https://youtu.be/hTJzWlIvUK4

Hi!
This is the AirGradient One, an air quality sensor that works standalone and with Home Assistant. I have tested this over the past few weeks and will share my experiences with you. Additionally, I will show you how to integrate this air quality meter into Home Assistant.

⭐ Buy the AirGradient One Indoor Monitor here: https://www.airgradient.com/shop/?ref=24 . Discount code: SABP13ET ⭐

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⭐⭐⭐ NOTE: ⭐⭐⭐

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Ed

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Introduction

AirGradient sent me this AirGradient One to test. This is an air quality sensor that measures several values, giving you insight into the air quality of your environment. Because it can be easily integrated into Home Assistant, you can create a dashboard and automations to alert you if something is wrong with the air quality in the room where the sensor is located. The sensor looks professional. The housing is sturdy and includes a display where you can immediately read the current air quality. So, you don’t necessarily need an external dashboard to view the air quality in your room. Additionally, the sensor has an LED indicator that shows the level of pollution. You can set this to carbon dioxide or particulate matter.

The great thing is that you can use this sensor completely standalone if you just want to read the current values. Furthermore, there is an integration available for Home Assistant that also works entirely locally, so you don’t need a cloud connection or subscription to view your air quality history. But, if you don’t use Home Assistant, you can also use a free account with AirGradient to view the historical values via the cloud. So you have the freedom to choose how you want to use this air quality sensor. It can work completely locally or via the cloud. Well, of course, you’ll need an internet connection for firmware updates, but that applies to all devices.

Installation

Installing the sensor is very easy. make sure to connect the sensor to a USB power adapter. In my case, the USB port on my USB hub had too little power to make it work reliably. When you start the sensor for the first time, it creates a WiFi access point. You connect to this WiFi access point with your phone or PC and can then enter the details of your WiFi network. After that, the latest firmware is installed, and the AirGradient One is ready for use.

The AirGradient One is immediately recognized in Home Assistant and can be easily added, so you have all your measurements available right away and can change all the settings.

If you don’t use Home Assistant, you can also use the online dashboard, which provides all the information about your measurements. Additionally, you can adjust all the settings of the AirGradient One via the settings page. You can also set an alarm to receive an email when a value, for example, is too high. Furthermore, you can even connect to your own MQTT server or via the API.

So, you have the choice to use the AirGradient One with or without Home Assistant. Of course, I use it with Home Assistant.

What values can you monitor?

Because of this multi-sensor, I have started to delve into the world of air quality and can now continuously monitor it. You can monitor the following values with the AirGradient One:

CO2

First, CO2. Carbon Dioxide is a gas in our atmosphere and the outside concentration is at around 430ppm. When we breathe, we exhale CO2 and thus the concentration can increase in occupied rooms quite quickly. High levels of CO2 can cause headaches and also impact our brain’s performance. To reduce the CO2 concentration, you can open windows or increase the fresh air rate of your HVAC system. By creating an automation in Home Assistant, you can send a message to your phone or smart speaker when the CO2 level is too high, so you can open a window. And if you have automatic window openers, you can even automate this entirely.

Particulate Matter

Second, you can monitor the particulate matter value. Small particles in the air, especially below 2.5 microns (0.0025 mm) are dangerous and can cause all kinds of serious long-term health consequences. In heavily polluted countries, people can lose even more than ten years of their life expectancy due to air pollution. There are no safe levels of PM. It should be as low as possible. The WHO recommends below 5 microns per cubic meter annual average. The AirGradient One can measure particulate matter as small as PM1.0 all the way to larger PM10 particles. In regards to concentration, it can measure all of the from 1 micron per cubic meter to well over 500 microns per cubic meter. Additionally, you can view the number of particles per liter of air.

Volatile Organic Compounds

Third, you can measure Volatile Organic Compounds. There are more than 10.000 VOCs in the air. Some are extremely harmful, some harmless. Both trigger VOCs values. So it is very important to know the specific VOC to make any judgment. Sources of VOCs can be your printer, detergent, cleansers, aerosol sprays, paint & varnish, burning food, and so on. More modern sensors like the AirGradient One focus on the VOCs change in, for instance, the last 24 hours rather than absolute concentrations. If you observe spikes over the day and you can identify the source, you can try and reduce these chemicals. You can also change the dashboard to show multiple days up to the last 720 days!

