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Air Pollution in Our Homes

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Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#31

Post by graeme »

I got a laseregg 2, and highly recommend it or a similar monitor. It's been very eye opening to see how various scenarios affect air pollution:

* frying indoors generally swiftly puts things in the unsafe range. Especially if it led to browning.

* a neighbour's bbq would do the same if the window was open

* idling truck on the street for construction? Unsafe range

* surprisingly, the toaster would raise levels if it was on high enough to brown toast

Really helped me make better decisions about when to open/shut windows and how to cook.

I got the laseregg after reading reviews of air quality monitors used in china. Apparently it holds up well to specialized lab sensors. It has a battery and can be moved around

Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#33

Post by jly »

Indoor air quality means different things to different people. There are so many chemicals and particles that qualify as air 'pollution' that I find it helpful to rank how important they are. This article does a good job of quantifying the damage by pollutant, using a metric called 'Disability Adjusted Life Years': https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/which-indoor-air-polluta...

You can see that while there are a lot of things to consider, PM2.5 is by far the most dangerous. Surprisingly to me, mold is actually the next most dangerous, implying that indoor humidity control is also very important.

Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#34

Post by tomxor »

eeZah7Ux wrote: post #14
orliesaurus wrote: post #5

The narrative in this article is heavy, but basically if I understand this right..cooking food indoors pollutes the air, and because you are in your kitchen indoors, you're polluting your own living space's air?

"The narrative in this article is heavy"... to put it mildly. It's terrible writing.

Yeah I'm still waiting for a TL;DR, but doubt anyone made it all the way through yet, it's so long, verbose and yet empty.

Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#35

Post by dsfyu404ed »

frutiger wrote: post #27
downtide wrote: post #17

I always wonder about small acrylic hairs and such that float about the house. In a bright room just flex your jumper, there's thousands of these weird impurities, and I can't imagine they can be filtered out easily before or after getting into the lungs. The biggest shocker is when you disturb loft insulation. They claim it's not terrible (specifically if undisturbed), but floating glass strands can't be all that ni…

They don’t need to be filtered. They get trapped in mucus. The constant flow of mucus from all your mucosal membranes pushes these outwards. In the case of your lungs they get delivered to the great acid bath that is your stomach.

This. We evolved in an environment with plenty of particulate matter. It's the exotic stuff that has no analog from the time when we evolved that causes problems.

Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#36

Post by macNchz »

I've found many houses I've been in to be extremely stuffy and stale inside...I think most American homes fall into a bad middle ground for indoor air quality: well enough sealed to trap indoor pollutants, but lacking the more sophisticated HVAC systems that can efficiently exchange fresh air.

Additionally, it seems that many Americans also really hate opening their windows (and indeed the climate often doesn't really lend itself to opening the windows, in some places ever). I grew up in a drafty old house with no A/C, and even as a kid felt other people's–newer, not drafty, air conditioned–homes had an airless feeling.

It's been interesting to follow the recent studies on indoor CO2 and other air pollution...I don't feel quite so crazy for wanting to open the windows all the time when visiting family.

Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#37

Post by nsporillo »

graeme wrote: post #31

I got a laseregg 2, and highly recommend it or a similar monitor. It's been very eye opening to see how various scenarios affect air pollution: * frying indoors generally swiftly puts things in the unsafe range. Especially if it led to browning. * a neighbour's bbq would do the same if the window was open * idling truck on the street for construction? Unsafe range * surprisingly, the toaster would raise levels if it…

Seems like the laseregg 2+ at best detects PM2.5, but something like the PurpleAir sensor can detect PM1.0 for roughly the same cost. Have you or anyone else used it? I'm interested in purchasing one.

Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#38

Post by e40 »

macNchz wrote: post #36

I've found many houses I've been in to be extremely stuffy and stale inside...I think most American homes fall into a bad middle ground for indoor air quality: well enough sealed to trap indoor pollutants, but lacking the more sophisticated HVAC systems that can efficiently exchange fresh air. Additionally, it seems that many Americans also really hate opening their windows (and indeed the climate often doesn't reall…

Agreed, but many houses in the Bay Area were built in the 1920's (both the houses I've owned were). The windows in my house are not sealed well. The double-hung sash windows have space for the rope and I can feel a draft on windy days.

All this talk of CO2 recently has made me value that my house is drafty.

Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#39

Post by Forbo »

nsporillo wrote: post #37
graeme wrote: post #31

I got a laseregg 2, and highly recommend it or a similar monitor. It's been very eye opening to see how various scenarios affect air pollution: * frying indoors generally swiftly puts things in the unsafe range. Especially if it led to browning. * a neighbour's bbq would do the same if the window was open * idling truck on the street for construction? Unsafe range * surprisingly, the toaster would raise levels if it…

Seems like the laseregg 2+ at best detects PM2.5, but something like the PurpleAir sensor can detect PM1.0 for roughly the same cost. Have you or anyone else used it? I'm interested in purchasing one.

Are there any of these types of devices that don't need to phone home or be connected to the Internet? The fewer "smart" devices I can have in my home the better.

Re: Air Pollution in Our Homes

#40

Post by graeme »

Forbo wrote: post #39
nsporillo wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like the laseregg 2+ at best detects PM2.5, but something like the PurpleAir sensor can detect PM1.0 for roughly the same cost. Have you or anyone else used it? I'm interested in purchasing one.

Are there any of these types of devices that don't need to phone home or be connected to the Internet? The fewer "smart" devices I can have in my home the better.

Iirc the laseregg works fine with no connection. It can be connected, but isn't necessary.

My co2 sensors have no connection either: https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-Autopilot-Desktop-Monitor-L...

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