Air-1 - most feature packed Air Sensor I've seen

It's not as tiny as MSR-1, but Air-1 from Apollo Automation is PACKED with so many sensors. But is it worth getting it despite the price? We'll look into it in this video!
Apollo Automation Air-1:
shop.apolloautomation.cloud/p... (*)
Apollo Automation MSR-1:
shop.apolloautomation.cloud/p... (*) (*)
Link to Documentation:
wiki.apolloautomation.com/boo...
00:00 - Intro
00:31 - About this video
00:50 - Apollo Automation Air-1 specs
03:54 - Connecting to device and web UI
06:00 - Air-1 sensor in Home Assistant
07:17 - Air quality data in Home Assistant
09:24 - Ideas for automation
10:31 - Documentation for Air.1
11:03 - What's wrong with it?
12:24 - Final thoughts
Simon Says interview:
• What goes on behind th...
Don't forget to give this video thumb up if you liked it, subscribe if you still haven't and I'll see you next time!
Have fun!
Bearded Tinker
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#homeassistant #senosrs

[@ApolloAutomation]

Andrej, what a wonderful review! We truly value your HA knowledge and look forward to hearing from your community! Please let us know if there are any questions! Best, Justin Apollo Automation

[@BeardedTinker]

Thank you Justin and again, you did awesome job with this one too!!!

[@ApolloAutomation]

@@BeardedTinker Thank you! Also, we appreciate you mentioning the interview we did with Simon Says Home Assistant! It was a blast!

[@BeardedTinker]

Liked the interview very much!!!

[@aaajp3]

Yet another Fantastic video and review. Thanks John

[@BeardedTinker]

Thank you very much!!!

[@jerryaycock]

I love all my Apollo Automation sensors. AIR-1 is front and center in my home. I highly reccomend all the line.

[@ApolloAutomation]

Thank you, Jerry! You have been with us since the beginning and we really appreciate your support! Best, Justin Apollo Automation

[@ronm6585]

Thank you.

[@BeardedTinker]

You're welcome Ron, thanks for watching!

[@yestrdave9236]

I’ve had one for couple months, so far so good.

[@BeardedTinker]

That's good to hear. I've installed it at permanent location (at least for now). Only had it online for 5-6 days.

[@iainhay2823]

Nice looking sensor but expensive. I use the newer IKEA one to control filter next to my 3D printer, turns on with 2.5 above 3ppm and VOC above 100, I vary the fan speed depending on levels. Works well.

[@BeardedTinker]

It really is expensive, but it also packs a lot of things inside.

[@ApolloAutomation]

We appreciate your support and are happy to hear that it has been working well! Cheers, Justin Apollo Automation

[@MarkJones-lr2lk]

Seems like a very impressive sensor.

[@BeardedTinker]

Pricey, but it really is.

[@FritsSpieker]

Impressive sensor. Very tempting.....

[@BeardedTinker]

It really is! But also not cheap.

[@FritsSpieker]

@@BeardedTinker exactly... Tempting, but still struggling with the business case. 😁

[@FrankGraffagnino]

it would be useful if someone made a collection of alert automations that alert when any of those sensed values are at a warning level. If you wanted to set that up yourself, it sounds like you would need to go sensor by sensor and go research what are safe and warning levels of each measurement. Might save folks some time (not just for this sensor, but any of them in HA that measure any of the particular values that are in the automation table).

[@BeardedTinker]

Sure, but - what standard :) Problem is for example US vs EU vs China - they have different norms used. Currently outside air where I live is rated 44 by US scale and 34 by China scale.

[@ApolloAutomation]

Great suggestion! We have some examples on our Apollo Automation GitHub and our Wiki page. I do not think I can post the links though because KZbin auto-removes the comment. Cheers, Justin Apollo Automation

[@starecmirec]

Thanks for the review. It’s good to have an alternative to the currently used Airthings Wave+. Even though it doesn’t have a radon sensor like Airthings, it’s cheaper. Is the fan used only for PM measurement, or are all the gases actively measured? Even if the fan doesn’t directly feed all gas sensors, thanks to the air circulation, it should be more responsive than ‘passive’ sensors without a fan. I think I love this sensor as well 😉

[@BeardedTinker]

Thank you for the comment! No, fan is inside SE555 only, so just PM values. But other sensor board is directly on the mash and it should be exposed well to air. And it's really sensitive.

[@TubeCramu]

I wonder which of the sensors are best to detect the smell after the restroom has been in use. Methane or just VOC? I'm also interested in the power usage if the Air-1 is fully equipped. Would it be possible to power the device for a few days by using a power bank?

[@BeardedTinker]

I was able to get it working with Air-1 in bathroom, for academic purposes. Forgot what was the actual sensor out of all of them that was peaking, but there were spikes after restroom use. In terms of power use - not really sure. Haven't tested it nor checked power consumption. But I can power similar sensor out of 10.000mAh power bank for around 4-5 days.

[@TommyBrenner]

Funnily enough, I'm currently making my own multi-sensor based on the SEN55. I've also added the SCD30 for CO₂ and the DPS310 for pressure measurement. I'm at the final stage of case design, but I'm still looking for/at a good way to implement CO₂ calibration with ESPHome (I'm still kind of a novice when it comes to programming etc.).

[@BeardedTinker]

Sounds like a fun project! You can look also at code of Air-1 for inspiration if you need something. It is available on GitHub.

