Ecosense RD200 RadonEye, Home Digital Radon Detector: Fast and Accurate Detection of Fluctuating Radon Levels, Short and Long Term Continuous Monitoring with Trend Charts

I previously had the Airthings Corenthium detector. I was never sure whether it was working. It registered a radon level in my house, but never seemed to respond to events like opening windows or changing locations. It had an incredibly slow response. It also was very fragile. I leaned against the wall on my mantle, and it tipped over on its face, and the screen shattered. In contrast, the Radon Eye seems to be built like a tank and has a very quick response to changes like opening windows or moving locations. The app is handy for seeing long-term trends, but as others note, it displays in hours rather than days. It also requires AC power, so it is not as mobile as battery-powered detectors. If this detector failed, I would buy it again.

Why pay hundreds of dollars for a one-off radon test when you can monitor your home radon levels 24/7/365 for less money? It is easy to install and easy to monitor via Bluetooth connection to iPhone or Android.

We had our basement professionally tested for radon gas and the guy who did the testing indicated the radon levels hit 7 pC/L. This freaked me out as the tester sent me several articles on how dangerous radon is. For $1300 the tester said they could install a vacuum system to remove the gas from under the foundation. My concern was that installing the vacuum system in the utility room as they proposed would not cover the entire basement because the footings under load bearing walls basically section off the foundation below ground.In researching on the internet, I learned that Radon gas levels change with barometric pressure. The test was done during a storm. I wanted to see what my longer term measurements were so I bought this Radon Eye product.To date I've been operating the radon eye for about a month and the measurements spiked sharply over 4pC/L four times - each time coincided with a rain storm or bad wind storm. The average over that time was 2.03pC/L. the last time it spiked, I cracked open 2 windows about 5 inches and in about an hour, the measurement went down to <1.Next, I want to measure the radon in the 3 basement bedrooms. Also, one of my neighbors has an abatement system. I want to put the Radon Eye in different locations in his basement to see if his vacuum system is only exhausting the gas from portions of his basement or if it covers the entire basement.This sensor is basically letting me characterize the true extent of the issue.To operate the sensor, all you do is plug in the Radon Eye where you want to take readings.You download the Radon Eye App from the App store and connect the Sensor with your phone through Blue tooth.The Radon Eye displays the current reading on a small LCD on the sensor itself.However, you can also connect the Radon Eye with your phone through the App and see more information on your phone screen including a history, average, minimum, maximum and total data points collected.Your phone shows a graph of the radon change over time.The App allows you to save the data in a .txt file in the App.The App easily lets you email these files. I email it to myself.When you save the .txt file on your computer, you can open it with Microsoft excel.Microsoft excel will walk you through a simple conversion process and convert it to an Excel file.The reason you may want to download it to excel is that the data download time gets longer and longer over time as more data is collected.I've had it about a month and it takes about 10 seconds to down load the data.The sensor has an audible alarm which can be turned on or off through the App. If you turn it off, each time you go to the settings, it turns back on by default. Just turn it off and exit the settings. It will stay off.My phone picks up the blue tooth signal about everywhere in the basement however, when I'm upstairs, I need to be in the general vicinity of the of the Sensor below to connect.There is a certificate of calibration that comes with the Radon Eye so I assume it's accurate.The Radon Eye is a great. The one thing I would change is that I wish there was a date stamp with the readings. When the data is opened in Excel, it's basically a column of data without time stamps.

Update: I'm 3 years in with this device. I work out of my basement and this has given me peace of mind. I love being able to see the fluctuations in such a responsive way. Since this gives you readings every 10 minutes you can see how opening a window, door, etc impacts your radon. It is a fantastic device for diagnosing and testing mitigation. Over a year I have had readings ange from 5 down to 0. It is scary when you see the high readings, but the average is what counts (mine is under 1). I will definitely buy another, or the Ecocube if it has the same sensor.Original Review: FIRST OFF something to keep in mind when looking for a radon monitor. ANY consumer radon monitor you order is a roll of the dice when it comes to accuracy. It will be within tolerance, but you could end up on the far side That is one of the reasons they are so cheap. You are NOT getting the individual device calibration that is done on professional radon monitors. Again, the "sensors" will have variances (within tolerance) when manufactured and if you want the most accurate results then you MUST get the device calibrated. There is a reason they require professional monitors to get re-calibrated. There are a lot of variables that will cause the readings to change over time. With that in mind, any consumer radon monitor you purchase has the risk of being way off. It isn't that the device is necessarily faulty (although it could be), or somehow flawed. It is most likely because it was never calibrated after manufacture and the sensor in your device had something on the far end of tolerance during manufacture. If you find that the one you ordered is way off compared to a 24 hour professional (calibrated) test, then order a replacement. Simple.TIP: Quit moving the device all over the place and LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 24 hours.Now for my review...I researched, and researched until I landed on the RadonEye. What decided it for me was that the sensor is an ion chamber type and is the EXACT same sensor that they use in their professional grade radon monitors. You are literally getting the exact same sensor as the $600+ model (just without the calibration).I have read several reviews where people are complaining about the readings being too high. I would ignore those reviews IF there is no mention of how much time the device was in a single location. The reading on the display is the average for the hour (updated every 10 minutes). That is one of the things that makes this such a great monitor. You can see the shifts in detail. This is also the problem. You have to be patient. I got all worked up when I first got this device running. I had really high readings. Once I calmed down, and let it run for an entire day, I could see how the readings would fluctuate throughout the day. They also seemed to "normalize".So here's the deal. You have to leave it in a location for AT least a 24 hour period to get a good picture of the readings. The time of day, temperature, and weather can impact the reading. it will change over the day, sometimes by several points. You can't just take it to another room and wait for it to update in 10 minutes and expect an accurate reading. If that was all you need then why would it be recommended that radon test be done over the course of several days/months? Last, PLEASE don't compare it to some other consumer radon monitor to determine if it is accurate. You are only kidding yourself if you think that is going to tell you something helpful.I'm tired of writing so now for a pros/cons list.PROS:- Ion chamber sensor (RD200M) is the same as pro-grade monitor- Accurate within tolerance- Updated readings every 10 minutes- Bluetooth mobile app- Data can be saved to text file (data points saved for every hour)CONS:- Bluetooth range is limited and often you have to select the device again to connect- App is very simplistic. It only tracks data points and does not associate time.- Updates too fast and this confuses people (display only shows average for the last hour)- No batteries so the device cannot be easily moved to a location without powerOther thoughts...A wifi model is being released soon.There are a couple changes that would make this radon monitor stand out from the rest.- Adding support for API or IFTTT- Adding date/time tracking to the app, along with notes/bookmarks that can be set at specific times.Anyways, give it a shot. I think you'll be pleased.

Ease of set-up; device works as advertised