With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and now historic, statewide fires here in California we are more focused than ever on our air quality.

Turns out, keeping track of two relatively simple measurements of the air we breathe (AQI and CO2) will go a long way toward ensuring you are safe.

AQI is a measure of "bad things" aka pollutants in the air. Of course, it's common sense we don't want to breathe air that's polluted (e.g. by smoke from a good chunk of your state being on fire).

Monitoring CO2 levels tells you if you are getting enough fresh air in your room, and there is considerable scientific consensus that fresh air keeps us safe from airborne transmitted pathogens.

To keep the AQI inside our home healthy, we did a bunch of research to find the "just right" air filter. We settled on the Coway Airmega AP-1512HH (currently out of stock on Amazon but it keeps coming in and out of stock, so it may be worth waiting a little). We went with aftermarket replacement filters as they seem to be just as effective and significantly cheaper. We put one of these in each bedroom figuring that's where we spend the most time. They really helped us get through allergy season too. We monitor the outdoor AQI in our area using the maps at purpleair.com and iqair.com or by asking Alexa or Google "what's the current air quality".

We monitor our CO2 levels and AQI with the Kaiterra Laser Egg + CO2 device. Super easy to set up and you may use your phone etc. to monitor remotely and review historic trends.

We'll update this post as we find out more. Good luck, and good health!