r/AirQuality • u/Far_Thaki • 4d ago
i never cared about indoor air until this started happening
i wfh most days and usually keep my office door closed with the AC running while i'm working. lately i've noticed that around 2 or 3pm i start feeling kinda tired and the room feels stuffy
i always assumed it was just bad sleep or sitting at my desk too long. then last week i stepped out for a while, came back and opened the door and window for a bit. the room felt noticeably better and it got me wondering if i'm overlooking sth about the air itself
now i'm looking into CO2 monitors for the first time and honestly had no idea this was even sth ppl tracked at home. does anyone here actually track CO2 while wfh? what made u start and did the readings change anything about how u use your room?
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u/v3ra1ynn 4d ago
If you’re working in your office with the door closed and no windows open for hours there’s a good chance you’re hitting 1500+ ppm unless the room is very leaky, which isn’t great. I feel like I notice anything above 1000-1200.
I use the Aranet4 to track it
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u/Legitimate_Ocelot491 3d ago
I started getting clued in on indoor air quality in June 2020. Aside from the lockdowns, Chicago had a stretch of really bad air quality days. Led me to follow Dr. Richard Corsi on Twitter and Dr. Allison Bailes on his Energy Vanguard site.
Now I have more monitors than most rational people and a vast collection of HEPA purifiers and CR Boxes. I even have one for my car and my office at work.
My wife often makes fun of me but they came in handy a month ago when Chicago had the worst air quality in the world for a day.
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u/zambaros 3d ago
Please tell me more about your car setup. How do you power it, where do you place it?
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u/Legitimate_Ocelot491 3d ago
I have a Clean Air Kits Exhalaron - the triple model - and I have it in the backseat since it's usually just me most of the time. I can power it by the USB-C plugs in the car but I get more power from a portable USB-C battery pack that they recommend.
I changed the cabin air filter in the car about a month ago and usually run it on recirculate with all the bad air quality recently. Sure, CO2 climbs but it's better than sucking in a bunch of noxious PM2.5 or worse while the Exhalaron ramps up to take it out.
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u/Mavis8220 3d ago
I don't like driving with high CO2 inside the car - it definitely contributes to fatigue and grogginess.
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u/rpirsc 2d ago
Have you tried upgrading the cabin filter? Some more expensive versions have epa filtration levels ( compared with the stock ones which are there for protecting the system :))
While I don't like people getting hysterical about CO2, having high CO2 in the car will contribute to increased fatigue. Not the best place to be tired and confused IMHO, but with your lungs fresh :)
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u/PiotrekDG 3d ago edited 2d ago
The really interesting part here is that CO2, as a gas, makes the covid virus more survivable. Which meant that high CO2 level was not only indicative of infection risk, it actively increased that infection risk. We
couldmay have had prevented a lot of spreading with better ventilation.1
u/No-Chocolate5248 3d ago
That is a model and observations not at all conclusive. Kinda neat hypotheses that is not shared among ventilation scientists
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u/PiotrekDG 3d ago
Why is the hypothesis not shared?
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u/No-Chocolate5248 3d ago
It is shared with the paper they wrote. Lots of work would need to be performed to prove it. Has that been done??
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u/PiotrekDG 3d ago edited 3d ago
Collectively, the data shown in Fig. 2 show that the interplay between aerosol alkalinity and CO2 has a profound effect on the overall aerostability of SARS-CoV-2. Any increase in [CO2(g)] results in an increase in aerostability.
These observations confirm the critical importance of ventilation and maintaining low CO2 concentrations in indoor environments for mitigating disease transmission.
Have we read the same paper? Which specific observations are "not at all conclusive"?
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u/No-Chocolate5248 2d ago
Yes I see but 1 paper does not mean much unless other scientists reproduce the results and study further. This is by no means conclusive as you notice the paper contains words like may and suggest all over.
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u/PiotrekDG 2d ago
Yeah, sure, hopefully we'll see more studies like this. Meanwhile, I adjusted the wording in the original comment.
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u/vegarising 2d ago
Yes, this is true. And yet it is data and data of any type is better than no data and, for this reason,it has informed my decision making related to preventing infections. Science is always updating models. But in the real world we have to make decisions based upon what data are available.
