NEW TECHNOLOGY SAVES THE DAY
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For more information, examples, and user forums related to AQcalc, be sure to check out our blog at http://www.acculation.com/blog .
Historically, dust sensors have been very expensive, costing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Recently, however, you can buy an inexpensive laser particle counter from a large Internet retailer.
There is also an open source hardware project that is selling inexpensive dust sensor kits that report readings to a public Internet site. Concerned citizens have deployed these all over the world. Although not quite as good as a laser particle counter, it is less expensive. You can deploy your own (indoor or outdoor) or access readings from one that is nearby from the public Internet site.
What has been missing is an easy iOS app that can convert these particle counts into readings that you can compare against government data.
ENTER AQCALC
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AQcalc is exciting, because it means for the first time that you can easily and inexpensively use one of these particles to measure your indoor air dust, and compare it with outdoor dust from a source such as EPA or the aforementioned open source hardware project.
Now you can answer the age-old question, “Will opening the window reduce my indoor dust?” And surprisingly, the answer is no trivial! (It depends on whether you’ve recently cooked, used the dishwasher or a gas appliance, have showered, as well as the air quality outside!)
Answer questions like, “How does dust accumulate in home?” (Surprisingly, at least in Los Angeles where we tested this, it comes in waves! Sometimes it can be 10-100x worse than normal, and that’s when most of the dust accumulates and creates a lot of housework for you or your housekeeper.)
“What happens to my air quality when I run my dishwasher?” (It can deteriorate very quickly, surprisingly. In our tests, often your air quality indoors is much better than outdoors, but this may not be the case after using certain appliances.)
“At what setting should I run my indoor air filters and/or my heating/cooling filters?” It really depends on the outdoor air and what you have being doing indoors! By following the steps in this section, you’ll better understand and be able to better control your indoor dust levels.
WHAT AQCALC DOES
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Anyone living in an urban US area can use AQcalc to view their air quality dust data from the EPA. If you live internationally, you can still use AQcalc by obtaining data from a nearby open source hardware dust sensor, which have deployed internationally by concerned citizens and make their data available on a public website.
However, to really use AQcalc youll want to own one of the inexpensive dust sensors that have now become available. AQcalc lets you compare your indoor dust sensor readings against outdoor government data.
Finally, you can take control of your indoor dust environment! Decide whether to open the window! Better control and maintain your indoor air filters! Decide when it is best time to use the dishwasher! (The results will surprise you!)
AQcalc lets you compare your indoor air readings (from one of the supported new, inexpensive sensors) against EPA government data. Alternatively, if you live outside the US, you can use AQcalc to compare your indoor air sensor readings against outdoor readings from the open source hardware projects’ website, and compare by converting into common units.