Airthings Wave Plus Radon and Air Quality Monitor Review
Who Is The Airthings Wave Plus Radon and Air Quality Monitor For?
- The Airthings Wave Plus makes it easy to monitor air quality at home
- The Wave Plus takes seconds to set up and is controlled through an easy to use app
- The Airthings app provides information on air quality, air pressure, radon levels, temperature and more
If 2020 taught us anything, it's that good air quality is incredibly important for staying healthy and safe. However, air quality isn't something you can detect simply by looking at it. To know all about the air around you, you'll need the Airthings Wave Plus. This little monitor provides useful information about the air quality around it, helping those nearby make smart decisions.
Small And Out Of The Way
From a physical standpoint, the Airthings Wave Plus radon and air quality monitor is a pretty unassuming device. It basically looks like a smoke detector with its squat cylindrical frame. The Wave Plus runs on batteries, which means that it can be placed anywhere around the house. There's even an included screw to mount the Wave Plus on a wall. The battery life of the Wave Plus is also very impressive, as I have had my device active for several weeks now and it still says it's at 100 percent battery life.
Setting the Wave Plus up is incredibly easy. All that is required from the actual Wave Plus monitor is pulling out the little tab around the batteries. From there, the rest of the set up is handled entirely by the Airthings app. Multiple Wave Plus devices can also be paired at the same time, meaning it's possible to monitor air in multiple rooms throughout a home.
So what can the Airthings Wave Plus do once it's all set up? The actual monitor only serves two functions. The first is to provide information to the Airthings app. The second is to provide a very quick overview of air quality. This is done by waving at the Wave Plus monitor. Waving activates the LED ring light on the top of the Wave Plus, and the color of the light indicates the quality of the air. A green light means that things are good, a yellow light shows that there are some issues with air quality and a red light indicates that the air quality is considered poor.
All About The App
Once the Airthings Wave Plus has been connected to a smartphone app, that's about it. All that's left is to wait a week for the Wave Plus to fully calibrate itself and then it will start supplying air quality data.
When looking at the Airthings app, there are six aspects of air quality that the Wave Plus monitors. The more basic functions include providing the temperature around the Wave Plus along with the barometric pressure. The Wave Plus provides the humidity level as well.
Things don't end there with the Wave Plus. The device is also capable of providing more advanced feedback. This includes information on radon levels, carbon dioxide levels and the level of VOCs in the air. VOC stands for volatile organic compounds, which basically come from everything. VOCs can emit from burning candles, deodorizers and perfumes, cooking fumes, cleaning products and even new furniture.
Along with active information, the Airthings app also provides historical data. Users can look back on the past 48 hours, week, month and even the past year to see how their air quality has changed over time.
More in-depth information can be found on the Airthings web dashboard, which the app includes a link for. The web dashboard has more detailed charts of historical data and a custom time frame can be used to chart the changes over time.
What I really like about the Airthings app is that it is simple to use. I've had to use many apps for products, and it seems like most of them are overloaded with unnecessary features and options. The Airthings app, on the other hand, is very streamlined and straightforward, making it easy to quickly access the information that is wanted without getting lost in menus and notifications.
Small Changes Make Big Impacts
I've noticed since using the Airthings Wave Plus that my air quality in my apartment is apparently pretty poor. Since setting the Wave Plus up, I've frequently found myself with yellow or even red quality air. This poor air quality seems to be triggered by just about everything I do in my apartment. If I wash my dishes, that brings the air quality down. If I cook food, that drops my quality into the red almost instantly. It seems that even looking at the Wave Plus will impact my air quality in some way.
Interestingly, I have a portable air purifier (which you can read a full review of right over here). I put the air purifier right next to the Wave Plus and let it run for a few hours. I started with yellow quality air and, after all the purification, was left with yellow quality air still. I don't know what that says about the quality of the air purifier, the Wave Plus's ability to detect things or my apartment's general air quality.
I also should note that I don't have access to my own lab where I can independently verify if the readings from the Airthings Wave Plus are accurate. I don't know for sure if the air quality of my apartment is what the Wave Plus says it is. I'll just have to trust that it is accurate.
Final Thoughts
It's always a smart idea to have some kind of radon monitor in a home, and the Airthings Wave Plus is that plus so much more. The Wave Plus offers information on radon along with carbon dioxide levels, temperature, barometric pressure and more. The Wave Plus is incredibly easy to set up and the required app for smartphones is easy to use and isn't bogged down with a bunch of unnecessary features.
Many radon monitors are over $100, which means that the Airthings Wave Plus is a little more than that. Of course, the Wave Plus has more features than just monitoring for radon. Considering how easy the Wave Plus is to set up and use, and the fact that it blends into any home with its minimal design, it's a pretty solid device for anyone.
