Awair 2nd Edition: See the Invisible - Air Quality Monitor [Fine Dust, Chemicals, CO2 and more]

We are in Northern California and hiding out in our house from the smokey air from all the wildfires. We started to wonder if our air quality inside was actually better than outside, and bought this monitor to answer that question. When we run our HVAC with a level 10 filter, the 2.5 particle count goes down. When we open a door, the count goes up. In our house with filters running, the air was pretty good. We tried it outside, bad air (as expected). We tried it at our neighbor's house where they haven't been running air filters, and the air was better than outside, but not great. When we cook, or breathe into it, the CO2 value goes up. My husband tried farting in front of it, and all the values jumped up :-). Overall it has been reassuring to know that our air filter and air purifier are doing their jobs and that our indoor air is at least ok. Before buying this I had wanted to get more air purifiers, but now I know we don't need to.

I have a unique situation to test this out having a Molekule air filter, a particle sensor and a nearby open window. Setup was very easy and connected to my Nest thermostat. The display options vary (e.g., time) but the preferred (in my opinion) is the vertical bars and the air quality value. In the uploaded photo my air quality is 80 (barely giving me the green dot in the upper right corner). The problem is that my room is too cold (far left bar) and far too humid (second to far left). The other bars (left to right) are CO2, chemical and particulates. These all react predictably. If I vacuum and create dust in the air it will read higher particulates. If I keep the windows and door closed during bedtime, the CO2 will rise and we exhale that without any fresh air coming in. The brilliance of the unit is if my CO2 goes high, it will run the AC fan only through the Nest thermostat to circulate air from the rest of the house.

CO2 levels make a BIG DEAL in the quality of sleep. Sometimes I will need to open the window to bring down CO2 levels and it always seems to make a big difference.

The mobile app (at least on Android) is really well-done with charting over time and notifications when issues arise AND when they are resolved. I've got a $200 hand-held sensor that measures VOC, humidity, temperature and particulates. It aligns very good with this unit.

I would not hesitate to recommend this unit for anyone, not just those with respiratory issues. It will help guide you on how to optimize your air quality and home and it is a bit fun to get your air quality into the 90+ values.

I was slightly hesitant about the Awair as the first generation reviews were mixed. Lots of complaints about accuracy and WiFi stability. I can say that the 2nd generation of this product has been rock solid stable. It never drops offline. I monitor all of my IoT devices with smokeping. Which constantly is checking all my devices for poor connectivity. Awair never disconnects from my WiFi. But I do have Ruckus WiFi APs and a ZoneDirector controller. So if yours doesn’t perform like mine. It’s probably your crappy WiFi router.

Accuracy is great as well. I compared it with some other instruments I own as well as with the local reported values outside and Awair is pretty spot in.

Finally when I opened the box I was surprised with how small it was. I guess I was expecting something bigger?

It’s powered by USB so I have it plugged into my USB outlet. So no big bulky converter. Just a small USB-C cable that is hidden behind this thing.

I’m glad I waited for the 2nd generation of this product. It works really well and is gorgeously designed.

I was surprised to see how small the Awair was...thought it would be bigger...happy it is not. The Awair seems to do a good job of measuring the air quality in my bedroom. It seems to be accurate re temp and humidity levels based on other device readings in the house. I have nothing to compare the rest of the readings to so I’m just assuming they are accurate.
I was surprised to see the readings for particles rise and air quality drop after I turned on my oil diffuser - the air quality dropped from around 87% good down to low 70% range! I had been using the diffuser as a mini humidifier at night (with some kind of “sleep better” oils in it) but have since stopped! I use a regular cool air humidifier now and readings are back in the green.

So far (and we've only had it for a week) the Awair seems to be very sensitive. The app is great and clear. The entire system is very easy to set up and use. I did not think that I would appreciate the dots on the front screen as much as I do. It's a great way to scan it quickly and see the general level for all the things it is testing.

