Carbon Dioxide Monitor, Canada edition

September 3, 2021 6:27 PM

I wish to buy a carbon dioxide monitor, that meets the following specifications: 1. portable/wireless 2. silent mode (some seem to have audible alarms?) 3. currently in stock 4. available to purchase in Toronto, Canada 5. ideally not shockingly expensive

I am overwhelmed by choice and features and price variation (the $40 one on AliExpress is probably not great... or is it? I don't know).

Can you point me in the right direction?

posted by lizifer to Shopping (5 answers total)

For carbon dioxide, I think you might need to specify precision/refresh/sensitivity/ use case in order to not get like industrial recommendations here.

Any audio alarm can be muted by shoving sticky tack/hot glue/etc into the speaker. You probably need to remove the case on most things to find the speaker, but I almost always do because I dislike the beeps on almost everything.

For serious purposes, I'd walk into acklands grainger or similar and pay hundreds of dollars. But not really. I'd pick it up for work when that was the sort of thing I'd do.


For a carbon monoxide detector, I'd just go to home depot or walmart or princess auto and pick literally any one. This one seems like a safe bet, though I can't vouch for it personally

A silent carbon monoxide detector can be as simple as this, but I don't see the point of a silent carbon monoxide detector.
posted by Acari at 8:14 PM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: To clarify, I do NOT want a carbon monoxide detector. I want to measure the ventilation in a given space, using carbon dioxide as an indicator of exhaled air.
posted by lizifer at 6:26 AM on September 4, 2021

I think you were being very clear: "monitor" "no alarm" "portable" all make no sense for CO.
(mostly that part of the reply was for future people reading this and confusing CO with CO2)

The only CO2 monitor I've had any experience with that is available in-store in ontario is this one, but I have to believe there's a cheaper option for your use case.
(this one works really well, though!)
This amazon one (I know, not in store) is about half the price of the first one I linked, has a 'visual alarm', and is battery operated. I don't know about the quality of the sensor, though reviews seem to say it's okay.

I'll stop replying now - maybe someone with more direct recommendations can help.
posted by Acari at 9:24 AM on September 4, 2021

The one I see most recommended/used for this purpose is the Aranet4. I don't know what "shockingly expensive" is to you, but it costs about $250 USD. I found a Canadian retailer with stock here. They're charging CA$299.
posted by natabat at 1:43 PM on September 15, 2021

Response by poster: I went with the Aranet CO2 detector and it worked great!
posted by lizifer at 3:23 PM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]