Hello
I’m brand-new here to the purpleair family. I just installed my sensor this week and every day the temperature readings are not even close to what the actual ambient temperature is. For example, today the outside temperature is 56° and the corrected estimated temperature on the sensor is 69°. How do I correct this? I have tried powering off and that has not worked
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This is an air quality monitor, not a ambient temperature monitor - the temperature is that of the circuit board on the device, not the air around it.
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The on-board temperature sensor is affected by heat from the sensor itself as well as any radiant heat absorbed from the Sun and nearby objects, such as the surface it is mounted on. It will be off by several degrees, and this is expected.
I would not rely on the PurpleAir sensors for meteorological observations – use a separate, properly sited, weather station.
I have the same issue that I diagnosed as various microclimates around my home. I have various temperature sensors around my home and I see they are heavily influenced by the position of sun and shade. My Purple Air sensor is located, in the shade, over a sunny dark wood deck. It always reads much higher than the actual air temperature during the day. At night it is close to correct although being mounted on my home it usually reads a little warmer than ambient air.