While I run an air purifier in my bedroom to reduce allergens, I can’t say I’ve been really concerned about my home’s overall air quality. Part of me thought since I switched from a gas furnace to electric heat I would never have an issue with carbon monoxide or a lot of dust in the air, but my calm attitude toward my air quality flew out the window after I plugged in the Airthings View Plus monitor and the Airthings View Radon monitor. I had no idea what was in my home’s air, and now that I know, I want to keep monitoring it long-term.
Features of Airthings View Plus and View Radon monitors
With Airthings View Plus and View Radon, you can monitor your home’s air quality via an easy-to-use display and the Airthings app. Both monitors connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network so you can check your air quality or radon levels from anywhere.
- View Plus has 7 sensors and monitors for radon, particulate matter (PM2.5), CO2, and more
- View Radon has 3 sensors and monitors for radon, humidity, and temperature
- Airthings app shows a history of your home’s air quality and uses graphs and colour-coded indicators to show what the air quality is like in your home
- The customizable display uses batteries and can be plugged into power
- The wave function lets you wave your hand in front of the display and a light will show you whether your air quality is good, fair, or poor
- Integrates with your smart home to give you voice control for your air quality monitor
What is radon and why should I monitor it?
Radon is an odourless radioactive gas that’s present in all homes. It’s colourless and occurs naturally in small amounts. It becomes a problem if radon is trapped inside after entering a building through cracks in your foundation or other holes.
If it does become trapped and you routinely breathe it in, radon can cause lung cancer. While you can look on a radon map to see if radon levels are high in your area, the only way to know if you have radon in your home’s air is by testing it. That’s where Airthings View Plus and View Radon come in.
Setting up Airthings View Plus and View Radon air quality sensors
Airthings View Plus and View Radon air quality sensors are small displays that use batteries and have a cord to connect to power. There is no hard wiring or complicated setup required. You can put the batteries in the display, plug it into power, and begin monitoring your home’s air quality.
The Airthings display will let you know what your home’s air quality or radon levels are at a glance, but you can pair the Airthings monitor with the Airthings app and customize your set up. You’ll download the app, tap to add an air quality monitor, and the app will find your device. They pair very easily and I connected both to my home network in just a few minutes. Once the monitors are connected to your home’s Wi-Fi network you can monitor your home’s air quality or radon levels from anywhere.
Testing Airthings air quality sensors
You can view your air quality and radon levels right on the display, so you don’t have to use the app unless you want to see what your air quality is like when you’re away or if you want to see detailed graphs and other data.
Airthings shows you your home’s air quality at a glance
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I put the Airthings View Plus in my living room and the View Radon in my bedroom. With 7 sensors the View Plus can test for the following.
- Radon:
- PM2.5: Particulate matter like dust, pollen, and spores that irritates lungs
- CO2: Carbon dioxide in high quantities can indicate amount of recycled air (and circulating viruses in the air), cause drowsiness, and impact productivity
- Humidity: High humidity can cause mold or spread viruses
- VOC: Volatile Organic Compounds are c
- Air pressure: Affects radon levels and can cause body aches
- Temperature: A look at your home’s temperature
The first thing I noticed when I started testing out the View Plus is that the air quality in my home isn’t that great. I’ve been in the middle of doing some long overdue maintenance on the floor and some walls, and I’ve been trying to clean up after to keep the dust low. I was also painting, because removing sections of the wall required a new coat of paint.
The Airthings View Plus picked up on the poor air quality right away, and it sent me a few alerts to my phone that the levels of PM 2.5 were too high. They are at 39 right now, but at one point they hit 186. That must have been when I was sanding the walls, sending dust into the air. After I painted, the VOC levels increased too. They are currently hovering at 149, but they hit 875 when I was painting. I had no clue the paint I was using had such high VOC.
Thankfully, the monitors have only shown very low levels of radon. The Airthings View Radon was in my bedroom, and I was pretty surprised to see that the radon level in my bedroom was higher than in my living room. It has hovered around 9 while the living room has stayed around 4. I’m happy the level is still low enough that there are no issues I need to fix.
Wave to light up Airthings air quality monitors
The Airthings View Plus and Airthings View Radon have very simple displays. You can’t tap them to scroll through all of your readings, but you can wave your hand in front of the display and it will flash a coloured light to indicate your current air quality. I waved my hand and a yellow light flashed to indicate that the air quality is fair. If I had good air quality the light would be green, and poor air quality would flash a red light.
The display will flash the light, scroll through your 3 main sensors, and then reset back to your main screen. The View Plus display is customizable and you can choose which 3 sensors you’d like to display on the screen. If you want to see PM 2.5, radon, and the temperature you can set it to show them on the display. All of your other data will still be available in the app.
