# Indoor air quality monitor in Dubai: track dust, humidity and CO2, and link them to your AC > How an indoor air quality monitor in Dubai tracks dust, humidity and CO2, and how linking it to your AC and ventilation keeps rooms fresher. Source: https://staging.avario.ae/articles/indoor-air-quality/ Updated: 2026-11-05 An indoor air quality monitor in Dubai measures dust, humidity and carbon dioxide (CO2) in your rooms and shows the readings in the app. Once it is linked to your air conditioning and ventilation, the system acts on those readings. It brings in fresh air when CO2 rises and switches on the dehumidifier when the air turns damp. Our system works with all smart air quality sensors. We also connect fresh air units, heat recovery units, dehumidifiers and air purifiers. This guide covers what to measure, how the links work and what to plan for in a villa or an apartment. ## What does an indoor air quality monitor measure? Most smart sensors measure some mix of the readings below. Not every sensor takes all of them, so check its list before you choose one. Our engineer matches each sensor to the room it goes in. In a bedroom, CO2 matters most. In a room that faces a building site, dust matters most. - CO2: builds up as people breathe in a closed room. In a Harvard study of university classrooms, lower CO2 went with higher scores on thinking tests. - PM2.5 and PM10: fine dust. The number is the particle size in micrometres (thousandths of a millimetre). - Humidity: how much water is in the air. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises keeping it below 60%, ideally between 30% and 50%, to help prevent mould. - Temperature: worth reading alongside humidity, because together they decide how comfortable a room feels. - VOCs (volatile organic compounds): gases that come off paint, new furniture and cleaning products. ## Why does indoor air matter in a Dubai home? For much of the year, Dubai homes stay shut with the AC running. The AC cools the air that is already in the room. Fresh air only comes in through a fresh air unit, if you have one, or when someone opens a door. Opening a door or window also lets in whatever dust or moisture is in the air outside. Without a monitor, you only notice a problem once you can feel it. The bedroom is stuffy in the morning, the windows mist up or the shelves gather dust. A monitor shows you the numbers before it gets to that point. ## How do the readings control the AC and ventilation? The sensor sends its readings to the hub, the small box that runs your system. The hub then follows rules that you agree with our engineer. In our homes the hub runs Symphony, Avario's automation platform, which we designed to make large, complex homes easier to manage. These are the kinds of rules we set up. Which ones you can have depends on the equipment in your home. - CO2 rises in a bedroom at night: the fresh air unit or heat recovery unit speeds up for that zone. - Humidity climbs: the dehumidifier switches on, or the AC moves to its drying setting if the unit has one. - The dust reading jumps: the purifier in that room turns on, and the app tells you so you can keep doors and windows shut. - Readings fall back to normal: the equipment slows down again, so it does not run all day. ## Which AC and ventilation systems can you connect? We connect all brands and types of AC, including split units, ducted systems, VRF and chilled-water fan coils. The link usually goes through a gateway, a small device that lets the smart home system talk to the AC. We work with gateways from all brands. You decide the level that triggers each action. For CO2, ASHRAE (the US body that writes ventilation standards) recommends indoor levels no more than 700 ppm (parts per million) above the level outdoors. For humidity, you can use the EPA range above as a guide. You can change any level later in the app. ## Does cleaner air mean higher DEWA bills? Not necessarily. It depends on how the rules are set. Hot outside air makes the air conditioning work harder, so ventilation running flat out all day uses more energy than ventilation that only speeds up when CO2 rises. A heat recovery unit passes heat and moisture from the hot fresh air coming in to the cool stale air going out, without mixing the two. The fresh air arrives closer to room temperature and humidity, so the AC and dehumidifier have less work to do. For energy management, Symphony includes away mode, set temperature limits and usage reports. You can see the reports in the app, on a tablet or on your own computer, and they can be as detailed or as basic as you like. Our guide to [air conditioning control and energy management](https://staging.avario.ae/articles/climate-energy/) covers schedules, away mode and DEWA summer bills in more detail. ## Wired or wireless sensors? Wireless sensors suit finished homes and renovations. Wired sensors suit new builds, where the cables go in before the walls are closed. In the UAE we use Zigbee for wireless homes. Zigbee is a wireless standard made for smart home devices. A wireless install usually takes a couple of days. Some wireless sensors run on batteries and need new ones from time to time, and the app's watchdog keeps checking that every device is working as it should. Our guide to [wireless smart homes](https://staging.avario.ae/articles/wireless-smart-home/) explains when wireless works well and when it is better to wire. For new villas we advise wired KNX, the wiring standard most wired systems use. A wired install follows the build programme, or happens during a major renovation. Read more in our guide to [KNX automation](https://staging.avario.ae/articles/knx-automation/). The hub runs inside your home, so you do not need the internet to control your home while your home Wi-Fi is working. If the home network goes down, the keypads on your walls still work. ## Where should the sensors go? Start with the rooms your family uses most: the bedrooms and the main living area. After that, a home office or a child's room makes sense. Keep each sensor away from AC vents, windows, doors and the kitchen. The air there changes quickly, so a reading taken there would not reflect the whole room. One sensor maker's placement guide suggests fitting sensors 0.9 to 1.8 metres above the floor, at the height where people breathe, and at least 0.9 metres from doors, windows and air outlets where possible. ## For interior designers and architects Plan where the sensors go at design stage, at the same time as the switches and keypads. A sensor fitted next to a keypad looks tidier than one added on its own after the walls are painted. Fresh air units, heat recovery units and dehumidifiers need space, power and a control link. We work with your MEP team, the engineers who design the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, so the controls are in the drawings from the start. Our [partner programme for interior designers and architects](https://staging.avario.ae/articles/interior-designers-architects/) explains how we work with you. ## Questions people ask Can I add air quality monitoring to my existing smart home? In most cases, yes. Our system works with all smart air quality sensors, and our engineer checks your current system, AC and ventilation at the home visit. Do you check the air before any sensors are fitted? Yes, we do a pre-inspection. It shows which rooms need attention before you decide where sensors should go. Do I need a fresh air unit? No. A monitor on its own tells you when to open a window or run a purifier. If you want the system to bring in fresh air by itself, you need a fresh air or heat recovery unit that it can control. What affects the cost? The number of rooms with sensors, whether the system is wired or wireless, whether it is a new build or a retrofit, the brands you choose and how much equipment you link to the sensors. Your written quote sets all of this out. Who do I contact if a reading looks wrong? Use the support chat in the Avario app, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm. If an engineer needs to come out, we offer callouts within 4 hours during those hours. ## Next step: book a home visit Our engineer visits, looks at your rooms, AC and ventilation, and suggests where sensors would help most. We get in touch the next business day to arrange the visit, and you receive a written quote within 2 days of it. When you [book a home visit or engineering survey](https://staging.avario.ae/articles/book-survey/), tell us which rooms feel stuffy, damp or dusty.