, Airthings’ View Plus is a comprehensive air quality monitor with seven sensors that measure radon, PM 2.5, CO2, VOCs, air pressure, temperature, and humidity. The View Plus runs on battery, making it a valuable tool if and when you encounter power interruptions or outages. It also connects to wifi and can be controlled from anywhere, making it highly portable. The View Plus integrates with the AirGlimpse app, and since air quality can affect sleep quality, it’s nice that this app also helps track sleep cycles. Although it is ideal to have a few placed throughout your home, this would still be effective if placed in the room where you gather the most in your daily life — like the living or family room. The View Plus comes with a 5-year warranty — the most extended warranty of any other monitoring device in this guide.
Customer Review | “Airthings View Plus is great! tells you levels of radon and CO2 and particulate and VOCs and overall helps you to know how healthy things are inside your home. Easy user interface, and warning on the device interface without needing to login to the app.” – Jewels97 (Read more reviews.)
3. IQAir
Best For | Ease of use
Detects PM 2.5 | Yes
Features | Large screen, outdoor air quality readings
Prices starting at | $299
Swiss-based company IQAir is known for its reliability and excellence in indoor air purification, so it’s no surprise that they added a dependable air quality monitoring device to their lineup. The company’s residential monitoring system, the AirVisual Pro Indoor Monitor, measures air pollution from cooking, cleaning, wood burning, interior decoration, smoking, wildfire smoke, and pollution from outside. It offers real-time and historical air quality through a free mobile IQAir called AirVisual. Get alerts on your smart mobile or wearable devices even when you are away from home. This one gives insight into outdoor air quality as well so you can know whether or not it is best to stay indoors. Customers are impressed by the display quality and ease of use. An internal rechargeable Lithium-ion battery powers the device.
Customer Review | “Love the particle monitor for indoor and outdoor plus the C02 monitor! We even carried it around the house slowly to find the window/wall leaks for how smoke was getting into our house during wildfire season. Taped up the problem areas and now our indoor AQI is even better during the fires. So grateful” – Laura (Read more reviews.)
4. Aranet
Best For | Radon detection
Detects PM 2.5 | No
Features | Long battery life
Prices starting at | $189
Radon gas comes from the ambient outdoor air and can make its way into your home when you open and close doors and windows, as well as through cracks and gaps in home structures. Because radon can’t be seen or smelled, it is nearly impossible to detect without a specialized monitoring device. The Aranet Radon Plus may not have a lot of bells and whistles. Still, it specializes in accurately measuring radon while also keeping tabs on temperature, relative humidity, and atmospheric pressure. And, it offers updates every 10 minutes. Although this monitor does not measure particulate matter, its detection of radon makes it a very valuable device to have in your home. This device is wireless, and the display and long battery life (seven years) make it ideal for continuous indoor air quality monitoring, even in the case of power outages. The Radon Plus comes with access to a free app and runs on two AA batteries. Color-coded green, yellow, and red bars indicate the radon concentration levels and warn you of unhealthy levels.
5. Hotkrem
Best For | Multi-room needs
Detects PM 2.5 | Yes
Features | Plug-in, open design
Prices starting at | $63
Due to its low price tag, Hotkrem’s 5 in1 Air Quality Monitor is a great air quality monitor option for those who live in a large home and want multiple units to monitor various rooms at once. The monitor houses an easy-to-read color display and six levels of visual cues and varying colors. This monitor uses non-dispersive infrared (NDIR), a built-in automatic calibration program, and takes measurements in increments of four seconds. It has a three-color CO2 warning alarm and measures PM 2.5, temperature, and humidity. According to reviews, customers say it offers good indoor air quality readings, and the display is bright and easy to read, with single-digit numbers. To take accurate readings, this monitor uses laser light, which is scattered on the suspended particles in the air, where it is collected at a certain angle at the same time. The monitor does not have a built-in battery and instead uses DC 5V power connection.
Customer Review | “I have a professional quality AQ monitor and this one compares very well in terms of the accuracy of the PM2.5 reading. The response time is good. Very cool to see the number of particles in each size range.With no internal battery, moving the unit from room-to-room is not convenient. The open framework case, while cool to look at, means you need to blow the dust off regularly.” – H Adams (Read more reviews.)
