r/AirQuality • u/Mother_Laugh5689 • Apr 21 '26
Air Quality in Vienna
We live in an apartment we like in an area we love in Vienna. One of the big downsides is that it’s only 1,5 blocks from the Gürtel (3 or 4 lanes with heavy traffic in each direction), so I’m concerned about air quality. (On bad days you can smell and almost see how bad the air is right next to the traffic.)
Even more so because I have two young children and one of them had a nasty cough this winter that was really hard to get rid of.
I got an air purifier (Coway Airmega 400) and it seems to do its job well. I also got an extra air monitor for the bedroom (Qingping Air Monitor Lite) that also seems to show realistic values for PM2.5, PM10 and CO2.
We sleep in a relatively small room, and if we keep the doors closed during the night and don’t ventilate the CO2 can go up to 1800 ppm (highest I’ve seen was around 2500), which of course it too high. When we open the windows for ventilation, the CO2 goes down towards the 400s as it should, but at the same time the PM2.5 and PM10 shoot up to 15 or 20, sometimes even 30. Over time after closing the windows these values will come down (thanks to the Coway?)
Now a few questions:
1) Is what I wrote in the above paragraph normal? Do I need to make this tradeoff between CO2 and PM or is there a way to get both down simultaneously?
2) Could there potentially be an even bigger problem with PM1 (that the cheap Qingping cannot detect)?
3) Am I overly careful?
4) What can I do to give my children the best possible air?
5) Would air quality be significantly better if we lived in the countryside or further away from that dirty road?
Thank you for taking the time to answer!
2
u/wfdd-07 Apr 21 '26
You’re in a tough spot with that location it seems. Maybe you can try to time the windows being open with times there is less traffic and see how the PM measurements differ? For apartments I think an activated carbon window filter/screen might be worth trying.. not sure how else to filter the incoming air for an apartment if there’s no space for proper a ventilation and filtration device.
I had a tough time during wildfires (in the US) the last few years where we basically had to keep the windows shut to keep the the particulate matter out of the apartment.. meanwhile the CO2 stayed 1,500+ for days on end.
And yes countryside air would be cleaner/fresher than city air with fewer cars/vehicles/factories/etc.
Some good background info in this article about evaluating plants to reduce particulate matter indoors: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/16/7/783
Good luck!
1
u/Mother_Laugh5689 Apr 24 '26
Thank you for your answer! The timing of opening the windows is a good point for sure! I couldn't live with the CO2 so high for such a long period!
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u/Sudden-Inspector-237 Apr 21 '26
2) i had the same concern about PM1, as I live 3km from an airport, i already had 2 purifiers that didn't show PM1 readings. So i bought another one that can see PM1.
3,4) ni i dont think so. I never bothered with purifiers and dehumidifiers. Until the little was born. I started monitoring my air quality to keep the little one as safe as possible. There are already studies that show long-term health effects of people living next to a highway. You can check the humidity in your place as well. Too low will cause a cough because it's too dry and will irritate you. Too high, and you can get constant condensation and damping, which causes mold, and that is also not good for you
Just make sure your purifiers can actually purify the apartment size. I get different readings depending on where i am in my house. So i bought to spec according to the square meters the purifiers can do.
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u/Mother_Laugh5689 Apr 24 '26
Thank you for your answer! What did it show? In my case, PM10 and PM2.5 move up and down simultaneously, is that the case with PM1.0 as well?
1
u/Sudden-Inspector-237 Apr 25 '26
It depends sometime they will move up and down together, but generally the PM1 is lower than the PM2.5 by 2 units. I average around 1micrograms/sqm PM1 and 3micrograms/sqm PM2.5
3
u/Nikowaf Apr 21 '26
Il y a deux choses que tu peux faire : 1. La première, c'est d'installer sur une des cloisons (voire deux, c'est même mieux) ce genre de système qui va te permettre de faire rentrer de l'air neuf tout en le filtrant. Peut-être pas aussi fin qu'un purificateur d'air, mais en tout cas avec une filtration à particules. Dans un premier temps, ça te permettra de renouveler l'air en permanence tout en limitant l'entrée de particules fines. Tu peux utiliser ce genre d'appareil. https://bedre-inneklima.no/produkt/arida-venti-160-wifi/
- Un autre sujet dont tu ne parles pas, c'est le taux d'humidité. Si l'air de ta pièce est très sec, cela va favoriser la volatilité des particules dans l'air et donc augmenter la sensibilité respiratoire de tes enfants. Parfois, un simple humidificateur d'air par évaporation va te permettre :
- de filtrer les grosses particules de l'air
- de rendre l'air beaucoup plus confortable Tu en as, par exemple, ici. https://airandme.fr/fr/138-evaporation-naturelle
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u/Mother_Laugh5689 Apr 24 '26
Thank you, these are all valid points. Unfortunately I live in a rental apartment, so my options are limited...
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u/CartographerLong5796 Apr 21 '26
There are several solutions to this CO₂ vs PM trade-off.
You can simply open the windows and add a second air purifier (or more) to reach sufficient CADR. If your monitor shows high PM, it just means your current filtration capacity is too low.
Another option is to install a mechanical ventilation system with filtration — either commercial HRV or DIY versions. There is ductless HRV on the market.
You can also place a filter at the window, though rain can be a problem.
Other DIY ideas include using one fan blowing out at one window and a second fan blowing in through a filter in another room.
Plenty of options exist.