How’s the Air Quality in your House? Ask Birdie

Jun 13, 2025 by Susan Rosenbluth

By The Jewish Voice And Opinion Staff

We breathe without thinking about it. When we exhale, we release carbon dioxide (CO2), an invisible gas that can be hazardous in high concentrations indoors, and we never know what we are breathing in. There are monitors measuring levels of CO2 (used for measuring indoor air quality). There is also Birdie®, which looks like a bird sitting on a perch.  When air quality is poor, Birdie® will fall off its perch, a visual reminder to open your windows, which brings it back to life.

Opening the window circulates the air and dissipates harmful particles. Ventilating for 5-10 minutes 2-3 times daily is recommended to maintain a healthy air quality. For optimal airflow, open multiple windows.

Birdie’s Design

Birdie’s design was inspired by canaries used by coal miners to detect toxic gases. When the bird fainted, the miners knew it was time to get out. Birdie works the same way. Birdie drops off its perch, hanging upside down when air quality exceeds 1.000 ppm for more than 10 minutes. It returns to its perch when air quality returns to an acceptable level.

After it detects a high CO2 reading, Birdie measures air quality every 5 minutes until the level of CO2 drops below 950 ppm. Once Birdie returns to the standing position, it enters a cool-down period, remaining upright but not measuring air quality for 2 hours.

There is no need for words or numbers. Birdie is visual; if Birdie is upside down, it is time to open a window.

Simple to Use

When you receive Birdie, remove it from the box, charge the battery, and it is ready to install. You can attach it to wall using the bracket and either screw or use 3M double sided tape (both included).

• Place the Birdie in the bracket, push down, and watch as Birdie runs through a quick activation sequence (which indicates that it is working).
• Once it returns to its perch, it will monitor air quality.

Birdie is small, 4 x 2 inches, weighing under half a pound (211 grams). It comes with a wall mount and USB-C to USB-A cable. The battery needs to be charged every 6 to 8 months (when the battery is low, the Birdie will be sideways).

Locate the Birdie in the room where you spend most of your time. If you have multiple floors or closed-off rooms (a bedroom), you can put one Birdie in each area.

Birdie can be purchased online

History of Birdie – Two childhood friends from Andreas Kofoed Sørensen and Hans Høite Augustenborg from Hellebæk, a small village north of Copenhagen, Denmark, founded Birdie® in 2022 to provide a visual reminder to open the windows.

Birdie was designed to provide an intuitive message, prompting people to act. It has no lights, sounds, or metrics, and it is made of recycled plastic.

The Dangers of CO2 – Exposure to high CO2 can have adverse health effects, including eye irritation, sore or dry throat, stuffy, congested or runny nose, sneezing, and coughing. It can also cause headaches, congestion, tiredness, dizziness, or difficulty concentrating. Birdie helps you maintain CO2 at under optimal levels using a state-of-the-art CO2 sensor from Switzerland.

Our Experience

While the instructions are simple, it was not immediately obvious that the Birdie was working because it has no indicators showing the CO2 levels. After we installed the Birdie, it cycled, and we smiled because it was so easy. But we turned to find it hanging upside down, indicating CO2 levels above 1,000 ppm. We opened the windows. When Birdie did not immediately return to life, we were concerned. We removed Birdie from the wall mount to restart the initial sequence. It cycled around once and returned to its position hanging upside down. After about 20 minutes, Birdie returned to its perch.

Birdie can be frustrating since we are accustomed to looking at numbers, and Birdie has no display.  We were curious and placed a traditional monitor with a display near Birdie. We found that Birdie was accurate, and most of the time, the air quality was only slightly elevated.

We began to notice patterns. Birdie dipped when we were cooking, or when the heat went on, or when multiple people were in the room. Fortunately, the levels were only slightly above healthy levels.

We would like an option to set a slightly higher threshold. It was too easy to set off in the winter when people are in a room with limited circulation.

Open The Window

Birdie is designed to develop healthier habits, reminding us of the importance of ventilating closed spaces. It relies on visuals as a universal language. When Birdie is off its perch, it’s time to open the window for a breath of fresh air.

Birdie makes the perfect pet; it requires only fresh air and will help you maintain a healthy indoor air quality.