I really appreciate having a visual indicator of my air quality right on the display. It helps me decide if I want to pull out my phone and take a look at what’s going on or see if there is a need to be concerned. The app also uses colour codes to show if your air quality is good, fair, or poor. The circle around the readout will be the colour it corresponds to, and that saves you time looking up whether 9 is a bad readout for radon.
Connects to your smart home assistant
You can connect your Airthings View Plus and Airthings View Radon to your Google Assistant or Alexa so you can use voice control. You can ask your assistant to let you know what the air quality is like in your living room or bedroom and they will tell you without you needing to open the app or walk past the display.
Should you choose Airthings View Plus and Airthings View Radon sensors?
I had no idea I had such poor air quality in my home, and I’d love to see what Airthings thinks after the sensors are fully calibrated. It takes 30 days of monitoring until they are, so I’ll have to wait and see what the next few days bring.
Both Airthings View Plus and Airthings View Radon are easy to use and make it very simple to see what your air quality is like. I’m really impressed with the readouts on the display, and I love being able to pull out my phone and see detailed information. Now that I’m aware I’ll make changes to improve the air quality and I’ll be moving my air purifier into the living room to see if that helps. I’m also going to choose low-VOC paint from now on because that sensor spiked when I was painting.
Both Airthings monitors really do provide peace of mind. Now that I know I could have radon, I can’t imagine not monitoring for it. The radon map showed higher-than-average levels of radon in my area, so it’s better to keep an eye on it in case something changes.
You can find Airthings View Plus and Airthings View Radon monitors for your home online at Best Buy.
I’ll go with your tester’s idea and put the Airthings View Plus in my living room for a more comprehensive idea of what’s happening and the View Radon in my bedroom. We already have CO2 detectors in our fire alarm system.
one in upstairs hallway, other in basement workshop
I would but one in my bedroom and the other in the basement den!
I would put one in the basement and one in the hallway near the kitchen.
hallway near the bedrooms and one in the living room/dining room is where I would put the air quality monitors
I would put one unit in the hallway near the bedrooms and the other one in the kitchen
I would put the Airthings View Plus in my living room and the View Radon in my bedroom. I think this would give me a great overview of the air quality in my home.
I would be both monitor in my basement and the other in my bedroom.
I would put one in the basement and the other near the bedrooms of our house.
One in our main level and the other in the upper level of our house.
I would definitely put one in our family room and the other near the bedrooms.
In the basement and the other near the bedrooms.
I would put these monitors both in the basement, the rec room and a spare room we have down there.
I would definitely put one in the basement and the other near the bedrooms.
I would put one in my basement and bedroom because that’s where I spend most of my time
I’d put one by the bedrooms, and the other in our entertainment room.
I would put one in my bedroom and one in my living room.
I would put one in the basement and one in the living room.
i would place one in the hallway, the kitchen, living room and bathroom are close by and one in my bedroom.
One would go in the bedroom, the other in the living room.
I would put one in my living room and one in my basement
I would put the Airthings View Smart Radon Monitor in the living room and the Airthings View Plus Air Quality Monitor in the bedroom.
one in the bedroom, one in the kitchen
Airthings View Plus monitor in the bedroom, while the Airthings View Radon monitor in my basement.
Main living room and basement
We live in a one bedroom apartment so one would go in the bedroom and one in the main living area!
I would place one in the basement, and one in the main bedroom.
I would put one in my basement and the other in my bedroom.
I would put one in our bedroom and another in the basement
One in my basement home theatre area and one in my main floor family room.
bonus room and family room
I’d keep these in my basement and bedroom
I’d put this in the rooms in my basement
I would put one in the basement and one in the living room.
i’d put these in the basement of my dads house. He lives in southern Ontario. I don’t think they’ve ever tested their lvls there
I would put on in the office and one in the living room.
Like our CO monitors, I’d put one on the main floor and one on the top floor in the office.
I would put in the master bedroom and TV room downstairs
In the rumpus room
By the back door
Front foyer
In the hallway
I’d put one in my basement and one in our main living room.
I would place in the upstairs hall and o e down in the family TV room
I live in Mississauga, and I would place one in the living room and in the bedroom
I would put one in the Master Bedroom and one in the Living Room.
One in the bedroom and one in the living room
If I had these I would love to put one in both of our bedrooms to monitor the air while we sleep!
Definitely would put one in our basement and one in or near the main floor bedroom.
I would have one in the basement outside the furnace room and one outside the bedrooms upstairs!
I would put one in my bedroom and the other in the basement
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