Making My Room a Little Healthier
- Created: Oct 2026
- Modified: Oct 2026
Over the past year, I’ve been slowly turning my room into a more pleasant place to live. I’ve been looking for some items that would really upgrade my room for any purpose, primarily health-wise, and here is what I’ve found so far:
Air Monitoring Device
I first stumbled on this when I read a tweet a few years ago. I never got around to buying a CO2 monitor until years later when I saw some folks on the interweb saying that their sleep improved significantly because the CO2 reading was too high. After moving into a smaller space, I decided that it would be good to see what that was all about.
So, I got one of these devices and proceeded to check if my room had good air. I learned that Radon doesn’t seem to matter too much in SF, but CO2, temperature, humidity, VOCs, and PM2.5 seem to a lot more. I didn’t realize what a lot of these compounds were before getting the device but now I see when the app goes from green to yellow and red, and I’ve learned to change my behavior to keep the room healthy.
The main thing I do now is I prop open the windows whenever I cook or bring guests over. CO2 increases a lot from cooking because of the gas stove and also when folks stay over, breathing causes a big exhalation of carbon dioxide without a place to escape.
Dehumidifier
With a goal of decreasing the number of yellow/red indicators from the air monitoring device, I bought a dehumidifier. I’m not as sure about the value of this one and I still have yet to intuit its effects. I know that the room I’m in is typically at 62-65% humidity and the recommended level is <60% in San Francisco’s foggy environment. Time will tell but it certainly helps prevent the extra futon from getting moldy in extremely humid environments when folks stay over. The main downside I see is that dehumidification is loud, especially with the Midea. I’m not sure if I would go back and get this. One new addition to the routine from using a dehumidifier is emptying the water that it collects and it is definitely a spectacle to see that the amount of water that it pulls from the air.
Air Filter
From observing others and from my experience in our San Francisco office, it’s always good to have an air filter. I got this mainly because I wanted to circulate air inside a smaller room that needs ventilation. It has made it so that when I cook things that get smoky (e.g. meat), the smoke alarm doesn’t ring because the air moves around. Noise and maintenance haven’t really been a problem. This is a big win for my cooking adventures! I definitely think I’d need this again especially in smaller environments.
Of the three, the air monitoring device has been the most interesting and has made me aware of things I never thought of before! The air filter is a classic and the dehumidifier is still an experiment. I’m curious to see if any of these opinions change over time.