# Air Quality Sensor **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [August 24, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894 "2020-08-24T20:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ride525](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/ride525/32/9610_2.png) [@ride525](https://community.tempest.earth/u/ride525)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/1 "2020-08-24T20:50:25Z")
California is suffering from fires all around us, and the SF Bay Area has terrible air quality. My Tempest is arriving tomorrow, and I wonder if there is a air quality sensor I could buy to also monitor air quality. Thanks for your help, Jeff ---
**Author:** ![sunny](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/sunny/32/16368_2.png) [@sunny](https://community.tempest.earth/u/sunny)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/2 "2020-08-24T21:08:27Z")
not specifically for the tempest. but there are some other available: > **[PurpleAir | Real Time Air Quality Monitoring](https://www2.purpleair.com/)** > > A low cost air quality sensor network providing real time measurement of air quality on a public map. Useful to citizen scientists or air quality professionals alike, PurpleAir sensors are easy to install, requiring only a power outlet and WiFi. > **[Flow, by Plume Labs | The First Smart Air Quality Tracker](https://plumelabs.com/en/flow/)** > > A companion to explain what’s in your air, anywhere. Flow is the intelligent device that fits into your daily life and helps you make the best air quality choices for yourself, your family, your community. [https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33030275718.html](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33030275718.html) Personally I have the flow unit, which is portable with build in battery, but uses bluetooth. Ali has many more models. Purpleair seems a pretty solid bet (look at their map) and uses wifi. ---
**Author:** ![vinceskahan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/vinceskahan/32/2785_2.png) [@vinceskahan](https://community.tempest.earth/u/vinceskahan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/3 "2020-08-24T21:47:34Z")
PurpleAir works fine. Simple to set up. Checkout [purpleair.com](http://purpleair.com) for their map to see if there are already folks near enough to you to save you the $200 or so. [https://www.purpleair.com/map?opt=1/mAQI/a10/cC0#5/38.04/-115.33](https://www.purpleair.com/map?opt=1/mAQI/a10/cC0#5/38.04/-115.33) is centered over California. Zoom in and check out the ugly story. Wind must be prevailing SE =\> NW as the area around Lancaster is ‘much’ better than it was on Friday. ---
**Author:** ![93ben](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/93ben/32/9381_2.png) [@93ben](https://community.tempest.earth/u/93ben)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/4 "2020-08-25T14:35:15Z")
Thanks for the suggestions. If Weather Flow don’t make one in the future, I’ll consider this. ---
**Author:** ![vinceskahan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/vinceskahan/32/2785_2.png) [@vinceskahan](https://community.tempest.earth/u/vinceskahan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/5 "2020-08-25T18:23:26Z")
Their ‘Breathe’ product was canceled quite a lot of months ago if I recall correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Weather34](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/weather34/32/9316_2.png) [@Weather34](https://community.tempest.earth/u/Weather34)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/6 "2020-08-25T18:53:31Z")
new from davis standalone … > **[Davis AirLink Professional Air Quality Sensor (7210UK)](https://weatherspares.co.uk/products/davis-airlink-air-quality-station-6xxxuk)** > > \*\*\* Coming October 2020  \*\*\* Paid £50 deposit or £179 in full for delivery as soon as it arrives. Deposit fully refundable, a balance of £129 will be invoiced for payment prior to shipping.... ---
**Author:** ![vinceskahan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/vinceskahan/32/2785_2.png) [@vinceskahan](https://community.tempest.earth/u/vinceskahan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/7 "2020-08-26T00:13:41Z")
Should be interesting to watch how this evolves. The “_easily merge with your Davis weather station_” concerns me however,the page reads like you need to use their WeatherLink stuff to report to, which many folks try to avoid. FWIW, you can grab the JSON reading from a PurpleAir just by querying a URL on the PA device on your LAN. You don’t even need to let it connect outbound to the PA network (although they ‘do’ push firmware updates occasionally, which can be helpful). ---
**Author:** ![Weather34](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/weather34/32/9316_2.png) [@Weather34](https://community.tempest.earth/u/Weather34)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/8 "2020-08-26T03:29:57Z")
im sure in time getting the data will be available via the popular methods i.e meteobridge, weewx etc … fwiw nice to see it coming from a trusted brand… i have a couple of air quality products one being the Nova SDS011 diy [https://weatherspares.co.uk/collections/air-quality-monitoring/products/sds011-fine-dust-sensor](https://weatherspares.co.uk/collections/air-quality-monitoring/products/sds011-fine-dust-sensor) and the other for a couple of years [https://www.allergycontrol.com/iqair-airvisual-pro-air-quality-monitor.html](https://www.allergycontrol.com/iqair-airvisual-pro-air-quality-monitor.html) both can be used for third party website data viewing . ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/sws/original/2X/1/1573bd35e0489807b87adfa9cbce41666726c18e.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@dave](https://community.tempest.earth/u/dave)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/9 "2020-08-26T20:40:59Z")
I’ve got the Nova SDS011 aswell, plus an Enviro+ with a PMS5003. I also backed a Metriful on Kickstarter to have a play around with too [https://www.metriful.com/](https://www.metriful.com/) ---
**Author:** ![andyhudsonsmith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@andyhudsonsmith](https://community.tempest.earth/u/andyhudsonsmith)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/10 "2020-08-26T21:17:16Z")
I am also running the Enviro+ with the PMS5003 (with an additional sg30 for VOC) - alongside a LaserEgg - they are interesting but also need calibration in fresh air first and then I’m not sure of their accuracy. Esp if you reboot the pi, the numbers shift. Anyhow, screengrab of my Grafana in case anyone is interested… ![Screenshot 2020-08-26 at 22.13.12](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/sws/original/2X/1/1ec7d4794ad2e7523a55f7c2748e7be3e66dc03f.png) (edit - the air quality is poor - i had just fried some chips!) ---
