Home Assistant Podcast AirGradient: From Thai Wildfires to Open Source Hardware feat Achim Haug
Oct 14, 2025
Achim Haug, founder of AirGradient and an open-hardware advocate, shares his journey from a volunteer project in Northern Thailand to creating a mission-driven company. He discusses the critical need for air quality monitoring tools during the 2019 burning season. Achim highlights the transition to open-source hardware, emphasizing repairability and user ownership. He also details collaborations with UNICEF for air quality forecasting and reveals future plans for new devices and features, showcasing the power of community and open culture.
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Intro
00:00 • 1min
How Northern Thailand’s burning season sparked AirGradient
01:04 • 4min
Turning a volunteer project into a company
04:41 • 5min
From Arduino kits to networked ESP devices
09:30 • 3min
Open source hardware, repairability, and licensing choices
12:14 • 3min
Why going fully open source paid off
15:00 • 2min
How open source drove visibility and kit demand
16:54 • 9min
Integrating with Home Assistant and ESPHome origins
26:22 • 2min
Local‑first approach and privacy controls
28:14 • 10min
Open culture enabling scientific collaboration
37:54 • 1min
Partnership with UNICEF and ML forecasting
39:06 • 2min
Product roadmap: displays, portable monitors, and new pollutants
40:45 • 4min
Ad break
44:42 • 2min
Community channels and support for varied users
46:24 • 10min
Real‑world use cases: factories, demand‑controlled ventilation, schools
56:39 • 4min
Calibration, accuracy challenges, and transparent limits
01:00:41 • 5min
Where to buy and final logistics
01:05:16 • 1min
Outro
01:06:20 • 28sec