Air Pollution Meter | Air Pollution Monitor | CO2 Air Quality Meter
What these instruments measure, and which one you actually need
If you searched for an air pollution meter, start here, because there is a good chance the instrument you want is not the one we sell. We would rather say that on the way in than have you order the wrong thing.
Air pollution meter usually means a particulate meter
Most people searching this phrase want one of these:
- A particulate meter, measuring PM2.5 and PM10. This is the instrument for dust, smoke, cooking fumes, wood burners, pollen and traffic.
- A VOC meter, for volatile organic compounds off paints, solvents, adhesives and new furnishings.
- An outdoor pollution monitor, for nitrogen dioxide, ground level ozone and similar.
We do not stock any of those. Nothing in our range measures PM2.5, PM10 or VOCs. If that is what you need, buy a dedicated particulate or VOC instrument from someone who sells them.
What we do stock, and what it measures
Carbon dioxide monitors. They read CO2 in parts per million, along with temperature and humidity.
Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant in the sense people usually mean. At indoor levels it is a marker: people breathe it out, so if fresh air is not replacing the air in a room the level climbs. That makes it the simplest way to tell whether a space is ventilated, which is a different question from whether the air contains dust or chemicals.
The reference points: outdoor air is around 400 to 420 ppm, a well ventilated room usually stays under 800 ppm, and above roughly 1000 to 1500 ppm a room is recycling its own air. Those are ventilation benchmarks rather than health limits.
The two questions are related but not the same
This is the part worth understanding, because it changes what you buy.
A room can have a low CO2 reading and still have poor air, if the source is something other than people: a wood burner, cooking, a solvent, a busy road outside. Equally, a room can have high CO2 and no contamination at all, just too many people and a closed window.
They can even pull against each other. Opening a window onto a main road drops the CO2 and brings traffic particulates in with the fresh air. If you live somewhere with an outdoor pollution problem, that trade off is real and a CO2 meter alone will not show you both halves of it.
When a CO2 meter is the right buy
When the question is ventilation, which covers most indoor complaints about stuffiness, drowsiness in the afternoon, condensation, and rooms that feel stale by the end of a meeting. It is also the sensible instrument for classrooms, offices, meeting rooms and bedrooms, because in those spaces people are the dominant source and CO2 tracks the thing you can actually fix by opening something.
What we sell
Two monitors, both covering carbon dioxide, temperature and humidity.
The compact CO2 Meter is portable at 108 g, reads 400 to 5000 ppm, updates every second and has an audible alarm. The Jumbo CO2 Monitor is a wall mounted large format display for rooms where everyone needs to see the number.
Neither detects carbon monoxide, smoke or particulates. Carbon monoxide in particular needs its own alarm, and a CO2 monitor is not a substitute for one.
Delivery is free on orders over €50 and otherwise €22, arriving in 5 to 7 days after a 24 to 48 hour handling time. If you are not sure which instrument fits your problem, ask us on the contact page before you order.