Is there a way to get this to work with my private indoor sensor?
I know my device ID and json key number ( for example: /json?key=ABCXOPCXG2687YG1&show=12345). Changing the path in the IDE to my JSON path didn’t work. Any suggestions?
I don’t know anything about private sensors - is there a URL that you can type into a browser that will return your data?
If, as I suspect, there isn’t such a plain URL, then I’ll need to see a pointer to the updated PurpleAir JSON documentation. In particular, I’ll need to know what form of Authentication they are requiring…
PurpleAir Air Quality Station Update posted on 22 Jan 2020 at 11:45am EST
Fixes & Enhancements include:
- Now supports Private (hidden) stations - enter your Private Key in Device Preferences
- Now handles Stations that are Flagged as having potentially bad data. For now, only detects which sensor is bad if one of them is returning all-zero values.
- Made all of the extra attributes visible
- Fixed RSSI display (valid value only comes on one sensor these days)
This update is highly recommended for all PurpleAir Air Quality Station users
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Thanks!!! This works great to capture my private indoor station.
Also, an easy way to get the private key and station ID for private stations is from the registration confirmation email from PurpleAir upon registering your device. In the email, under the heading “For Programmers” is the line:
"Sensor details JSON is here: https://www.purpleair.com/json?show=<DeviceID>&key=<PrivateKey>
If you can’t find the email, you can find the same JSON link from the map by:
- Logging in so your private station appears.
- Clicking on your private station.
- Hover over “Get this Widget” at the bottom (it may take a few seconds to appear). A black and white box should appear.
- Click on the “JSON” link in the black and white box that appears to open up a new internet browser tab.
- Copy the private key and the station ID from the URL link in the new tab.
With respect to why the map and the JSON data had different temperature and humidity readings, I emailed PurpleAir and this was their response:
The temperature and humidity sensor in PurpleAir sensors is measuring conditions inside of the sensor housing, not ambient conditions. Typically temperature is higher than ambient conditions by about ~8F, so then we subtract 8F from the temperature readings on the PurpleAir map. For humidity, we add 4% to the data displayed on the PurpleAir map for the same reason. The JSON reports the raw data from the sensor.
PurpleAir Air Quality Station Update posted on 25 Jan 2020 at 2:15pm EST
Fixes & Enhancements:
- Fixed incorrect averaging of dual Temperature and Humidity sensor reports
- Added ability to apply “reference” temperature, relative humidity and/or barometric pressure.
- Simply enter the current/correct reference value - ideally from a calibrated device - into Preferences, and then hit Save. The required offset to make the reported values match the reference setting is calculated and applied automatically.
Please Note: The Temperature, Humidity and Barometric Pressure sensors inside the PurpleAir devices were never intended to be used as general-purpose sensors. They are included to help the on-board logic fine-tune the particle sensors, and they measure the ambient environment inside the device which is warmer and dryer than the outdoor ambient values.
However, applying reference offsets will make the values presented by this driver a closer approximation of the actual outdoor temperature, humidity and pressure.
This update is recommended for PurpleAir Air Quality Station users wanting a better alignment of reported Temperatures, Humidity and Barometric Pressure
@tgauchat Is this now aligning with the Smartthings Developer guidelines for an Air Quality Sensor? It would be super awesome to have AQI tile support in ActionTiles!
Yes, this does update the airQuality attribute as defined by the Air Quality Capability…
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Unfortunately the awesome Terry is no longer with us. 
Oh bummer 
Any chance this will be updated for the new SmartThings App? I can see the temperature & humidity (though I don’t use those for PurpleAir), but the AQI doesn’t show at all.
Thanks.
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I just got this set up on a public sensor, and I am excited to have it as an additional data point to help us navigate our northern California fire season air quality. One thing I have noticed is that PurpleAir sensor numbers generally track much higher than other reported air quality numbers. I had started running the PurpleAir map with the LRAPA conversion turned on as they set up thier calibration mainly with forest fires in mind, and it brought the numbers down much more in line with other reporting sources. I guess that conversion is done on the map, not the sensor, but I wondered if there might be some option similar to the reference temp and reference humidity adjustments that might help calibrate these numbers a bit more for our need?
Edit:
I ended up using webcore to create push notifications to our phones that say when the AQ is changing to which color. Working on having the Echos in the house announce unhealthy air quality next!
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I see the air quailty, but it looks like it is in a different unit? But i cannot find any option to change it?
…cant share imbeded images on this site
New App (Show reading of 81)
Classic App (Shows reading of 159 which is correct)
Anyone know the work around for this?
There is no work-around. The new app doesn’t support the additional attributes that I created to display the AQI in the Classic app. There is a toolkit that may allow me to fix this, but I am unable to work on this for the next few weeks, as I am in the midst of moving my home…bad timing, I know, but it is what it is…
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Thank you for your consideration. Stay well!
What a great app! It’s such a shame how the new ST butchers the look and feel. Definitely looking forward to your updates for the new ST app!
Hello,
Any update? Now that we’ve been forced to the new ST app, my purple air sensor is useless :-(.
Thanks for all you do, it is very much appreciated.