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What do you do about the air quality in your home and how do you measure the humidity?

Are you working on the air quality in your home? In the past, we weren't so concerned with this, but since I'm getting more and more into plants and we do quite a bit of remodeling in the house, I think the air quality and humidity in the house are important to measure and monitor. But how do you do that? You can of course measure the humidity with a hygrometer. But if you also want to know how much C02 there is in the house or any other bad substances, then that is not enough. The Airthings can help you with that. We now know at a glance what the quality of the air in our house is like. Ideal!

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Measure air quality and humidity in the house; everything for my plants

The urge to know (and measure) more about the air quality in my home comes from the plants. Because not only sufficient daylight is important for plants, but also good humidity and sufficient nutrition, of course. The last two are especially important during the growing months. Now it is actually very simple for plants… the higher the humidity in the house, the better it is for the plants. But unfortunately that does not apply to us, nor to the house itself.

Too low humidity is not good, but measuring too high humidity in the house can lead to mold and you can suffer from breathing problems or cough a lot. Hence a humidity of around 60% is recommended for a pleasant growing environment for your plants and a pleasant living environment. We now measure this with the Airthings Wave Plus.

What is Airthings?

Airthings has all kinds of products to measure the air quality in the house, but also, for example, to provide information about pollen. Our Airthings Wave Plus also indicates what I can expect on a daily basis in terms of my pollen allergy. Now, after years of experience as an expert in the field of pollen, I am already fairly trained in this, but it is still nice to see.

We have the Wave Plus that is linked to an app from which we can read all information. But waving 'past' the Wave Plus also provides immediate information. If a green circle appears, you can immediately see that everything is in order. With yellow it is not quite okay and with a red ring you really have to check what is going on. By that time I had already received a report from Airthing about air quality

We have the Airthings Wave Plus in the living room, by the way, and connecting with the app is a breeze. If you also want to connect other rooms in the house to measure humidity, for example, you can do that too. You can expand your set with a Hub and a mini in every room you want to monitor.

What information does Airthings give?

In terms of air quality, Airthings Wave Plus provides information about various 'substances' in the air:

Radon: Radon is a radioactive gas that is naturally released from the soil and from building materials such as concrete, brick and natural stone. That sounds very intense, and to be honest… it can cause lung cancer, for example. In the Netherlands you are talking about several hundred cases per year. It is therefore important that the Radon concentration is as low as possible. Airthings measures this concentration in the air in your house so that you can be continuously informed. Good ventilation is also 'key' in keeping this concentration as low as possible.

VOC: You also want to keep the concentration of VOC in the air as low as possible. This concentration indicates how many chemicals and gases and the like are in the air in your house. For example, if you are painting in your house, the air quality will undoubtedly measure worse in this area than if you do nothing special. It is true that you will find the VOCs in all kinds of daily products.

Co2: The CO2 content in the house is usually not extremely high. It is an entirely natural gas that we exhale ourselves and that plants use to eventually produce oxygen again. Still, too high a concentration measured in the house can lead to, for example, restlessness, low productivity and headaches. So make sure to keep an eye on this.

Humidity: As mentioned, an average humidity of 60% is recommended for your plants in the house and a pleasant living environment. Air that is too dry is not pleasant and can lead to, for example, coughing. But also to a dry throat and dry eyes that make you blink a lot.

Temperature :measuring the temperature in the house is self-explanatory.

Air pressure: measuring the air pressure also speaks for itself.

Actions-you can take after-measuring air-quality

To measure is to know, Frank always says. Not bad for a physicist of course 😉 . But of course he is also right about this. If you can measure how high the concentration of something is in the air, then you can probably do something about it. The air pressure may be difficult to influence. But the concentration of Radon and VOC can be improved by good ventilation. You can also adjust the humidity in the house after measuring, for example by spraying your plants more often.

Now I'm not the type to check the app several times a day to see how things are. That is why I also like that you can receive a notification if the concentrations are too high. You can set this yourself, personally I like that, especially in the case of Radon, VOC and humidity. So I have that on. Airthings Wave Plus assumes acceptable averages and concentrations that are too high, and you will then receive a notification. Super handy.

Do you want to know more about this handy gadget for the home? Read more on Airthings! You can buy the Airthings at Bol.com, among others