The Awair Glow is a nightlight that senses – and reacts to – bad air

There are plenty of air quality sensors out there but so far the Awair Glow is the only sensor I’ve found that can do something about nastiness in your environment. The Glow is a small plugin nightlight that connects to an iOS or Android phone and lets you turn on a fan or air purifier if certain conditions are met.

The device is quite compact – it’s about as big as a Glade plugin – and can sense temperature, humidity, CO2, and “chemicals.” Once it reaches a certain threshold you can activate a built-in plug that can, in turn, start up a humidifier, a fan, or any other home appliance. Presumably you could also attach a blender or air horn depending on your personal preference.

The $99 device also acts as a nightlight and you can turn it on and off remotely.

The best thing about this device is that it makes dumb things smart. Because you can set it to trigger based on various environmental factors you can make your air conditioner a little bit smarter, creating a nice thermostatic feedback loop in your room. Further, it tells you when there is too much particulate matter and can, for example, turn on an air purifier or dehumidifier. It’s a cute little product with plenty of utility and at less than $100 it works pretty well.