Category: air

uHoo vs AirVisual vs Awair

Sotirios Papathanasiou18 Comments

On this article I am going to compare three AQI monitors: AirVisual, uHoo and Awair.

All the monitors were placed together in the guest room in my house, as you can see on the picture above. I chose that room because I wanted to be able to isolate the devices from the rest of the house and from human interaction especially for the first 21 measurements. No one was allowed in that room during those measurements. After those 21 random measurements which were taken during 4 days period of time I opened the door and I created some “air pollution”. The whole experiment lasted 10 days. Below you can see the graphs with all the sensors and monitors.

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Curious Air Facts!

Sotirios Papathanasiou2 Comments

-How much air an average human breathe?

We breathe around 11,000 liters / 388 cubic feet of air in a day.

-How much oxygen an average human breathe?

We breathe 550 liters / 19 cubic feet of Oxygen per day.

-How much oxygen does a house plant produce?

A typical houseplant leaf produces about 5 ml of oxygen per hour (more when it is growing, less when carbon dioxide levels are higher, that is, the more oxygen you breathe in and carbon dioxide you breathe out, the less oxygen plants make, less at night).

-How much carbon dioxide is absorbed by trees?

A tree can absorb as much as 22Kg of carbon dioxide per year and can sequester 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 45 years old.

-What plants give off the most oxygen?

  1. Garden Mum
  2. Spider Plant
  3. Dracaena
  4. Ficus/Weeping Fig
  5. Peace Lily
  6. Boston Fern
  7. Snake Plant/Mother-in-Law’s Tongue

-Which trees absorb the most carbon dioxide?

  1. Pine (Ponderosa, red, white and Hispaniolan pines)
  2. Oake (Scarlet, Red and Virginia Live Oak)
  3. Douglas fir
  4. Bald Cypress
  5. Common Horse-chestnut
  6. Black Walnut
  7. London Plane

-How many plants should you have in your house?

The NASA studies on indoor pollution done in 1989 recommends 15 to 18 plants in 6 to 8-inch- diameter pots to clean the air in an average 1,800Ft²/167m². That’s roughly one plant per 100Ft²/9,2m² of floor space.

-How many plants are needed for a human to survive in an isolated room?

Scientists estimate a safe oxygen consumption of 50 liters per hour for a human. Meanwhile, a leaf gives off about 5 millilitres of oxygen per hour. A person would need to be in a room with about ten thousand leaves. About 300 to 500 plants would produce the right amount of oxygen, but it’s much harder to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide the plants absorb, especially if every time a person breathes out, they inhibit oxygen production. To be safe, don’t get into an airlock room without bringing about seven hundred potted plants with you.

“See The Air” & “Nicholas and his incredible eyesight” Books

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

“See The Air”

Years of experience and personal research made me write and design this straightforward guide-book about air pollution. All the crucial information are inside this book, see the air you breathe today. Available on Paperback and Digital.

“Nicholas and his incredible eyesight”

Nicholas is a Scottish boy who will help your kids understand better what Air Pollution is and what they need to do to combat it. Through his empowering story he will teach them how to be more sustainable and thoughtful with the environment. Available on Paperback, Digital and Limited Edition Hardcover.

“Nicholas – The Science Book”

Let’s make a journey around the world and learn everything about the air we breathe. We are going to learn about the Earth’s atmosphere, the composition of the air and the most common air pollutants. In addition, we will learn how air pollution negatively affects humans and the environment. Available on Paperback.

Nicholas and his incredible eyesight | Book

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

I am proud to announce my second book “Nicholas and his incredible eyesight” which is my second attempt to raise awareness on air pollution and this time by educating the youth.

The book is for all kids, the story is full of lovely and colourful drawings and at the end of the book the kids will have the opportunity to do some fun activities.

Synopsis of the story

Nicholas is a Scottish boy who lives in a small beautiful town in Scotland. He has to move with his family to London for a while. There and with the help of his teacher he will discover his unique super power.

The book is available on digital and paperback formats through the following stores:

Layer 3Layer 5Layer 4

 

 

If you are interested in a (Limited Edition) HardCover copy of my new book, please Contact me or Tweet me for more details.

ISBN-13: 9788469752708

Review: uHoo AQI Monitor

Sotirios Papathanasiou12 Comments

Finally is here. After having an adventure with the postal service for +40 days the uHoo device found its way to my home. I want to thank uHoo for its persistence.

Let me start by saying that this is a very promising device because it features 9 separate Sensors for Air Quality monitoring and there isn’t any other device with so many sensors for indoor use. The company was founded in August 2014 and it took them two and a half years to develop uHoo.

Features:

  • RGB LED Light
  • Temperature Sensor -40°C to 85°C / 40°F to 185°F
  • Humidity Sensor RT 0-100%
  • Air Pressure Sensor 300-1,100mbar
  • Carbon Dioxide CO2 Sensor 400-10,000ppm
  • Carbon Monoxide CO Sensor 0-1000ppm
  • VOC Sensor 0-1,000ppb
  • PM2.5 Sensor 0-200ug/m³
  • Ozone O3 Sensor 0-1,000ppb
  • *Nitrogen Dioxide NO2 Sensor 0-1000ppb
  • Micro USB Power Input 5V DC
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4 GHz

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Bedside Water Taste & Chemistry

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

Have you ever noticed that the water tastes different when you leave it in a glass on your nightstand overnight?

In general during the 8h sleep, CO2 is built inside the room. Especially in winter when we don’t ventilate as frequent and CO2 can reach levels higher than 2,000ppm inside the house. CO2 is a soluble gas and water is the perfect solvent. As a result a process called Acidification is occurred naturally and the PH lowers during that process. That gives your bedside glass of water a horrible taste.

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OK Lab Stuttgart – PM DIY Monitor

Sotirios Papathanasiou5 Comments

An Outdoor PM DIY Monitor

Do you think the current PM (Particulate Matter) monitors are too expansive or too risky to leave them outside? Do you need proofs for convincing your local authorities to take actions against air pollution?

Then it’s time to build your own personal outdoor PM DIY Monitor. It won’t cost you more than €32 and it can feed your community with valuable data about the air quality. Use that data to prove how bad is the air quality in your neighborhood or community.

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Three Great Books for the Summer

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

Summer is here and everyone is on vacation, with spare time to read some great books. It doesn’t matter which one you will choose Mine or Rieuwerts’ or Swyers’ or all of them, just make sure you learn more about the air you breathe. Share with your loved ones and friends the knowledge you will get.

Make sure you follow us on Twitter at @SeeTheAirBook, @AnAirThatKills & @TomSwyers.
SeeTheAirAnAirThatKillsbook tom

The Air in New York

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

In my recent visit in New York and in other USA cities I decided to take with me a portable carbon monoxide device and measure the air quality across the cities during my trip.

The CO Sensor was placed on a net pocket that I had sewed on my backpack. I am quite the craftsman! The experiment had to be done correctly to ensure that the air flowed easily and the measurements were taken correctly and constantly.Read More »

Review: Cambridge Mask

Sotirios Papathanasiou7 Comments

This time I had the opportunity of getting a half face mask by Cambridge Mask Co. and of course I wrote with pleasure a review on my blog.

Characteristics

Cambridge Mask offers the N99 respirators (Not oil resistant), a three layer mask with a Military Grade Carbon Filter layer, and the Three-Ply Micro Particulate layer. An exhale valve is present as well to ensure that moist won’t build up.  These respirators also filter 99.6% of viruses and 99.77% of bacteria.Read More »