Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Monitors
In our COVID Statement, we declare that carbon dioxide (CO2) monitors may be used to establish ventilation rates of occupied rooms. The idea is straightforward: people exhale CO2, and the concentration of CO2 will rise if more is produced than can leave the room.
The relevance to COVID safety, then, is when an infectious person is present in a room. With several caveats, CO2 concentration may be used as a surrogate for the total volume of exhales in a room, including any exhaled aerosols containing SARS-CoV-2 virions. This is the main mode of transmission (airborne) for COVID-19.
Shift Sight completed evaluating low-cost monitors for use in classrooms. We did not find a low-cost (non-NDIR / non-photoacoustic type sensor) monitor that reliably measured CO2. We are designing, building, and selling one at cost.
As with any tool, it's important to understand how it works to also understand its limitations.
We need to ask three questions:
The relevance to COVID safety, then, is when an infectious person is present in a room. With several caveats, CO2 concentration may be used as a surrogate for the total volume of exhales in a room, including any exhaled aerosols containing SARS-CoV-2 virions. This is the main mode of transmission (airborne) for COVID-19.
Shift Sight completed evaluating low-cost monitors for use in classrooms. We did not find a low-cost (non-NDIR / non-photoacoustic type sensor) monitor that reliably measured CO2. We are designing, building, and selling one at cost.
As with any tool, it's important to understand how it works to also understand its limitations.
We need to ask three questions:
- Is the monitor accurate?
- Is the monitor in the right place?
- Is the monitor solving the right problem?