Monitoring and reducing home air pollution with Fooboot.

We often think about air pollution outdoors – but what about the air inside our homes? Most of us spend a lot of time in our homes, so surely the quality of the air we are breathing there is just as important as the air outdoors.

Some of the most common air pollutants are 2 to 5 times higher indoors than outdoors – no matter where you live. Levels can go up to 1,000 times higher than outdoor levels during, and for several hours after, activities like paint stripping. Some pollutants aren’t immediately noticeable, unlike paint strippers which you can smell. The kitchen can be a hot spot for pollution in the house – all those fumes from cooking can really affect air quality.

The air quality of our home is something that I have only recently become more conscious of. So when I was asked to test out a FooBot, I was interested to see what it would tell me about the air in my home, as well as how much it would help me improve it.

The FooBot is an indoor air quality monitor, that can detect invisible, odorless pollutants in your environment and makes them visible through its LED display. In one glance, the color and breadth of its glow will let you know whether your air feels more like a forest or a motorway.

We decided to set ours up in the kitchen, as that is the room we spend the most time in through the day. It was easy to set up – it connects to an app on your smartphone, the design is great and the app is improving with every update. The unit will quickly let you know (via LED lights and notifications on your phone) if there is something not right. You can control the LED brightness and even turn them off via the app which is really handy.

The app gives feedback on pollutants in the air {as well as outdoors} in an easy to understand format – you don’t need to be a scientist to decipher it! It will alert you via the app when a pollution spike occurs, making it easy for you to figure out what is causing the spike – perhaps cooking, or a new product in the house.

If you are concerned, or even just interested, in monitoring and improving the air quality in your home, then I’d recommend a FooBot – it’s been a fantastic learning tool for my kiddos, and has led to some interesting conversations between us.

4 tips to reduce home air pollution:

• The easiest way to prevent indoor air pollution is through source control – which means not bringing pollutants in in the first place. The second step is to increase ventilation. 
• Open your windows for a few minutes every day. Let that fresh air in! Better yet, install trickle vents in your windows that slowly exchange indoor and outdoor air 24/7 (without drafts or breezes).
• Use proper ventilation techniques while cooking such as opening windows and turning on range hoods and vents.
• Buy products that are low- or no-VOC, fragrance-free and formaldehyde-free. And, if something has a “new smell,” let it air out in a garage or outside.