Author Topic: What is out there for consumer contributions for AirQuality?  (Read 3036 times)

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Offline plunet

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What is out there for consumer contributions for AirQuality?
« on: September 08, 2021, 11:19:28 AM »
Hello, I've recently started out with a Weather Station and have after an initial false start invested in Ecowitt kit - and have recently added both an external WH41 PM2.5 sensor, and the internal WH45 CO2/PM2.5/PM10/Temp/Humidity sensor.

But I might be interested in going further and getting a sensor that contrubutes to some of the AQI networks out there, and was looking for some advice from those here on what's good out there, and what gets a good "bang for your buck" without needing deep pockets.

From what I cam see the weather station services like Ecowitt can do AQI but they do it more as an add on and it's not their main focus or experise and for example Ecowitt don't have the the double sensors which appear to be a "requirement" to have your sensor to contribute to public AQI services. So even if I were to do something to be able to post my Ecowitt outdoor RM2.5 data somewhere outher than Ecowitt it probably wouldn't be accepted?

From what little research I have done

PurpleAir seems to be well cited, and their consumer sensor is well specced but is probably a little more than I was hoping to spend (USD250 ish)
Luftdaten - which seems to now be sensor.community is more community based and very Germany/Benelux focussed, and has off-the-shelf sensors for less than €100 but these are out of stock at the moment.
AQICN seems to be a project born out of China but their map seems to knit together as many data sources as possible and they have a sensor-as-a-service model where you rent the sensor and it comes with upgrades every couple of years.

I'm sure some others on the forum have some opinions about the various services out there. If you were starting off and didn't really want to spend loads of money - hundredish Euros would be ok for a install-and-forget sensor in the back garden and within reach of a power supply and Wifi, what would you recommend? Also, is there a better forum to go and look in?

Thanks

Offline billfor

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Offline davidefa

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Re: What is out there for consumer contributions for AirQuality?
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2021, 12:52:50 PM »
You can even send your pm sensor's data to luftdaten using their api: https://github.com/opendata-stuttgart/meta/wiki/EN-APIs
Or you can build your own low cost sensor: https://sensor.community/en/sensors/airrohr

Offline Aardvark

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Re: What is out there for consumer contributions for AirQuality?
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2021, 04:52:57 PM »
I have 3 air purifiers in my home because of my asthma.  two are wifi controlled one isn't.   I now see some have the ability to record PM2.5.   I should have waited.   
We have a reading with the local health dept, but I can see hte value of this.   If I still had my weather site, I would have installed one right away, probably the Davis,  They are worth having with all the air pollution. With how the wind blows, air quality can change.    If I were to get one  other than the davis, something with ozone as well.

Offline plunet

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Re: What is out there for consumer contributions for AirQuality?
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2021, 10:01:28 AM »
So perhaps a bit more of a specific question for anyone that can offer some insight....

I seem to be looking at broadly two options

The people who sell the kits for Sensor Community - Nettigo seem to sell what appears to be more basic Sensor.Community kits or their own Nettigo kits.
And there's a bit more confusion cos of component shortages there's a couple of versions of each...

I guess my aim would be to get something that is reliable and reasonable quality/accuracy, where I could share the data widely. I have an existing Ecowitt PWS and I am starting to play around with weewx and FOShk-plugin which I will run on my broadband router (OpenWRT)

Gaia seems to be the easiest - the sensor is plug and play and uplaods to their service, they do then share that data widely.
Q: but can I get at my data from a Gaia sensor using something like weewx/Foshk plugin and process or send it elsewhere?

Q: Does anyone know the difference between the Sensor.Community kits and the Nettigo kits. Is there any difference in openness between the Luftdaten and the Nettigo kits to be able to get at your data using something like weewx or FOShk-plugin?

Offline davidefa

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Re: What is out there for consumer contributions for AirQuality?
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2021, 05:34:18 PM »
I didn't know of nettigo kits.
The NAM 0.3.3 is a nice kit, boxed and with everything included, key point: has an heating element (ptc) to reduce condensing humidity.
The PRO version has an external wifi antenna ( the standard as an onboard antenna ).
As the BME280 sensor is out of stock there is a version with BMP180 + SHT30/SHT31.
The software should be same as luftdaten ( with ptc support )
« Last Edit: September 20, 2021, 05:47:20 PM by davidefa »

Offline Brientim

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Re: What is out there for consumer contributions for AirQuality?
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2021, 03:08:00 AM »
I gave Uradmonitor A3, Davis Airlink and an Ecowitt.

The A3 has been running 5 years without fail
The Ecowitt 2+ year
Airlink since first released.

It is hard to prepare because they are very different target markets and cost. All work, but they can produce varied readings.

 

anything