Nitrogen Oxides

Fourth, you can monitor nitrogen oxides. NOx is the sum of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). These two pollutants have similar properties and are involved in many of the same chemical processes in the atmosphere. Exposure to NOx is associated with cardiovascular diseases, asthma, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (also called COPD). NOx is generated by combustion engines (cars, trucks, ships, aircrafts, and industries). Therefore, it is a particular problem in urban areas. But also agricultural activities and some natural phenomena may generate it. NOx also contributes to the formation of smog, acid rain, and ground-level ozone.
The AirGradient NOx sensors don’t measure absolute NOx levels but changes in the NOx concentration. This can help you identify (and avoid) emission events such as rush hours.

Temperature & Humidity

Of course, you can also measure temperature and humidity with this sensor..

Conclusion

What makes this air quality sensor so good? First of all, the monitor is Hardware Open Source, so you can customize it according to your preferences. The sensors used are high-quality sensor modules from industry leaders like SenseAir, Sensirion, and Plantower. You can read about the specific techniques used by each sensor on this page. The link is in the description below the video. You’ll see that the sensors used are very accurate, so you can rely on precise measurements. Each fully assembled monitor also goes through a 24-hour test and AirGradient does a lot of research with leading Universities around the world on improving sensor performance. This is quite different from an ESPHome hobby project where you might question the sensor accuracy.

However, for ESPHome enthusiasts among us, in addition to the standard integration for Home Assistant, there are also two ESPHome configs available for this AirGradient One. You can find the links in the description of this video as well.

I’ve created this dashboard in Home Assistant for the AirGradient One myself so that I can monitor all the values.

In the past few days, I have placed the AirGradient One in multiple locations throughout my house. It turned out that the air quality in my office is quite good. I have a Venta airwasher in my office, and it seems to be doing its job well. However, when I placed the AirGradient One in my kitchen, the PM2.5 value suddenly jumped from 1 to to 10. I have a cat in my house who doesn’t enter my office, and she might be the cause here. This is something to keep an eye on. The PM10 values also increased, so I’m going to look into how I can reduce these values. Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas about what might be causing this and how I can lower these values. And no, I’m not getting rid of my cat just yet 😉.

I also tested my bedroom right away because you spend a significant part of your life there. The CO2 and PM values were more acceptable than in the kitchen but not as good as in the office. An air purifier in the bedroom could further improve this.

All in all, this air quality sensor has provided me with valuable insights into the air quality in my home. I find it a valuable addition to my smart home and will definitely continue using this AirGradient One. If you suffer from respiratory issues, I highly recommend monitoring the air quality in your home with this device. Besides the AirGradient One, AirGradient also offers the AirGradient Open Air, an outdoor air quality sensor. I haven’t tested it myself, but if you live in a city or industrial area, this sensor could also be interesting for you.

Ordering

The AirGradient One is available in different versions. You can purchase the fully assembled AirGradient One for $195, or you can order it as an easy-to-assemble kit for $138.

The links to where you can purchase it can be found in the video description together with a coupon code for a discount of $10. I receive a small affiliate fee from these links, and it doesn’t cost you anything extra, so you’re helping me out a bit too.

Thank you for watching. I want to thank these people as well. These are my sponsors who support me with a small monthly contribution, which helps keep this channel alive. If you’d like to sponsor me, you can find the links to Patreon, Ko-Fi, and how to become a paid member of my channel in the video description. Thank you.

And don’t forget to give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already.

See you soon in my next video.

Bye Bye

• Website Airgradient: https://www.airgradient.com
• Specifications of the AirGradient One Indoor Monitor: https://www.airgradient.com/indoor/
• Specifications of the AirGradient Open Air Outdoor Monitor: https://www.airgradient.com/outdoor/
• Technical data: https://airgradient.com/indoor/#comparison
• Firmware: https://www.airgradient.com/documentation/firmwares/
• Dashboard: https://app.airgradient.com/dashboard
• Buy the AirGradient One Indoor Monitor here: https://www.airgradient.com/shop/?ref=24 . Discount code: SABP13ET
• Buy the Venta Airwasher. Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.nl | Amazon.de