Canary assesses your home’s air quality - the amount of contaminants in the air - and shows you what’s inside and outside the normal range for your specific environment.
Note: While Canary’s air quality sensor can detect carbon monoxide and smoke, Canary isn’t a replacement for a dedicated carbon monoxide or smoke detector in your home.
Indoor Air Pollutants
Canary detects overall changes in air quality caused by pollutants including:
- Iso-butane
- Carbon monoxide
- Hydrogen
- Ethanol
- Cigarette smoke
- Cooking odors
- Dust
Air Quality is also affected by things like temperature, humidity, and seasonal climate changes; generally anything that makes the air seem different (even air fresheners can trigger the sensors). If you see the app display abnormal, we recommend opening up a few windows to allow for circulation.
Calibrating the Air Quality Sensor
Canary will learn what "normal" air quality is for your home in the first 24 hours after it's set up.
There isn't a way to re-calibrate the sensors through the app. With that said though, you can unplug the device and let it sit offline for one minute. After that, plug it back in. That can help to reset the sensors in the device. Additionally you can keep Canary’s air quality sensor calibrated by ventilating your home with outside air. Make a habit of opening windows or doors to let fresh air in and to help Canary stay as accurate as possible.
If air quality sensor readings continue to be very abnormal, move the device to a new room, preferably near an open window, while avoiding direct sunlight. Check back 10 minutes after the device is plugged in to see if your readings have returned to normal. We process Homehealth data every minute, then send back the average reading every 10 minutes, which is shown within the Canary app.