There are a few important things to consider when selecting the right handheld particle counter for your needs. Handheld particle counters are commonly use for spot checking cleanrooms, cleanhoods, filter testing, general indoor air quality testing and other applications where portability and a low cost is essential.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Handheld particle counters have .1 CFM flow rate and are not designed for certifying cleanrooms.
Several different handheld particle counters are available that offer ease of portability and battery operation for use “on the road.” Unless you plan on manually loggin your data on a clip board, select a unit that offers internal memory. Many handheld particle counters only count one size particle at a time and must be switched to a different size each time you want to monitor a different size. Some handheld particle counters offer simultaniuos counting of several chanels.

The Lighthouse 3016 ($3,495 at time of writing) offers a graphic touch screen interface, counts 6 particle size chanels at once along with temperature, relative humidity and stores each record in it’s class leading internal memory along with a time and date stamp for each record. The Lighthouse 3016 handheld particle counter also offers an easy method to download the data to your PC and includes free software to transfer the data into an excel spreadsheet.

If you find that you do not have a use for internal memory or counting multiple sizes, lower cost units, such as the MetOne GT-321 can give you accurate particle counts which display on a simple LED screen and a low sticker cost of well under $2000