IKEA has been dabbling in the smart home market quite a bit, and while commonly pitched to the DIY audience, its products can often be unique and hard to ignore with the value they bring to the home. Take for instance, the SYMFONISK light/speaker combo, or its FYRTUR motorized shades. The newly announced IKEA VINDSTYRKA air quality sensor is no different.
“Although we spend most of our time indoors, many of us tend to forget about indoor air pollution,” says Henrik Telander, Product owner at IKEA of Sweden, in a press release. “We take for granted that the air in our homes is clean, but small everyday activities like cooking or cleaning can contribute to poor air quality just as much as industry or traffic. With VINDSTYRKA, our ambition has been to create an affordable high-performing air quality sensor to help our customers become more aware of the quality of the air they breathe in their homes.”
While no specific price for the device has been announced yet, it is likely to keep in line with IKEA’s stance on affordability, putting it underneath some of the more high-end sensors. For comparison, the Airthings View Plus, which can measure a massive spread of values including Radon and Air Pressure in the home on top of being highly integratable into other smart home systems, ranks in at $299 MSRP.
Features of the IKEA VINDSTYRKA
The IKEA VINDSTYRKA monitor features a sleek, modern design with an oversized display screen, showcasing all information front and center. The company notes it can measure particulate matter up to 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5), humidity, temperature and TVOC (total volatile organic compounds).
According to IKEA, the device will work as a standalone product, however, the company states it will also come packed with plenty of integration potential that will greatly enhance the value of the product and those it connects to. For instance, the company has stated that by connecting to other devices, it can be used as a switch to switch on purifiers or ramp up fan speeds when high pollutant levels are detected.
Specifically, IKEA mentioned its STARKVIND air purifier in the example, however, the VINDSTYRKA will launch Matter-ready, opening up the potential integrations even further. The company also notes that by connecting VINDSTYRKA to the DIRIGERA hub, air quality data can be transmitted directly through the IKEA Home Smart app. The app can then also be used to set up the aforementioned integrations.
The app is also where most of the programming for additional functions will take place. For instance, users can use the app to set up integrations with a STARKVIND purifier, though IKEA does mention it is not specifically limited to the Starkvind purifier.
No specific date has been stated for the release of the product, however, the company states it will launch globally sometime in April 2023, a month ahead of National Clean Air Month.
This article has been updated as of 03.24.23.