6. IKEA
Best For | Budget-conscious shoppers
Detects PM 2.5 | Yes
Features | Portable, clean-looking display
Prices starting at | $50
In Swedish, the word “vinstryka” means “wind speed.” Well, Ikea’s Vinstryka is another highly affordable monitor that reads the quality of the “wind” inside your home. It is touted as an easy-to-use air quality sensor that lights up to show increasing levels of factors like harmful PM2.5 particles and VOCs that can leach out from paints, household products, cleaners, and cooking. It also shows temperature and relative humidity so you can keep an eye on indoor air quality factors you often do have control over changing. An easy-touch button on the top of the device allows users to toggle through readings and gauge each level to know if it is increasing, decreasing, or stable. The Vinstryka can be used alone or as part of Ikea’s whole smart home system, which also controls lighting, speakers, and blinds, from your smartphone or device. It uses a USB power adapter, which is sold separately. The small size allows you to move this from room to room if you desire.
Customer Review | “This is a robust little product that seems to be accurate. In my closed and conditioned house, it’s normally measuring almost no 2.5. When I bake for a couple of hours (electric oven, high temp), it registers about 180. Yesterday and today I calibrated it against Apple Weather for my location. It was close last night. With my specific location and height above sea level in my creek valley, I got a credible reading of 625 with yellow skies, difficulty breathing, etc., consistent with downstream of a firestorm. This product is fantastic. I wish I could sample automatically and regularly and download it to a spreadsheet.” – John (Read more reviews.)
7. UHoo
Best For | Families with small children
Detects PM 2.5 | Yes
Features | One year of the premium app for free, portable
Prices starting at | $319 (including standard shipping)
UHoo’s Smart Air Monitor for your home is a comprehensive monitor that boasts nine sensors — each dedicated to measuring specific air quality factors, including carbon dioxide, fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, relative humidity, air pressure, carbon monoxide, temperature, and ozone. The UHoo app uses a color-coded system but also sends alerts to your smart devices and measurements regarding the various levels of the different contaminants. The app also is great for educating users on each specific air quality factor and how it can directly affect the health and well-being of your family. What stands out about the UHoo Smart Air Monitor is its delivery of a virus index, which tells you the odds of survival of viruses within your current home environment very handy for families with small children or immunocompromised residents. This device is a plug-in model that connects to your home’s WiFi network.
Customer Review | “I didn’t think much about the air I was breathing until I got uHoo, and now I can’t imagine living without it! It gives real-time updates on everything from temperature to harmful pollutants, which I never realized could affect my daily comfort and focus. The best part? It sends alerts when the air quality dips so I can take action, like airing out the room or adjusting the humidity. It’s been super helpful for keeping my home fresh and healthy. Perfect for anyone wanting to improve their indoor environment without any guesswork!” – Kit(Read more reviews.)
8. AirGradient
Best For | Earth- and socially- conscious consumers
Detects PM 2.5 | Yes
Features | Open source, free access to the app
Prices starting at | $195
AirGradient has its origins in a volunteer project aimed at helping schools in Northern Thailand monitor air quality in classrooms. At the time, burns were causing high pollution levels that were leaching into schools. Their technology is now available for all to use as AirGradient’s award-winning indoor air quality monitor, the AirGradient ONE, measures PM2.5, carbon dioxide, VOCs, nitrous oxides, temperature, and humidity. The AirGradient One has a built-in color LED bar, and although the display is small, it is still easy to read and interpret. The ONE was purposefully made as an open-source product, which means you are not locked into any specific data platform and can connect the data to any server. Or, you can use the AirGradient data platform (free for 12 months) if you prefer. AirGradient products are built with sustainability in mind and therefore encourage customers to repair, not replace, them if there are adjustments that need to be made. There is even a screwdriver included!
9. Awair
Best For | Aesthetics and app
Detects PM 2.5 | Yes
Features | Efficient electrical draw (1.3kWh per month)
Prices starting at | $209
Due to extensive testing, Awair’s signature residential air sensor, the Element, is a residential air quality monitor that measures and tracks air quality factors, including temperature, humidity, CO2, VOCs, and PM2.5 levels. Measurements can be read directly from the sleek and modern-looking device or on the Awair app. While you can see the measurements on the device, the app offers a more in-depth view and you’ll even find a total Awair Score on it as well as personalized and comprehensive insight and recommendations to improve your indoor air quality based on its tracking. You can also take advantage of the Awair map, which gives you a higher-level view of neighborhood indoor and outdoor air averages. The Element comes with a standard Type A power adapter.
Featured image by UHoo
Randi Donahue is a Contributing Editor at Good Gear and The Good Trade. She is a freelance writer with a master’s in journalism from Emerson College in Boston. Now based in Florida, she has two daughters and considers herself hyper-conscience when it comes to household consumption, researching every item with intense scrutiny before purchasing. You can see more of her work at www.randidonahue.com.