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Feature Product

• Tracks Toxins and Chemicals, Fine Dust, CO2, Humidity and Temperature
• Provides actionable insights and personalized tips
• Made from natural materials, including 100% North American Walnut timber
• Connects with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT, Nest, and more.
• Smartphone and tablet with support for Bluetooth 4.1, running iOS (9 or later) and Android (4.4 or later)

Description

Do you know what's in the air you're breathing? Indoor air can be 5x more polluted than outside, due to everyday factors like paint, furniture, carpet, air fresheners, toys, and much more. Your air quality affects allergies, asthma, focus, sleep quality, skin and your overall health. Awair tracks invisible fine dust and chemicals in your air and gives you personalized recommendations to help you stay safe and healthy. Awair gives you the knowledge you need to improve your indoor environment and take control. Awair covers up to 1,000 sq ft and works with iPhone iOS (8 or later) and Android (Jelly Bean 4.3 or later).

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I like having the history of all the data for all sensors.
It is fairly accurate.
The only drawback is having to unplug it to reset the WiFi connection. So if you’re not home to reset it you won’t get anymore data via the app.
It happened 6 times so far and we’ve only had for about a month.
Update: this device is so sensitive that it picks up the use of any chemical (like bleach, hand sanitizer....)on the floor level it is in.
I am truly impressed with this product ! It has made an impact on lives for the better by providing valuable data that we can act upon.

I like my Awair 2nd Edition monitor. First of all, it looks very cute - smallish package, the wood is real and easily blends into any decor, the dot display is unobtrusive and does not make one's room look like a lab. The dots bar display is very clever, and once you 'get it' will become instantly intuitive.
The sensors are very quick to react. For example our 'now ex-favorite' heavy fuzzy cotton bed sheet, triggered a dust alert in the monitor the second I slapped it with my hand, and that it turn triggered my wife to instantly order another brand/weave sheet. CO2 test I have done in the car (yes, Awair works with a car's usb adapter) - closed the windows, turned off the fan and watched monitor slowly clime up... Temp and Humidity is in-line with my Nest Thermostat's sensors. Like the app as well, although it did hang on me one time. Can monitor your house remotely etc.
Overall a well designed product, looks and works great so far.

The second generation is USB C powered, and the lights are easier to read on the display. While the differences on the exterior still carry the same classic look, the real differences come on what it’s capabilities are! It can now read an even finer level of dust and chemicals in the air. It will even notify you on the display when levels are rising or falling. I put this in my babies nursery so I know he’ll be sleeping and breathing sound!

I bought this mostly because I was concerned about CO2 levels in my home office. I already had a Netatmo unit that was reporting very high CO2 levels and I wanted a second opinion and online reviews of the Awair looked promising. I had a little bit of a problem with getting it setup where it got stuck updating the firmware, and then a few days later it seemed to not be able to connect to wifi. Since then I've had no issues and I find it pleasant to look at, the display is useful and the app is pretty good also. I did do some testing with the Awair API, which is currently in beta. I had to apply to get into the beta and a day or two later I was approved. The API is pretty easy to use and I've had no issues with it.

One big difference between the Netatmo unit and the Awair is that the Awair seems to be more accurate and more responsive. When the humidifier turns on in my office, the graph for the Awair picks it up quickly, whereas the Netatmo unit barely budges at all. However, one thing the Awair made me realize is that the Netatmo is actually really bad at measuring CO2 levels because the accuracy of the CO sensor in that unit is effected by changes in the ambient temperature. The Awair CO2 levels seem to track properly despite swings in the temperature and it reports changes much faster also.

Suspicious that the air circulation wasn't appropriate in the bedroom due to night time respiratory, headaches, tiredness and other neuro-sympathetic symptoms, I purchased the Awair to monitor it. It helped me see that CO2 levels did get very high (to levels where one would expect symptoms) and very fast when window and door closed. It also helped identify times of the day when dust (PM2.5) is very high (living in Los Angeles) and know when to shut windows, as well as seeing how much (or little) impact my air filter makes. The air has become much healthier at home with the close monitoring provided by the unit. The device is easy to setup. The app is also great, always connected, providing frequent updates and showing excellent sensitivity to momentary air changes. I'm very satisfied with the Awair 2nd Ed. monitor.

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