Three inexpensive CO2 sensors compared
Sniffing the Air

© Lead Image © vladnikon, 123RF.com
Monitor your indoor air quality with an inexpensive CO2 sensor. We look at three candidates to help you find the best solution.
In the winter, you spend a lot of time indoors, making it important to keep an eye on CO2 concentrations. In contrast to sensors for measuring temperature and humidity, CO2 sensors are quite expensive, with prices consistently in the double-digit range. This quickly adds up if you want to monitor more than one room. To make CO2 monitoring more budget friendly, this article focuses on three inexpensive solutions: the Winsen MH-Z19C [1], the ScioSense ENS160 [2], and the Sensirion SCD40 [3].
The latter sensor from brand manufacturers such as Adafruit, Pimoroni, or SparkFun are really expensive, costing between $40 and $80. AliExpress gives you cheaper options with prices below $15, but those come with the added thrill of not knowing whether parts will even work.
Infrared Measurement
The Winsen MH-Z19C (Figure 1) consists of a small box measuring approximately 13.3mm x 26mm x 4.4mm. It measures the CO2 value using the non-dispersive infrared method (NDIR). Two versions of the sensor are available: one with a normal pinout and one with a cable connection and a pin spacing of 1.25mm. If you don't relish the prospect of crimping connections, you will want to opt for the pinout version. Besides the MH-Z19C, there are other older models on the market, such as the MH-Z19B, MH-Z14, or MH-Z18, which have similar but not identical functions and specifications.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.