AirGradient Forum

They Add More Pollutants; We Add More Accuracy. Why We're Stepping Back from PM<sub>1</sub> and PM<sub>10</sub> Marketing

I’ve been thinking a lot about something that’s been bugging me in the air quality monitoring world for some time. It feels like there’s this race happening, a rush to see who can cram the most pollutant measurements into a single device. “The new 14-in-1 air quality monitor!” the headlines shout. At first glance, you might think, “Wow, that’s comprehensive!” But here at AirGradient, we’ve always believed in something different: honesty, accuracy, and giving you real value. That’s what really matters.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.airgradient.com/blog/they-add-more-pollutants-we-add-more-accuracy/

Hey Achim and team,

It is really hard these days to find companies that are genuinely trying to do a great job and are trying to create the highest quality while balancing the challenges of business life. Integrity is key and is usually the first thing that goes out the window when corners need to be cut. I highly appreciate that you chose the high road ad you are committed to build quality and protect the integrity of both of your product and your team.

I have just run into AirGradient relative recently. Read 2 newsletters and have been to one of your webinars, but I have to say it really feels nice to run into some great company in the process of learning about safeguarding clean air and helping others understand why this topic is important.

Keep up the great work.

Also the blog posts. I have saved about 80% of the links I got from you so far, for further reference later or to be able to send to other people easy to consume resources on this highly complicated topic.

The work you are doing with schools, the UN, LA and all across the board is very inspiring.

This reply turned into a general acknowledgement. It had to be said.

However, I do feel the struggle of buying the right monitors and how to address sensor quality as an end user.

Not only buying but maintenance is also in question.

I have 2 PM2.5 sensors like the ones you use and just got an Atmo tube. I was considering buying all kits available on the market (there are a few these days) to see the distribution of data I get, but it feels like an uphill battle without lab level equipment to test them.

I would love to know if you have some recommendation on sensor maintenance or if you considered something along these lines for your product too.

Even if I buy the assembled kit from you, I am not sure how and when that should be looked at to make sure the readings stay accurate.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Keep up the great work,

Timea

Thank you for your nice words. It’s good to see that the way we want to be really shines through.

Yes, it’s sometimes hard to not cut corners and things need more time but I strongly believe that in the end transparency always wins.

Regarding finding a good air quality monitor, I strongly recommend below blog post we wrote some time ago.

Typically the monitors are maintenance free and probably the only sensor module with a somewhat limited lifetime is the PM module.

Regarding accuracy we are working on some interesting features that would allow background calibrations which will be rolled out in the next few months.