Review on 🌬️ Temtop LKC 1000E: Advanced Air Quality Monitor for Formaldehyde and Particle Levels by Russ Mashlan

For the first few days that I had this monitor, I had great doubts about its readings. I also bought a cleaner. I installed an air purifier in our 80 square foot office and turned it on for an hour. Monitor registers 0.4 for pm2.5. I didn't think it was possible. After a little research, I found out that trees absorb particulate matter. Then I started comparing pm2.5 values over the weather channel. I live in the prairie region of southwest Minnesota, where there are few trees. When the outer pm2.5 showed 3 for that area, it showed about 1.5 for north MN where there is some forest in the area and I then checked Grande Marais, MN which is near the Canadian border and has more forest than that , and pm2. 5 registers only 0.41. It shows me that the levels can be so low. I also noticed changes in readings overnight when the air purifier was turned off in the main living areas. Before I go to bed, I try to get the reading down to 1 or less. When the outdoor weather channel pm2.5 is below 5, my indoor reading is just above f1. If it's more than 7 outside, then inside it can be more than 3, and if it's more than 20 outside, then inside it can be more than 5. In this case I set the air purifier to high until the monitor registers 1. Note that the monitor must be on for about 15 minutes to display accurate readings. The reason I need low levels is due to sinus issues and my nasal passages which are extremely narrow and require very little blocking according to ENT. Anything below 2 for pm2.5 seems to work fine for me. It literally took me decades to figure out what the main airborne culprit was. Please note that odors and fumes can cause this monitor to give false readings. I had it in my car the other day and it ended up reading about 14. As I watched, the reading jumped to 200, then 500, and finally reached 999.99. I thought it was defective. Eventually I realized it was the vapor from my e-cigarette. I then heated a pot of water until steam came out and kept the monitor steamed for just a few seconds until it read 999.9. There are no particles in the water vapor, so I think this is an incorrect reading. I had it on our dining table a few days ago and what should have been 1 suddenly grew to 8. The culprit back then was apparently an onion left on the table. I didn't pay much attention to the pm10 or formaldehyde values as they don't interest me. With this monitor and air purifier, my life improves. I also wear the M90pm2.5 mask outside and where nobody can see me. 😉Since mid-March I no longer need a nasal spray due to low PM2.5 levels. I've only recently started paying attention to formaldehyde levels. Outdoors, this monitor reads 0.02, which is about where they should be outdoors. It was about 0.09 indoors, which this monitor felt was unsafe. After much research, I found that less than 0.1 is considered good and 0.1-0.3 is considered moderate according to the EPA and other abbreviated organizations. However, their measurements are in parts per million and this monitor uses a different type of measurement called mg/m3. To convert, take ppm times 1.25, so if the recommendations are below 0.1, you're safe at 0.125 mg/m3. So don't worry if this monitor says it's uncertain at 0.09. I suspect this monitor is actually showing parts per million, not mg/m3. One more thing: if you can't figure out what could be causing the formaldehyde levels in your home to rise, your laundry detergent could have a lot to do with it. Every time my wife walked past the powered monitor, the display would jump up. After much experimentation, we found out that she was wearing freshly washed clothes. We tried a different detergent and the readings were much lower after testing it next to freshly washed clothes. If the house is high open a few windows for about 1/4 hour and this will push out cleaner air and formaldehyde will come out. However, I don't always believe the testimonies. My wife is now baking cookies and the reading jumped from 0.09 to 0.19 in minutes. Yes, I'm mostly retired so I have plenty of time to test and research these things. All in all, I firmly believe that this monitor will help you live a healthier life.