If you’re on the East Coast you’ve likely seen, felt, and smelled the effects of smoke from Canadian wildfires moving over the country. It resulted in an orange glowy haze and dangerous air quality levels.
Folks have been sharing it all over social media and it has brought air quality measurements to the general public as many East Coast cities have been dangerously high.
One way to track the air quality in your apartment or home is with a monitor. Amazon makes one of the more affordable ones, and I’ve gone hands-on with it. It provides data for five metrics and can even help you automate routine cleaning of the air in your space.
Typically, it costs $70, but Amazon is offering a fresh discount, knocking it down to $54.99.
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Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor ($54.99, originally $69.99 at Amazon)
The monitor is a relatively compact cube that gets power from a micro USB port and power plug. It’s also built with 70% post-consumer recycled materials and is just 1.77-inches tall. There is a single button, a circular LED light, and an air vent front and center.
Like most Amazon devices, it is set up with the Alexa app for Android or iOS, and it tracks these five data points:
- Particulate Matter or PM
- Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs
- Carbon Monoxide or CO
- Humidity
- Temperature
The first two are likely the most critical as particulate matter refers to irritants floating that can cause allergies, and VOCs are chemicals that can affect breathing.
One feature I like a lot is the visually appealing way it presents an average score for each, including the general Indoor Air Quality or IAQ for your space. It also puts it all into context and will alert you when the air quality drops below an appropriate level.
Getting an alert in the app or from Alexa via an Echo Smart Speaker or Smart Display is informative, but it can also be actionable. You can create a "Routine" for the alert to power on a connected air purifier. It could be an intelligent unit that is integrated with Amazon Alexa or one connected to a smart plug. When the air quality hits a certain level, the device would turn on the smart plug or the air purifier to try and improve that.
The Smart Air Quality Monitor provides the data points and peace of mind in a friendly, digestible way, but it can also be the starting point for automation. It's well-reviewed on Amazon, with over 1,600 five-star ratings as well.
You can pair it with third-party plugs that work with Alexa, like this set of four from Kasa for just $23.99 (down from $29.99), or the Amazon-made smart plug for $24.99.
This Levoit Core 200S Air Purifier passes air through a three-stage filtration system that includes an H13 True HEPA Filter and is fit to run in up to 915-square feet. The brand promises it removes up to 99.97% of pollutants and is smart with an app for controlling, but it also can be controlled with Amazon Alexa. It’s not on sale but is eligible for Prime shipping for $89.99. It currently has over 26,800 five-star ratings on Amazon, as well.
Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.