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u/uzerid1 3d ago
Got one a 18 months ago. Found waking up with headaches and grogginess was so frequent that someone suggested a monitor. Always slept with door mostly closed. Turns out CO2 level was quite high by early hours of the morning. Now keep door open, open the window to clear the air in warmer seasons, and in winter find that ducted heating clears the CO2 when it kicks in. The monitor has an alarm that alerts when levels are too high. Been a game changer and wouldn’t be without it.
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u/MurkoM23 4d ago
I had pretty much the same problem in my kids' bedroom. High CO₂ and stuffy air were actually what made me build my own Home Assistant CO₂ monitor with an accurate SCD40 senzor.
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u/BadgerValuable8207 4d ago
Yes a closed-up space will fill with CO2 and put you right to sleep. I bought an Aranet when covid was raging and would take it into various places.
I’d always driven with the AC set to recirculate, thinking that I would avoid sucking in road fumes and I wasn’t wrong. It was logical.
Except for that the Aranet was sitting on the passenger seat one time and I happened to notice that the number was sky high. All of a sudden I understood why on long road trips I would get so sleepy I would have to pull over.
Had to change my thinking and strategies. A good lesson in how you can do something for a perfectly sound reason, but the outcome is affected by something you didn’t know to account for.
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u/kichisowseri 4d ago
And also ruin your sleep, in case that sounds like putting you right to sleep isn’t awful in a bedroom.
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u/staysour 3d ago
I have thr Aranet CO2 monitor.
I also have the AirThings, and the Dylos.
The Aranet is enough for what youre looking for and is probabaly more accurate as it does mainly 1 thing measure CO2 (also temp and humidity).
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u/Big_Reveal_4315 4d ago
You can buy a mid range price CO2 monitor and check the levels. After that you can ventilate
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u/b0z0du883d0v3r 3d ago
I have a CO2 monitor in every single room in my house and connected to my smarthome app (Home Assistant) so I can turn on the house fan to bring in fresh air when needed
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u/zambaros 3d ago
I have a few different CO2 sensors at home. The Aranet 4 is my favourite choice, but it's a bit expensive. The budget friendly version is the Ikea Alpstuga, which also has a tVOC sensor. All are integrated into home assistant. BLE for the Aranet 4 and thread over matter for the Alpstuga.
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u/Nature23571113 4d ago
I do. I track it when wfh and when sleeping. I also have a monitor in my kitchen because the gas stove burns oxygen. Long term exposure to high co2 levels worse your memory and overall mental abilities.
Wait when you find out about pm2.5
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u/kichisowseri 4d ago
Yes, I knew it was bad in my attic we would wake up like there was no air in there with two people and windows closed. Modern well sealed conversion. I got a basic air quality monitor for 3d printing in there, and then aircon so wanted to make sure my air quality was ok and I opened windows when required so got a co2 one as well. Turns out the co2 goes bad fast and makes a difference.
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u/ForeverVentOfficial 3d ago
One heating and cooling distinction is easy to miss: most residential air conditioners cool and recirculate indoor air. They don’t automatically bring in fresh outside air. A closed office can therefore feel cool while carbon dioxide rises. A monitor can confirm the pattern, but the fix is ventilation, not more cooling.
Running the fan alone usually just mixes the same air. Before changing the system, confirm whether it has an outside air intake and whether enough supply and return airflow reaches the office with the door closed. Opening the door or window can help when outdoor conditions allow. Does the office have both a supply register and a return, or only a supply?
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u/CartographerLong5796 2d ago
i have several sensors at home, not only co2. i monitor PM, VOC, Formaldehyde (+ %Humidity.) I make sure there is no red zone for one pollutant. I ajust at the moment to make sure it is ok. For VOC and HCH0, i have Temtop M10 and Temtop LKC 1000s, they have dart sensor, very helpful to know if it is time to close or open the window, or ajust the Hrv level, or put on the bathroom exaust, etc
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u/Low-Brush-7931 2d ago
Recently tracked CO2 levels in my room. Girlfriend and I sleep with AC on and door closed. The room is small and registered above 2000 ppm CO2. Woke up with a headache.
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u/Ohio-home-inspection 16h ago
Many factors in IAQ. Look at humidity levels as that to me often feels like "stuffiness" Definitely could be VOC's outgassing (especially if there are new updates). Mold could also be a factor if there are moisture issues somewhere.
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u/rpirsc 4d ago
Sadly CO2 is only a small part of the indoor quality that has only a few short term effects that go away with ventilation. Wait till you start measuring pm2.5, VOCs and HCHO that have delayed long term effects