Airthings, the Norway-based tech company, has introduced the Wave plus smart radon, CO2 and TVOC detector into the UK market.

Air quality Monitor

We’re all much a lot more aware of the risks of poor air quality these days so monitors like this are becoming of interest to many.

The Wave plus is a 12cm diameter x 3.6 cm high smoke-detector-look-alike that’s powered by batteries and can be mounted on the wall, ceiling, or a flat surface. A mounting screw is included and the magnetic battery cover cleverly doubles as the bracket.

Its 6 built-in sensors measure CO2, TVOCs (total volatile organic compounds), temperature, humidity, air pressure and the star of the show, Radon.

Radon

What sets the Wave plus unit besides similar sensors is that ability to measure Radon, a radioactive element which under normal conditions is a gas and easily inhaled. According to Wikipedia that indicates it’s “the second a lot of frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking”.

Levels of the gas depend on your local geology and can change around atmospheric conditions too. You can check out a UK Radon Map for an idea of levels in your area and Airthings is building its own map too.



Connectivity

The Wave plus uses Bluetooth low energy to fire off its measurements across to your mobile app, and from there, up to the Cloud. Not having a power hungry Wi-Fi chip on board indicates it can be battery powered and Airthings say the 2 AA cells (included) must supply around 16 months of use before they need to be replaced.[Update – Batteries lasted around 11 months before syncing became unreliable and they needed replaced, even though they still showed as 42% in the dashboard]

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However, not having WiFi built-in also indicates that you can’t easily check on the device when you are away from home as it only updates when your phone is within Bluetooth range. We asked Airthings if there’s anyway around this and they told us…

You can setup a phone or a table with the app running in foreground. This will sync data to Airthings cloud and make sure you are up to data where you are.

It’s not very convenient having to leave your iPad or similar at home functioning as a Bluetooth to WiFi bridge though. then we observed their FAQ also mentions the on board ‘Airthings SmartLink’ and we asked the company what this was…

Airthings SmartLink is a protocol for long-range wireless communication, developed by Airthings. It is based on the Sub-1 Ghz communication protocol and it is created for long-range robust connectivity. It connects your device to our Hub which makes your data available remotely. However, it is not available to consumers ideal now.

So it sounds like a hub may be available in the future that will bridge this unit to WiFi.

Integration

On the integration side, the Wave plus can be voice control by Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

In addition it can connect to IFTTT for some beneficial recipes and notifications too.

Reporting

Measurements are recorded every 5 minutes for each sensor, except for Radon which is logged once every hour. If you are beside the unit then you can wave your hand in its vicinity and the LED light ring on top will glow briefly in Green, Amber or Red in a traffic light system to show your air quality.

Most users will look at their date from the complimentary Airthings mobile apps (Android or iOS). The app feels a bit light on detail though and is a little discouraging because you can’t see the time that height readings occur on the graphs.

In addition to the mobile apps a complimentary web dashboard is also supplied for a a lot more in-depth look at your data and this uses a much a lot more satisfying experience. Hovering your mouse on the graphs supplies the day, date, time and measurements for that point.

One of the most significant things we found in the first week was the build up of CO2 in our bedroom during the night.

In the first few days we also observed the VOC detector mostly complained when something was sprayed in the room with the largest red spikes normally following an air freshener or similar.

According to Airthings the average global outdoor radon level ranges between 5-15 Bq/m3 and you can read a lot more about what Radon levels indicate in this blog post.

A great feature is the ability to export your sensor readings to CSV file (actually, semi-colon delimited). AT tell us there’s no limit to how far back you can go, so you can download all your readings ideal back to the start. once you have all your data you are complimentary to analyse and graph it any way you like.

Although the Airthings Wave plus is an indoor Air quality (IAQ) detector, the dashboard also shows an outside air quality score based on your location. You can choose to manually locate your unit on the map so it doesn’t give away the exact address of your home.

Summing Up

Airthings told us the longer the sensor is installed, the a lot more accurate your readings become..

Airthings radon detectors are created to monitor your long-term exposure to radon. being able to monitor your radon levels continuously gives you a much better understanding of how much you are exposed, and what your risks are, compared to a two-day test. Radon fluctuates a lot even throughout the day, from building to building in the same area, and even from room to room in a house. This indicates that only way for you to know if radon is a real danger is to have a detector that continuously monitors your radon levels, and helps you make sense of these inevitable fluctuations.

Some Amazon reviewers appear to have had problems with this unit, particularly with firmware updates. however this issue seems to have been resolved as our unit upgraded to new firmware about 2 weeks in flawlessly. We’ve also seen several app updates in the month that we’ve had the unit too so development seems pretty active.

If there was a carbon monoxide sensor built-in to this unit then it might be the only air monitor any individual would ever need. If you don’t need all 6 sensors of the Wave plus and are just concerned with Radon then the standard Wave uses a considerable saving.

For now though, if you want one of the most feature rich smart home air quality monitors around then look no additionally than the Airthings Wave Plus.

Available from Amazon

Sale

1,241 Reviews

Airthings 2930 Wave plus smart Radon CO2 and TVOCs Detector with temperature

AWARD-WINNING: Wave plus is an award-winning smart indoor air quality monitor with radon detection. (TIME magazine’s best Inventions 2019; CES advancement award – Honouree 2019)
RELIABLE RADON RESULTS: As radon levels change daily, continuous long-term measuring is necessary. Airthings Wave plus procedures radon accurately and reliably
CLEAN AIR SENSORS: Radon, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), toxins and chemicals (Total VOCs), humidity, temperature and air pressure sensors allow you to get full visibility into six crucial indoor air factors

£187.36

get on Amazon

Airthings.com

AIR quality – SENSOR SPECIFICATIONS

Sensor sampling interval: 5 minute
Sensor Resolution:
Temperature ± 0.1°F (0.1° C)
Humidity ± 1%
Pressure ± 0.15hPa
Settling time:
TVOC ~ 7 days
CO2 ~ 7 days
CO2 details:
NDIR Sensor (Non-Dispersive Infra-Red)
Measurement range 400–5000 ppm
Non condensing 0 – 85%RH
Optimum Accuracy ±30ppm ±3% within 15 – 35°C (60 – 95°F) and 0 – 80%RH can be reached after multiple settling cycles on locations with natural indoor CO2 fluctuations

RADON SENSOR SPECIFICATIONS

Radon sampling: Passive diffusion chamber
Detection method: Alpha spectrometry
Measurement range: 0 – 500 pCi/L
Accuracy/precision:
After 7 days:  σ ~ 10 % at 5 pCi/L
After 2 months: σ ~ 5 % at 5 pCi/L

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Last update on 2021-10-04 / affiliate links / images from Amazon product advertising API