The Smart Home Sensors I NEVER knew I needed!

These smart home sensors are WAY more useful than I thought, and they have some surprising features!

Thanks to Panasonic for sponsoring a portion of this video.

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0:00 Intro
0:09 At my desk
2:51 By my bed
4:58 Panasonic's options
6:06 Kitchen
8:04 Extra sensors
9:44 Comparison + my pick
11:29 Toxic air

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Ending song is The End by EVA.

[SmartHomeSolver]

Do you use these sensors in your smart home? I'm curious to hear!

Thanks to Panasonic for sponsoring a portion of this video.

[joshtakacs]

My 13 year old farted next to our ecobee thermostat and it set off a poor air quality alert on our phones. He thought that was the greatest😂

[ApolloAutomation]

Smart Home Solver,

We really appreciate you showcasing our tiny multisensor! Just a quick note, the one in the video is actually our Apollo MSR-1 mmWave CO2 multisensor. This was our first sensor and after some community feedback we've actually made an updated version called the Apollo MSR-2. It has the same functionality but it's even smaller! It still uses the LD2410B mmWave sensor and the SCD40 CO2 NDIR sensor. We do offer the Apollo MTR-1 like you mentioned but it uses the LD2450 which was a community requested sensor. We apologize for not getting you our true air quality Apollo AIR-1 sensor but will send you one ASAP. It is made for ESPHome and uses the SEN55, SCD40 and MiCS-4514 sensors. We will be in touch to get you all of our sensors. Again, we really appreciate the shout out and are happy to answer any questions!

Best,
Justin
Apollo Automation

[AndresC]

Great video! I have always looked for sensors in my house but there are so many that it overwhelms me hahaha the last thing I got and now I am a big fan is my Vionentus VN100 wallet

[ivlis]

Great video, thank you!

Radon sensors are very important if your area has radon. Radon has a tendency to spike out of nowhere, so it's a good idea to ventilate your basement when it happens. Also, if you have a radon mitigation system, a sensor is a must because the system may fail, and you will not notice that.

[astrostl]

Very important subject. AirGradient, Airthings, Apollo, and Aranet - and perhaps others on this list - use a nondispersive infrared (NDIR) sensor. NDIR is the gold standard, and I really think it should be an explicit table dimension. All sensors are not equal. And watch out, some manufacturers claim NDIR sensors but don't actually use them!

I personally have ecobee Premiums, and an Aranet4 on my desk, and an Airthings View Plus (currently) in my basement. The ecobee sensors are mid, but it's something.

The simple and portable Aranet4 surged in popularity during the pandemic after it became clear that CO2 levels are a great proxy for general air stagnation, and thus airborne risk.

[Iridium]

Dont fuck around with radon. If you live in a zone that has elevated radon I would strongly suggest the airthings sensor because it gives you a trend over time which is way more accurate for radon detection.

[JesseMSheridan]

Radon detection is key if you’re in an area with lots of rocks, especially ledge near the surface. It can cause lung cancer and it can be treated with a mitigation system (essentially a pipe and fan that pull radon and other gases from under your house and release them safely above it) so make sure you use a radon detector!

[jasperwilliams]

Radon does vary quite a bit over the course of the year.
Having that information could be particularly useful if you have a system that removes it and has the potential to fail, or if you plan on adding a system soon so you have before and after Data to compare.

[MrTeeAye]

Very nicely timed. Recently got the Airthings sensor after we had a mold issue that caused my wife asthma issues. Found out our CO2 is terrible, explaining headaches at home

[UndecidedMF]

Awesome topic to cover! I’ve got air quality sensors all over my house too and it’s been a good quality of life upgrade.

[daniel_thorson]

I find this video a breathe of fresh air...😉

[dg-hughes]

I bought my Dad a NetAtmo device it had one sensor outside one inside. One Christmas there were eight people in a 15'x15' living room of a small bungalow. No HVAC in the house, all windows closed because it's winter in Canada. I felt lethargic, and everyone else seemed a bit tired. I checked and the CO2 was at about 2, 000ppm! I opened a window -10C or not it had to be done. Myself and everyone else immediately felt better it's amazing how instant of an effect it is.

[icharlemagne]

Odd that the Apollo AIR-1 wasn't a part of this comparison but the MTR was, which is more a presence sensor than an air quality sensor.

[loweg]

Since I have mostly an Amazon smart home, I use the Amazon smart home air quality monitor. It's able to measure air quality inside you mentioned, and it has the ability to run routines in the alexa. Great for those who might not be home assistant users. Usually, I use a fan routine and announce on my echo speakers.

[RC-]

I like the quality of the sensors used by Aranet. A few years ago when that Vulcano exploded, I could see the shockwave in the air pressure graph.

[JekyllInside]

I live in NJ and Radon is continously measure on the basements. It comes from underground and can be carcinogenic.

[KimmoJaskari]

Standalone air filtration units with HEPA filters and (crucially) active carbon filters can scrub VOC's. Obviously the HEPA filter scrubs particles. Also, Vindstyrka means wind strength directly translated, so Windspeed, in case you were dying to know.

[TechWithBrett]

Wow, I've never related so much to work life as at the beginning of this video. Looks like I need a CO2 sensor. Thanks Reed.

[FPrefect]

The video says at 9:43 that the IKEA VINDSTYRKA's VOC measurement doesn't show up in Home Assistant. It does if you're using Zigbee2MQTT. I know that it didn't used to with ZHA, don't know if that's still the case though (I use Z2M, not ZHA).