[@TommyBrenner]

Cheers! Yes, I'll definitely do that. 👍🏻

[@PersonXes]

I made my multisensors quite some years ago. In terms of CO2 Calibration, what are you trying to achieve? I use the senseair S8 for CO2 measurement and what I do is when I'm on holiday and the house is empty for a few days then I push a virtual ESPHome button that calibrates the sensor

[@BlackPhilosopher]

Many sensor just calibrate on fresh air CO2 levels. So at least once a week you give a room full ventilation or bring sensor outside where it can baseline itself against ~400 ppm

[@PersonXes]

On the senseair S8 I disabled the automatic background calibration. The issue with the automatic process is that if in the last week the lowest measured value was e.g. 500ppm it will just assume that must have been 400ppm and recalibrate on that basis. But especially in winter it's normal for my house to never reach 400ppm. At least for the senseair S8 it is fine to calibrate it manually e.g. once or twice a year. It will be off my maybe 20ppm which is really nothing.

[@galasitygaming]

How do you get those wonderful graphs on the dashboard?

[@BeardedTinker]

They are apexcharts-card - HACS frontend component. I think I've featured them in video I did on graphs & charts in Home Assistant. Really nice looking and can be customised.

[@galasitygaming]

@@BeardedTinker Thank you!!

[@Saturn2888]

Is IKEA's Air Quality sensor bad? I own two and mainly use them as a Zigbee repeater. I just started Zigbee 2 weeks ago, and if they're not good, I can return them.

[@BeardedTinker]

Haven't tested those as I've not liked the reviews. It's not bad per se - but reporting time has a bit of delay, and also, VOC values are not reported via Zigbee network. It all depends on why do you want them exactly. For typical home use, they can be enough.

[@Airbag888]

It would be really interesting to see how accurate these sensors are compared to calibrated industrial sensors.. Some of them work well in a specific range then go off target by a lot outside.. so yeah given the price it's hard to go for it without some level of assurance of the accuracy over the whole detectable range if that makes sense

[@BeardedTinker]

You can check accuracy of each sensor on datasheets. But also remember that humidity and room temperature also impacts the accuracy.

[@smolikjr]

Would be this sensors covers more like industrial grade decomposition for the air pollution. That being said, in my humble opinion until you are leaving in industrial area what you need is PM's VOC, Temps humidity and CO2.

[@BeardedTinker]

I have to agree - VOC is good enough as it already measures "gases" in the air, not precise by chemical composition, but if you are printing with ABS or similar materials, or using sprays to paint, it will register that.

[@Airbag888]

@@BeardedTinker My main drive is to be able to plot air quality (for each of the measurable quantities) vs my kid's asthma flares. I'd love to be able to know when to amp up on the preventive medication (if at all possible) in that way.

[@BeardedTinker]

I'm not a scientist, but I think the main unit with maybe co2 (just to be safe) would be good enough for this. Not sure what allergies your kid has, but tracking PM values could potentially be ok. These valves would tell you when there are any spikes in particles in the air. That could be used for notification. Quick Google says that pollen falls at PM10 category, together with dust.

[@Saturn2888]

What kinds of sensors are certified?

[@BeardedTinker]

Certification can be done per component or per device. As far as I kno, components in this one are certified and calibrated in factory before assembly, and should provide accurate data. But as with all CO/CO2 sensors, you need to calibrate them at first use on clean air (preferably outside) so they can establish what's baseline. Other sensors are pre-calibrated and should provide adequate data. But this device is not certified to be "scientific" tool - it can be used in home as tool to give you enough information and info on trends.

[@mauriceatkinson9520]

it does look good but expensive. However, if it allowed me to replace the smoke alarms in all my rooms and also had a battery option I would buy several.

[@BeardedTinker]

It's not certified and as such I wouldn't recommend replacing them - not saying that they don't work, but...

[@galasitygaming]

$150 for all of those sensors is a great price

[@denton3737]

Man..... I just ordered an airGradient like a week ago....

[@bastian775]

Well there was a Dutch store that sold it for 152 euro including 21% VAT with free shipping but they have no stock. this will be 185 euro because they are too lazy? to arrange it properly I guess. (21% VAT + 13 euro). It is quite interesting for the 152 euro price though, the sensors are not cheap. although I recently managed to find a CO2 sensor that is not smart but has a SCD30 co2 sensor board soldered in I can use again on an ESP32, for only 30 euro.... (had to buy it as 60 euro for 2)

[@ApolloAutomation]

Thanks for the comment! Yes, Open-Circuit is one of our distributors in the Netherlands. We will reach out to them and see if they would like to order more. Another distributor is Domo-Supply in Switzerland. We are open to any and all suggestions in regards to international shipping. It has been one of the more difficult things to navigate since we ship from the USA. Could you let us know what you mean by "arranging it properly"? We offer free international shipping over $200, and we have 4 DDU (you pay customs) shipping options as well as 1 DDP (customs paid upfront) option. We are still learning and want to do what is best for the community! Best, Justin Apollo Automation

[@CarlMoebis]

lol, I wonder what caused those methane spikes? Ffrrrrrrrrrrrtttt.

[@BeardedTinker]

😂😂😂

[@wikividi2]

Thanks but expensive...

[@BeardedTinker]

True, unfortunately it is.

[@zyghom]

"no money was exchanged" - what an euphemism ;-)

[@BeardedTinker]

I consider that shorter than saying: They didn't pay me to do video, but I also didn't pay for the device , except for taxes and customs. Don't you agree 😉😂

[@BlackPhilosopher]

I bet if you just calculate retail price for all sensors and ESP - it will be ~100 EUR.

[@EricPenn1147]

This is an Ad. Sorry... Loosing interest in this channel..... Bye.

[@BeardedTinker]

Sorry you feel this way, but nobody is forcing you to watch or stay!

[@EricPenn1147]

@@BeardedTinker True, thanks for your past posts that taught me a lot about HA... Shame you became a sales person for free stuff.... But you are right... BYE!!!!

[@playroy79]

not for 88 dollars