A Scentroid team member recently brought home one of our AQSafe Indoor Air Quality Monitors and measured its direct impact within a smaller condo environment. The results were surprising, to say the least. Despite having a HEPA air filtration system, using the air conditioner or even cooking a simple pasta dish greatly increased particulate count and carbon dioxide to well above recommended levels.

Event 1: AQSafe Indoor Air Quality Monitor recording Air Conditioning in a Condo Environment

12:00 AM: Right before 12 AM, the Air Conditioner unit within the condo had turned on. Visible air conditioning cycles could be seen, displaying both active and effective circulation. Both Carbon Dioxide levels and temperature fluctuated throughout the night.

8:00 AM: As the air conditioner was turned off, levels normalized and temperature slowly increased, further peaking around 2pm

12:00 AM, same night: As you can see in the above graph, once the air conditioner had been turned on at 12:00AM, particulate matter (white line) started to increase. despite having a HEPA air filtration system, small particles were being distributed throughout the house during air circulation.

2:00 PM: It takes several hours for the particulate matter to drop back down to normal levels.

Note: High peak at 2pm was caused by using the microwave.

Event 2: How Cooking Affects a Condo Environment

6:30 PM: Upon entering the room, simply breathing altered both humidity and CO2 levels in the air. The AQSafe Indoor Air Quality Monitor was so sensitive that it determined human presence in a room. Over time, patterns can be distinguished and determined based off of human habits.

9:30 PM: Occupant started cooking, boiling pasta specifically. Humidity rose considerably but a massive particulate matter spike occured upon searing meat. AQSafe was positioned 10 meters away, yet still picked up this spike. Within the next 2 hours, PM dropped rapidly. Humidity and CO2 had a slower decrease to normal levels.

As you can see in the image above, the upper limit of CO2 in an occupied classroom is 1000ppm as per ASHRAE standards (which we exceeded by nearly 100 ppm)
The upper limit of PM 2.5 in outdoor air as per the EPA is 65 micrograms/m3, which we also exceeded by a staggering amount.
Indoor air pollution can have significant and harmful effects on individuals present. due to poor circulation, a standard indoor environment may have up to 100 times more harmful air pollutants than outdoors. Keep your space safe with AQSafe!