By Fred Potter, founder of Netatmo – a smart home company which designs different solutions to improve wellness at home and make daily life easier.
When we work from home, we often have to make some adjustments in terms of habits, space management or organization to keep our productivity at its best level. If distractions are commonly blamed for a lack of productivity, one of the most unexpected factors that can impact our work is bad indoor climate. Thus, it is important to maintain a healthy indoor environment.
According to a study by the EPA, air indoors can be up to 5 times more polluted than the air outdoors and on average Britons spend 90% of their time indoors. However, poor air quality can cause headaches, interfere with concentration and disrupt sleep. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for good indoor air quality. Since the virus can spread through the air, regular ventilation in all rooms can greatly reduce the risk of infection.
In order to identify the proper time for ventilation, you can monitor the CO2 level indoors. High CO2 levels are evidence of poor evacuation of air, and thus of other pollutants which may be present in the air.
A first key step to improve the air quality at home is to air the rooms at least twice a day. It’s also important to choose the right time of day to air your home, as well as the duration needed to reduce the CO2 rate as effectively as possible and to expel indoor pollution. It is relevant even in winter, as it’s commonly admitted that opening for 10 minutes will chill the air, but not the walls. Therefore, you will regain the desired heat quickly.
Some smart home solutions like Netatmo’s can helps improve the environment each day. Thanks to the Smart Indoor Air Quality Monitor you can monitor indoor air quality in real-time on your smartphone, track its changes over time and see the positive effects of your actions. As soon as the indoor air quality turns bad, you receive an alert on your smartphone, prompting you to immediately take the necessary actions to improve your home’s indoor air quality and purify your environment.
About the expert
Fred Potter is a French engineer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Netatmo, a smart home company that designs different solutions to improve wellness at home and to make daily life easier for everyone. Prior to founding Netatmo, Fred founded Cirpack in 1998, the telecommunications equipment supplier of the largest IP based telephony networks in the world. In 2008, Fred co-founded Withings, known for innovation in connected health devices. Fred graduated from Telecom ParisTech Engineering School and has a PhD in micro-electronics.