Introducing Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor – Know your air, Works with Alexa– A Certified for Humans Device

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Hello,

 My pre-ordered [Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08W8KS8D3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) arrived today.  There's a lot of unknowns about the device and what you can do with it, so I'm just going to be documenting my experience with this very new device that others might eventually come looking for.

Yes, I know it is Amazon/wifi based and I'm at peace with that. I'm not trying to solve all the world's problems, just trying to advance down the path of more intuitive indoor air quality control and this is a new gadget that interests me. If it doesn't work or do what I want I won't be upset.

Immediately, I've noticed the only trigger you can run a routine off of in Alexa is the temperature. That's not really helpful, I have 2 dozen other devices that can do that.

It took quite a while to setup (I did it twice because I thought it failed) and the screens say it's still searching for the device when in reality it's already found and connected the device, it's just still calibrating it. If you just hit setup and leave it alone, it will eventually complete. Also, I use an android and new smart home device setup issues are common compared to iOS so it could also be that. Calibration appears to be ongoing for right now.

My primary goal with this is to detect PM, Co, VOC's and then turn on exhaust fans, ceiling fans, ramp the smart air purifiers in the house, and interact with HVAC to correct and then ramp down when air quality returns to normal.

Here's some screenshots for the nerds out there:

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There's not much here because I just got it but I'll post more pics as more data gets loaded and I lose the calibration messages.

Haven't figured out how to get it into Webcore yet. Without Amazon allowing me to trigger off more than just temperature there's no routine I can write that will allow echo speaks to run it. I'm sure temp is just MVP and the other triggers are on the way.

Here's a picture of the device itself with a pepsi can for size reference:

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Setting up the Alexa notifications is a nice touch:

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Very useful feature.

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I've been studying the aqara. I know there was a disqualifer, I just can't remember what it was. I'll have to re-review but I've never come across that other one in my searches. I'll check it out.

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Just got my Alexa air quality monitor. Was also looking at the Aqara but it does not measure CO nor PM.

The MCO HOME monitor looks great but it is over $220 compared to the Alexa for 1/3 the cost. Granted, the Alexa does not have Z-Wave but for the price difference of the Alexa, I can open another app.

Setup was easy for me. Powered it up, opened the Alexa app, and it was ready in 5 minutes. Would nice to have HE integration, but it is WiFi.

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I reported a bug where on Android if the air quality changes, the notification truncates the message and doesn't allow clickthrough.

I also entered a feature request to allow triggers for the other measurements besides temp.

I have a couple days worth the data now. Cooking dinner and the robot vacuum running in the middle of the night seem to be my problem timeframes. I have air filters/exhaust fans/ceiling fans I want to trigger off these changes automatically.

One thing I expected was the decrease in air quality while cooking but what I didn't realize was just how many hours the problem lingers. Now that I'm conscious of that, I will 'scrub' the air longer while/after cooking.

I bought a second monitor that will be here in a few days for me to put upstairs. I'm almost certain all the undesirable cooking elements make their way upstairs like the rest of my ventilation so I want to get readings on different floors where I have other active air quality measures in place.

My 'smart' air filters have sensors on them but nothing to the degree that this device has. Things have to be REALLY bad to set those off automatically whereas the Amazon device is a lot more sensitive.

I put in a pull request to support this device through echo speaks. I have no idea if possible/will be done but I have requested it as it's what I see as the easiest way to bridge the gap and get the readings into HE for automations.

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Reviving this thread as I'm considering one of these.
Are there any Alexa triggers that could allow some integrations into HE?

e.g. Quality reaches a certain level and i could flip a virtual switch?

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Note that the MCO Home Z-Wave frequency is listed as:

  • Frequency: 868.42 MHz
    Not the U.S. Frequency. Perhaps they sell other versions, but the version listed in the link above is for France.
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@672southmain THANK YOU very much for this observation.

I was going to pull the trigger on the purchase of the MCO Home Z-Wave CO2 sensor and was just checking to be sure there is a Hubitat Driver when I saw this post.
If I understand correctly, the MCO Home Z-wave CO2 sensor will not connect to a US Hubitat as it's zwave works on a different frequency. Can you please confirm?

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Here is a link to the Z-Wave frequencies, by country:

The C-7 uses a Z-Wave 700 series, and can switch to any desired frequency (see the Z-Wave details page on the hub). The MCO sensor might have the ability to switch frequencies - I don’t know, I don’t have one - or, MCO might sell different models for different markets, with different frequencies for each target market. Again, I don’t know.

Now, I guess you could buy a dedicated C-7 and set it for the French frequency, just for an MCO device, and connect it by Hub Mesh to your other Hubitat hub, but that might not be legal because it wouldn’t be operating on an FCC approved frequency.

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AFAIK, there is no Hubitat driver for the MCOHome 9-in-1 sensor.

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Yet another advantage of running HA in parallel with HE. Between the two hubs, the list of devices I cannot use is very small.

Qingping AQ monitor

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Did they ever increase the number or routine triggers in this thing?

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With Home Assistant, Node Red, and a modified Virtual Omni Sensor in HE, it is possible to have the Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor values in HE. :slight_smile:

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I have two of these. One upstairs and one in the basement near the furnace and water heater. I can’t find a way to have Alexa announce which sensor has detected an issue. Even left an email with Amazon. The reply basically stated they understand but it isn’t possible.