Customer Reviews

Oregon Scientific AR112N Indoor Air Quality Monitor, Black

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've worked with analytical equipment designed to detect ppb (parts per billion) of volatiles, so I realize that a home unit such as the Oregon Scientific Indoor Air Quality Monitor scarcely can compete with that kind of sensitivity. But is it any good?

The really useful things on the unit are humidity and temperature, good for monitoring the quality of household air on a daily basis anyway. As to the VOC (volatile organic compound) sensitivity, I assumed it must be in the high ppm --which means that by the time the device alarms, your nose might have told you something was wrong long before. So, being the geeky, techy type I am, I decided to test the unit out. First, I dipped a cotton swab in shoe polish (which has a petroleum distillate of low volatility as a component.) Held near the air intake, the unit changed from "very good" to "good", meaning the unit did detect something. (The unit shows you air quality with a series of smiley faces, smiling, straight and frowny.) Later, I dipped a swab in household spray cleanser (a more volatile organic as a component) and the unit showed the same neutral face. No alarm went off.

But...here's the fun thing. A day or two later, I had a window open in an adjoining room to the monitor, and someone was burning trash outside somewhere. A waft of smoke and fumes rushed through the house, only for a moment, and the monitor alarmed. It shut off right away, as the air was only momentarily polluted but this did show the unit functions when fumes are present. The smoke was transitory, clearing quite quickly, but the unit detected it--I barely had time to sniff the burning odor.

I would not rely on this device as anything but a confirmation that something is amiss with the air, and it's more of a curiousity than a real detector, such as a smoke detector. But I did once experience a situation where a small fire in an area produced fumes and NO smoke, and our detectors were silent while the room (at work) filled with a noxious odor. So this could be a good back-up to the smoke alarm.

My summary: more of a fun item than a hard-line household detector, but it does seem to work, and it does measure humidity, so it's fine as far as it goes.

as a clarification to another user's review of this product, the reason the device did not detect pesticide is because pesticides have a low evaporation rate at room temperature, and thus simply holding them under the detector won't set it off; whereas a can of highly vaporous gasoline will instantly sound the alarm.

as for the orange peel... peeling the orange near the device causes dispersion of orange oil in the peel into the surrounding air. it may be that the oil is then oxidized in the air, causing the alarm to sound on the device.

However, it seems to me this device is more aimed at measuring the average air quality over an extended period of time in an area; and the alarm feature is probably not aimed at detection of highly localized pollution that disperses in a short period of time.

That is to say, if you were to put the device in your bathroom, you would not want to use the 70-second measurement feature, since the alarm sounding every time someone uses the facilities is not a very good indication of the overall air quality--and consequent health hazard--in the bathroom.

The VOC measurement, however, is basically just a gee-whiz without much use, as noted by other reviewers. The meter measures the concentrations of VOCs based on a reference contaminant, which happens to be acetone -- one of the easiest to detect in this kind of device. It's utterly useless for detecting a number of other materials -- most notably formaldehyde, which is not detectable by the instrument until long, long after it's past Federal safety standards. Formaldehyde is, unfortunately, one of the most common VOCs to encounter (among other sources, it is released by particleboard) and is, in addition to being an irritant like other VOCs, also classed as a carcinogen.

The thermometer and humidity level detection is fine, but don't expect this thing to do anything else for your IAQ monitoring.

I tested this VOC detector using several organic vapors. It began registering and alarmed in a few seconds after opening a plastic container of a common lawn pesticide underneath it. It starts going up after I start my car in the garage or return home, and will alarm if I close the garage door too soon without letting it air out. One time it alarmed after I filled the lawn mower and spilled a small amount of gas on the garage floor that I could not smell in the house. It responds to many household cleaners and solvents. It responds when I build a fire in the fireplace, depending on how much smoke I make. I look at it often and it will respond to some things that are harmless. But it is interesting to see what it responded to for future reference. It would be great if it were a highly sensitive industrial quality instrument with fast and accurate readings. But that would also demand a much higher price. I hope a company makes a great one some day for a reasonable price, I'd buy it. I think this was just meant to alarm under bad conditions, some of which you will not be aware of. But it does constantly monitor general air quality. I keep mine set on "more sensitive". It is where I work and can see it easily. I feel it has been more than worth the sale price I paid. It has made me aware of some things I had never noticed before. When it has a reading it always means something and I usually determine what it is. It has mostly been bad things. The humidity and temperature are accurate on mine but I could do without the "smiley face". :)

I had originally given this the thumbs down when I first got it, as it failed a series of tests I gave it - putting it near a car exhaust when it was running, putting it in a small bathroom with cleaning fumes that were noxious to my throat. Nothing. Dang thing just kept on smiling (it has smiley faces).
After months of being on in the background, I realised its specialty appears to be in confined spaces, and my tests had failed because my car was out in the open and the bathroom door was opened. Now when I close the door to my bedroom, and have the window shut, I can go to sleep with a monitor reading of one bar (ie the best rating - very good) and can wake up with a rating of two or three (less good).
Once, to test it, I also put a heater on and shut the windows and doors in my bedroom. After 15 mins I got a frowny face and a sea of bad bars, like 6 or 7. This gave me a lot of confidence in the monitor - as I could feel the air felt 'close' but this was visual proof! It has been a useful warning/reminder to keep my window ajar at night!
Is it worth it? Well if you have a reason to know all this air information - like you are sensitive to smog or smells, then yes. Otherwise, it's just a fun gimmick.