Delhiites’ hunt for quality indoor air may probably end at a budding start-up operating out of Maker Village, the electronic and hardware incubator at Kalamassery.
The indoor air quality monitor and controller developed by a group of veteran engineers, who co-founded the start-up Avatar Renewables Private Limited, could just be the solution people fated to live in an increasingly polluted environment may need.
“We offer multiple variants of our product fit for small and large air-conditioned spaces from households to public spaces like hospitals, shopping malls and theatres. Air quality monitoring inside air-conditioned buildings has become mandatory and is subjected to auditing in developed countries, as a part of wellness drive,” said Suresh Kumar K, Head, Development and Operations.
The product measures the indoor air quality seamlessly against a prefixed threshold level that could be monitored over a computer or mobile phone in real time. Once the quality drops below that level, the controller kicks in making the fresh air fan to suck in just the right volume of filtered air for restoring the air quality.
“An air ioniser that will further purify the air can also be slotted in, which may be useful in places like Delhi with poor ambient air quality,” said Ramesh Thampi, technical director. The variant assisting the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) process in larger air-conditioned spaces could be operated remotely. When the air quality drops, the controller alerts the air handling unit of HVAC about the volume of air to be sucked in through the damper that regulates the flow of air. “Apart from improving air quality, it also saves energy by regulating the functioning of the air handling unit rather than be set on auto mode,” said Krishnan Thampi, managing director.
The start-up also offers cabin air quality monitor alerting about the quality of air in small confined places like a car cabin. A buzzer goes off when the air quality drops alerting the occupants to adjust the air-condition vent to let in the ambient air.
“This could be useful in long-distance buses as the alertness of the driver is directly linked to the air quality in the cabin, reducing the probability for accidents. In offices, the drop in air quality may hit productivity as it takes a toll on the cognitive abilities of the workers,” said Mr. Kumar.
The company, which was launched in 2013 after the partners retired from an active career, was incubated in February last year and is already into production mode.
