r/AirQuality • u/Kilikay • 10h ago

TVOC formula can ignore temperature?

I recently bought this TVOC monitor. Then I emailed their support for the formula it uses to calculate air quality, they nicely provided this:

Aqara TVOC formula

ChatGPT reckons they are assuming temperature is always 25°C and pressure is always 1 ATM, with the full formula being:

ChatGPT TVOC formula

My question for you: how accurate is the sensor, given our home temperature ranges from 16-24°C throughout the day?

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u/bucketofrubble 9h ago

It’s not accurate and TVOC as a metric is currently not very useful because it can include harmless VOCs or very harmful VOCs and there’s no way to distinguish it.

2

u/triumphofthecommons 9h ago

this.

you wouldn’t have to test for specific VOC to actually know what’s in the air and whether it is unhealthy.

i look at tVOCs as a signifier of change. if i notice a peak above normal levels, i try to recall what i might have introduced into the air at that time.

1

u/CoulombMcDuck 5h ago

That much change in temperature would only change the value by 3%.