CO2 Sensors for COVID/Ventilation Purposes, Who's Got One and What Are Some Good Strategies?

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  SF3 on 30/09/2021 - 22:03

  +1

  Unless you live in an airlocked home, there is ventilation, just not moving at a rate that you can feel it, especially compared with doors/windows opened.

  • 

    highon2str on 30/09/2021 - 22:17

    I'm curious to know how much ventilation there is though, or if there is any need for concern. We have sealed air gaps everywhere to stop drafts in winter so while the house is not airlocked, it's quite well sealed in a sense. No one's fainted or fallen asleep spontaneously but still… curious to know if I should be leaving a window open somewhere, seeing how many hours we spend at home nowadays with multiple people indoors.

    • 

      SF3 on 30/09/2021 - 22:21

      Someone can do the flow rate maths.

      My thoughts are, unless your body (all members of your household) is inhaling air, at a rate greater than the amount of "fresh" air coming into your home… I think you may then want to be worried.

      re: CO2, probably best not keep an ICE car running in the garage with the door to inside the house open ;)

    • 

      AdosHouse on 30/09/2021 - 22:25

      +1

      Mate it's easy, you will feel high CO2 level way before it becomes dangerous, you just have to know your own body and the signs. A room that feels stuffy, needs air flow, pop a window. Breathing harder than normal after doing something strenuous, step outside.

      A nice simple test, take a few breathes inside, then walk outside, if it feels different easier or better, you need to increase the internal airflow.

      • 

        Stopback on 01/10/2021 - 07:51

        I feel that with every room

        • 

          AdosHouse on 01/10/2021 - 12:53

          @Stopback: Do the rooms have good air flow in them?

          Alternatively, any chance you have some mild claustrophobia? How do you feel in tighter spaces like a plane? Somewhere where you can't get off.

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  AdosHouse on 30/09/2021 - 22:16

  +1

  I feel stupider for reading that article. This lady says CO2 level are an indication of how fresh the air is. The only thing CO2 is an indication is, is your likeliness of dying when you walk into a room with no ventilation or with oxygen displacing gases.

  We have these at my work, bars place them in places where a CO2 gas leak could be fatal, like cold rooms with beer systems in them.

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  cooldude123 on 30/09/2021 - 22:27

  I've got an Aranet4 Home - pricey but works well. They seem to be out of stock right now but there's a waitlist. Good as a rough proxy for ventilation quality as high CO2 may suggest that you're at higher risk of COVID-19 aerosol transmission (eg. if you're at a grocery store with 1000ppm CO2, probably not great to stay there for too long) with some caveats, see (here)

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    highon2str on 30/09/2021 - 22:53

    They're currently $250 on Amazon, is that a decent price?

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  Seraphin7 on 30/09/2021 - 22:29

  +2

  That article was basically an advertisement.

  In a home setting, what is the reading actually going to do for you practically?

  Reading OK? Do nothing. Reading not OK? Open a window.

  Or perhaps just periodically open a window anyway if you're that concerned.

  The transmission of viruses in the home setting is immeasurably more likely if people carrying the virus enter the home, rather than the level of ventilation or level of CO2 present.

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  Ryanek on 30/09/2021 - 23:01

  +5

  I had a CO2 detector but I threw it out because the constant beeping gave me a headache.

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  timmypete on 01/10/2021 - 13:03

  I have a Netatmo home weatherstation, which does CO2 measurement on its indoor module and works reasonably well. The system can handle another three of the excellent indoor modules, but at significant cost ($130 per room). I like this idea, but am trying to find cheaper options that have enough connectivity for logging.^

  I have no experience with the other residential-focused options on the consumer market already, eg Nest & Airthings, but like the Netatmo units they get very expensive quickly.

  I've read a little about the AirGradient, but it seems like it's either a full commercial solution with unknown pricing, or DIY kits with a few design issues. More on the DIY route here. I'm really hoping that the Victorian education department shares the technical details of their apparently extensive efforts soon - as government press releases suggest they're going to be deploying thousands of sensors in schools in the coming months. This in particular might help make more of a domestic market and supply chain in Oz.

  ^ I already log the temp/humidity/CO2 half hourly across three Sensibo aircon controllers, a Xiaomi purifier (which also measures pm2.5 air quality semi accurately as µg/m3) and the Netatmo setup.

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    highon2str on 01/10/2021 - 14:09

    Thanks for the brief review, I did check out Netatmo, the home modules are $108 via GG commercial, I like the fact they seem to be a reasonably priced product that's stocked online. Though from what I understand there is no display to look at without looking at your phone. It has the colours that glow but really I'm thinking having an actual display would make it much more functional?

    • 

      timmypete on 01/10/2021 - 17:08

      You're correct that you need a phone, but you can set the thresholds for an orange glow on the device, and separately for push alerts to your phone.

      Because I collect stats from multiple brands of devices and consolidate on a Raspberry Pi dashboard, this isn't an issue for me.