**Author:** ![cranbrook180](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cranbrook180](https://community.tempest.earth/u/cranbrook180)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/11 "2020-08-28T14:36:07Z")
If you would like some more detailed information about the PurpleAir I wrote an article about it along with quite a bit of information on integrating it into a smart home. You can find the article here: [https://restechtoday.com/purpleair-outdoor-air-quality-measurement/](https://restechtoday.com/purpleair-outdoor-air-quality-measurement/) Thanks ---
**Author:** ![cranbrook180](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cranbrook180](https://community.tempest.earth/u/cranbrook180)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/12 "2020-08-28T19:22:30Z")
Here is another article on PurpleAir that was just published yesterday > **[How this small sensor startup became essential to helping California deal...](https://www.fastcompany.com/90543956/how-this-small-sensor-startup-became-essential-to-helping-california-deal-with-toxic-wildfire-smoke)** > > PurpleAir’s network of air quality monitors and its real-time map have provided vital information to people looking to avoid bad health outcomes. ---
**Author:** ![ride525](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/ride525/32/9610_2.png) [@ride525](https://community.tempest.earth/u/ride525)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/13 "2020-08-28T20:22:03Z")
Why Purple Air and Air Now may have different values: > **[Why PurpleAir and AirNow show different AQI scores during wildfires](https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorspicks/article/Why-PurpleAir-and-AirNow-show-different-AQI-15514576.php)** > > On a foggy Tuesday morning in Pacifica, AirNow.gov's Air Quality Index widget gave a value of 150 - unhealthy - for the 94044 zip code. With wildfires burning in the Bay Area to the south, east and north, the high wood smoke pollution score made... ---
**Author:** ![ride525](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/ride525/32/9610_2.png) [@ride525](https://community.tempest.earth/u/ride525)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/14 "2020-08-29T23:58:52Z")
Thinking of Purple Air or Plume Labs Flow. Not sure if the Flow 2 is worth $70 more than the Flow 1, main difference seems to be that Flow 2 also measure PM1, in addition both Flow 1&2 measuring PM2.5, PM10, NO2, VOCs. ---
**Author:** ![sunny](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/sunny/32/16368_2.png) [@sunny](https://community.tempest.earth/u/sunny)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 8:22am UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/15 "2020-08-30T08:22:57Z")
I had the flow 1 before the flow 2. In my opinion it wasn’t worth the upgrade. It’s battery operated, therefore mobile, but lasts only a day, so basically it is always in the charger. At some point the battery will give up. I would have preferred if it used wifi for 24/7 operation. Currently it only transmits data when my phone is in range and bluetooth is on (which most of the time it isn’t). Other than that, it is working fine ---
**Author:** ![ride525](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/ride525/32/9610_2.png) [@ride525](https://community.tempest.earth/u/ride525)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/16 "2020-09-01T18:14:56Z")
Liking the Flow, or Flow 2, since it also Measures NO2. ---
**Author:** ![vinceskahan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/vinceskahan/32/2785_2.png) [@vinceskahan](https://community.tempest.earth/u/vinceskahan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/17 "2020-09-04T14:24:31Z")
Excellent new online map available at [https://fire.airnow.gov/](https://fire.airnow.gov/) lets you drill down visually, and includes permanent, temporary, and low-cost (Purple Air etc.) sensors. ---
**Author:** ![ride525](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/ride525/32/9610_2.png) [@ride525](https://community.tempest.earth/u/ride525)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/18 "2020-09-08T03:18:28Z")
I posted earlier about the California Wildfires and Air Quality. Got some good suggestions on Air Quality sensors. Purchased the Plume Labs Flow 2. But I’m confused. It does not appear values such at PM 2.5 are equivalent on Flow 2 vs. what Purple Air publishes online. And the AQI numbers seem to be calculated differently. Help, I just want to check my local Air Quality, and compare to what’s online. Thanks for your thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![vinceskahan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/vinceskahan/32/2785_2.png) [@vinceskahan](https://community.tempest.earth/u/vinceskahan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/19 "2020-09-08T03:35:50Z")
long discussion in [Air Quality Sensor](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/17) and a link to a page that explains the differences… Here near Tacoma we just went from AQI of 20 to AQI of 300 as a wall of smoke from the central Washington fires hit us. You could see it coming, the Cascades and MtRainier disappeared and we couldn’t even see the landing lights of the planes going in to SeaTac Airport. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![sunny](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/sunny/32/16368_2.png) [@sunny](https://community.tempest.earth/u/sunny)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 8:09am UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894/20 "2020-09-08T08:09:22Z")
there are many (too many) different AQIs in the world. Plume uses their own. > **[What is the Plume AQI?](https://plumelabs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008268434-What-is-the-Plume-AQI-)** > > The Plume Air Quality Index (AQI)The Plume AQI gives you an immediate overview of what you are breathing, just as the temperature might give you a first indication of the weather outside. > What does... What you can see in the last graph on that page is that the none of the AQI is linear depend on the concentration of pm2.5. ![Untitled-1](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/sws/original/2X/c/c742cdd404b0b1bd0d6c147033ad480e92457c1d.jpeg) For example, there is a sharp bend in the orange (USA(24)) curve at 150 and again at 200. The Plume index also isn’t linear. If you scroll down on that page there is a little table that give you the values of when there is a bend in the Plume curve. You could use that, to get from the plume values to the concentration of pm2.5. Or you could use the download data in your app, and you get the data that does include the concentrations. I wish they would also display the concentration in ug/m3 (please do bug them about that… more than once!). [Next page](https://community.tempest.earth/t/air-quality-sensor/8894.md?page=2)