Are you concerned about radon in your home? You should be: According to the EPA, it’s the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers! (My surprise is because I didn’t know that.) And while a simple $15 test from the hardware store can give you a baseline insight into the levels, you may want to consider a “second opinion” — if not something that tests and measures long-term. The Airthings View Radon is a battery-powered, Wi-Fi-connected radon monitor, one that arrived following a rather surprising discovery in my own home.
That story is detailed here: My house has radon — here’s how I found out and what I did about it. But how did this fancy gadget factor into all that, and is it worth the money? Here’s my Airthings View Radon review.
Rick Broida/Yahoo
VERDICT: It’s pricey but it works, monitoring your home’s radon levels (plus temperature and humidity to boot). And if it helps you dodge lung cancer (a very real possibility), that more than justifies the cost.
- Easy to set up and operate
- Runs up to two years on battery power, can also be plugged in
- Measures temperature and humidity in addition to radon
- Attractive line graph shows radon levels for up to a year at a time
- Expensive
- Use disposable batteries instead of rechargeable
- Product name causes confusion in some areas
- Line graph is awkward to use
- Provides no radon-related tips or insights
Airthings View Radon: Setup and design
The View Radon looks pretty snazzy, a stylish white oval that’s reminiscent of a smart thermostat. It can sit flat on a table or countertop or mount on a wall. Power comes from six included AA batteries, which Airthings says will last up to you two years, or an included USB-C cable. (A rechargeable battery would have been preferable, but you can always swap in your own rechargeable AAs.)
Unfortunately, none of this is mentioned in the minimal print instructions; if you want help figuring out how to, say, connect the USB cable (which requires removing the backplate — and it’s not immediately obvious how to do so), you’ll have to venture into the FAQ pages within the app.
Thankfully, the device was a snap to set up, leveraging Bluetooth for the initial connection to your phone and then Wi-Fi for ongoing connectivity to your home network. Note that you do need to create an Airthings account within the app; one more password to keep track of.
Airthings View Radon: What works
In addition to monitoring radon, the View Radon captures humidity levels and indoor temperature — both of which can impact radon levels. It can display outdoor temperature as well. All this data is displayed on a sharp (but not backlit) E Ink screen, which can be customized to display all four metrics or just the one(s) you want.
You can also wave your hand in front of the screen to see a quick air-quality assessment (“Your air is good,” for example). I can’t say I found this particularly useful, and in fact a full-time motion sensor seems like an unnecessary drain on the batteries.
The View Radon comes with six disposable AA batteries installed, but it can also run on USB power. (A cable is included for that, but not an AC adapter.) (Rick Broida/Yahoo)
I deployed the View Radon after the aforementioned hardware-store test kit revealed “actionable” levels of radon in my home. In the interim, I learned that a radon-mitigation system would likely cost over $1,000, so I wanted a second opinion, a way to measure not just a few days’ worth of levels but at least a month’s.
Interestingly, while the device starts to display readings within a day or two of activation, Airthings recommends waiting at least 30 days to get an accurate overall picture.
And that’s what I got. The home kit indicated a radon level of 6.0 pCi/L (that’s picocuries per liter), which is definitely on the high side. By contrast, the View Radon showed an average of 3.9 pCi/L after a month of monitoring. (That’s still a risky level, alas, but a bit less alarming than 6.0.)
It was also interesting to see how the levels fluctuated from one day to the next, and how weather could be a factor: heavy rain can cause levels to rise, something I definitely noticed in the app’s recorded data.
Bottom line: The View Radon works as advertised — but there’s room for improvement.
Airthings View Radon: What doesn’t work
During my testing I found certain things confusing, starting with just the nomenclature: View Radon is the product name, but also the action you’re looking for.
Within the app, for example, you see “View Radon” at the top of the devices page, and it stands to reason you’d tap that entry because you want to, well, view radon. But tapping it merely shows or hides the various metrics of the device; you have to tap Radon to see the data. It sounds obvious when I write it out, but trust me, it’s at least momentarily confusing. (The app does let you rename the device; I called mine “Radon Detector” for greater clarity.)
Left: You would think tapping “View Radon” would show radon levels. It doesn’t. Center: The 30-day graph is barely half a graph, and it doesn’t even show you the 30-day average until you unselect the individual day. Confusing! Right: The Insights page is all about pollen; there’s nothing here related to radon. (Rick Broida/Yahoo)
In addition, Airthings sends a weekly air-quality report via e-mail. But if you just glance at it, you might see “View Radon: Good” and think your radon levels are, well, good. On closer inspection, turns out that’s the humidity level, which is its own section. So why not use the prefix “Humidity” instead of “View Radon”?
The bigger problem is the way the Airthings app presents radon data over various periods of time: one day, 7 days, 30 days, etc. Suppose you choose 30 days; you’re shown a timeline, but the line chart extends to only 20 days; the blank remainder shows the 10 days to come. Why?
And when you scroll the timeline backward in order to see the full month, it immediately switches to an individual-day view, showing the data for just the day in the middle of that range. It’s not clear how to get back to the 30-day overview (and the average that goes with it).
I also find it disappointing that the app provides no tips or other actionable information on how to handle high radon levels, what the risks are, etc. This despite the presence of an Insights page that, for now at least, shows only local pollen data.
Airthings View Radon: Should you buy it?
It’s hard to reconcile the $200 price tag of the View Radon against a $15 testing kit. That being said, this offers more than just a one-time measurement; I can see the value in keeping it long-term even after doing radon mitigation, just to make sure your equipment is working properly, the levels are staying safe and so on.
The app, clunky though it may be in certain respects, is useful once you figure out how to see the data you want.
And hear me out: You could share the cost of this with a couple neighbors, perhaps relocating it between homes every month or two. I’d bet they’d like to assess their risks as well.
Our health content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as professional medical advice. Consult a medical professional on questions about your health.
