DEVMO Digital Particle Concentration Laser Sensor PMS5003 PM2.5 PM10+Cable Air Quality Detection Sensor Dust Sensor Air Conditioning Monitor Module Compatible with Ar-duino

I’ve been experimenting with a variety of air quality measurements/sensors for some time, this has been my first foray into Particulate Matter.•Build qualityThe unit is a solid block. Made of formed sheet ali with minimal cutouts for the connector, exhaust and the fan. I kinda like the fact they left the protective blue film on, it’s no worse than a powder coat and can easily be removed if you prefer silver :)It’s not especially light nor heavily, and nothing seems to move or rattle inside.There is no quick facility for cleaning the unit, and with no pre-filter before the fan it is quite conceivable that it will eventually become clogged with larger clumps of dust. It could be argued that this unit is a consumable part, however the datasheet recommends additional protection in certain circumstances.There only provisions made for mounting the unit are four holes for M2 self-tapping screws.•InterfaceThe connector is slightly recessed into the box. It is a type unlikely to be available in a hobbyists collection, but a terminated (on both ends) length of alternating red/black ribbon cable is supplied, giving you one long or two short adapters to Mini-PV or another popular connector type. (Just beware, depending on the end you use, Vcc may be black and GND may be red. Mark your connectors.)Power is 5V and GND. Did not test for reverse-protection.Communication is over 3V3 UART by Tx only or bidirectional, baud 9600.•OperationFor continuous operation you only need the sensor Tx wire to get data out. To preserve the longevity of the laser diode ESPHome recommends connecting sensor Rx too to put the sensor into sleep mode between measurements.•Integration with ESPHomeOnce UART (with optional mcu Tx) is setup, just use the PMSX003 platform. This exposes PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 sensors to Home Assistant.If you’ve got sensor Rx connected to mcu Tx and setup under UART, then you can add an update_interval under the sensor platform config. This will switch off the laser diode and fan in between taking readings, thereby extending their lifetime.•Quality of the dataIndoors with no particular activities occurring, readings are pegged at zero. Maybe this is true and I live in an ultra clean house, I don’t understand PM measures and levels enough to comment other than to say it’s mostly reading zero.Activities such as cooking, incense-burning, aerosols and to some extent using steaming hot water, cause a definite spike in readings, with a sharp rise and an exponential-like decay back to zero. Readings in the 10s of µg/m^3 are common for such activities, with readings in the 100s being particularly noticeable to human senses.Given the resolution of this sensor is only 1 µg/m^3, and normal levels are so low, you don’t get a whole lot of resolution. Maybe this could be good next to a busy road/in a workshop/other polluted area (will try this and update review with my findings), but I feel it’s largely unnecessary at home.•Comparing data to TVOCs and eCO2For testing I have this sensor running next to an ENS160, and there are definite correlations between the data in most circumstances, but they’re obviously not interchangeable. TVOCs and eCO2 values are never at zero and often read relatively highly even though there are no Particulate Matter detected.•ConclusionNot knowing enough about Air Quality and Particulate Measurements I really can’t say if this is a good sensor. But as a hobbyist, if you’re interested in seeing this data, this is a good value and easy to use option.