Hey PurpleAir Team,
I recently got a PurpleAir Zen sensor, thanks to a relative who brought it over from the US to India. I chose this model after doing a lot of research, and it seemed like the best option in its price range for accurate air quality readings.
I set it up today, and one thing immediately stood out—there’s no obvious way to tell indoor and outdoor sensors apart on the map. Plus, it seems like some installations aren’t set up correctly.
I saw a staff comment mentioning that the sensor outline indicates whether it’s indoor or outdoor. But honestly, for someone new to the platform, that’s not obvious at all. It would be super helpful if there were a clearer way to toggle indoor sensors on or off—without digging into the advanced settings. Also, it’d be great if clicking on a sensor showed whether it’s marked as indoor or outdoor right under its name.
Another thing: I noticed some sensors in Delhi are labeled as outdoor but are showing an AQI of 3. That’s basically impossible, considering Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Official government data https://ews.tropmet.res.in shows much higher AQI levels. So it seems like some people are misconfiguring their sensors, which could be affecting overall data accuracy.
A couple of ideas to improve this:
- Flag questionable readings – If an “outdoor” sensor is showing values way lower than nearby outdoor sensors, maybe flag it as possibly misclassified.
- Make indoor the default – If it isn’t already, setting “indoor” as the default option during setup might reduce errors.
I love the work you guys are doing, and I just want to see the platform be as accurate and easy to use as possible. Hope this feedback helps!
Thanks!