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Apple HomeKit-enabled workshop air quality monitor

After I built the cardboard stock sorting shelf, I had about a week of breathing issues as a result of poor ventilation from the sawdust and particulate in the air in my garage. Resolved to avoid another week of feeling crummy, I bought a beefy fan and have eventual plans to build a CR box based on The 3D Handyman’s very well-researched plans.

However, it’s very hard to change what isn’t measured, so I also put my go-sensors libraries to use on a Raspberry Pi and built an air quality monitor with Apple HomeKit support! I used the very excellent hap-nodejs library to integrate the rpi-sensor-exporter data for use with HomeKit. I already had a Raspberry Pi Zero W available, as well as several important sensors:

View inside case with labelled diagram of components; Raspberry Pi Zero W on the left with a wire harness connected to the GPIO header; Plantower PMS5003 on the top right, with a Sensiron SGP30 and Asair AHT20 sensor below it

I happened to have a reasonable plastic case that I scavenged from a broken air filter, so I placed the components and drilled a few quick holes. I did have to remove a little bit of the side wall to allow the Plantower PMS5003 to freely pass air through the sensor, but otherwise it was a comfortable fit. I mounted it on my battery charging wall because I already have a hefty USB charger. And now I have air quality readings available through HomeKit! (And also Prometheus, because that’s how rpi-sensor-exporter works.)

Assembled case mounted on charging wall with a short USB cable plugged into a power strip; two battery chargers are visible on the left.

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