On: Air Quality Monitors from USD $169 to $6k use the ...

[aidenn0]

Smoke is a combination of particulates and VOCs which will respectively be filtered by HEPA and carbon filters.

[ahaucnx → aidenn0]

Carbon filters typically do not last very long so it's good to monitor TVOCs.

[aidenn0 → ahaucnx]

Oh, absolutely; I was just responding to the claim that smoke isn't filterable.

If you have an intentional fire, you can maintain your filters and run them; spot checking particulates and VOCs.

If you are worried about unintentional fires, you address that with a $40 smoke alarm, not a $6k AQM.

[Retric → aidenn0]

You missed the point. Smoke from a burning couch isn’t the issue, the burning couch is.

[aidenn0 → Retric]

> If you are worried about unintentional fires, you address that with a $40 smoke alarm, not a $6k AQM.

[Retric → aidenn0]

Redundancy. Also, 40$ smoke detectors can take a while to alert you to a fire in your basement etc. So it’s often a good idea to have a whole house smoke alarm system.

[reaperman → ahaucnx]

These last a long time, FWIW. >1 year at surprisingly high flow rates.

https://terra-bloom.com/collections/carbon-filters

[Retric → aidenn0]

Not when the house fire consumes you and the HEPA filers…

For wildfire smoke you still want monitoring as existing filters may not be enough. Temporary measures like sticking extra filters in front of fans may be necessary.

[michaelt → Retric]

I'm pretty sure smoke detectors for fire don't cost $169, let alone $6k.

[Retric → michaelt]

When you only want to detect smoke that’s cheap, but as you add features you do eventually get into that price range.

Ie: Smoke only costs less than Smoke + carbon monoxide. People want to monitor levels not just have an alarm which requires a screen or network connectivity. People want to know if there’s a fire in the building even if there far enough away not to hear a local alarm etc etc.

Though eventually you circle back and have a cheap smoke alarm for redundancy.