It's not too hard to do, you just have to have the component, and some solder.
The main issue I have is the noise, it is really noticeable (and the sound mode makes it less accurate: https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sens...)
I was doing that too for all of my projects. I was developing them as if they were products I could potentially sell. When I accepted that I wasn't ever going to do that, I gave ESPHome a try.
> took less than an hour to write since I was able to copy-paste all of that boilerplate from a previous project.
It would probably take 5 minutes to configure from scratch ESPHome, less time if you're copying from an existing config. In addition to that, you get automatic logging into Home Assistant and deep integration for free.
Using Hypfer's discovery[1] that you could read the raw values from Ikea's Vindriktning using an ESP, I wrote an ESPHome script for an ESP01 that pipes the data into Home Assistant. Now when I'm cooking and the air quality gets too bad my HVAC fan kicks on to clear the air. It took longer to solder everything up than it did to "code".
YAML:
esphome:
name: air-quality-sensor-1
esp8266:
board: esp01_1m
# Enable logging
logger:
# Disable logging
baud_rate: 0
# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
ota:
password: !secret aqs_ota_password
wifi:
ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
password: !secret wifi_password
# Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
ap:
ssid: "Air-Quality-Sensor-1"
password: !secret aqs_hotspot_password
captive_portal:
# Setup Ikea Vindriktning PM2.5 sensor
uart:
rx_pin: GPIO3
baud_rate: 9600
sensor:
- platform: pm1006
pm_2_5:
name: "Ikea Vindriktning PM25"
filters:
- sliding_window_moving_average:
window_size: 10
send_every: 10
See this link under the low noise mod heading
https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sens...
With a Wemos D1 mini (ESP8266) MCU that costs around USD 2.00, you can pretty easily make the Vindriktning WiFi connected and get the data to a backend [1].
You just need to solder three wires, and there is enough space within the enclosure to fit the D1 mini inside.
This would then allow you to get the exact measurements and to better understand if the "green" is more on the lower end or the higher side.
[1] https://github.com/Hypfer/esp8266-vindriktning-particle-sens...