I've been reading stuff like this for some time now, I actually had our ventilation redone, albeit for non-Covid reasons because we had too much dust due to leaky vents causing asthma issues and it makes things a lot better even without worrying about Covid.
I never could find any easy/good way to add UV to the mix without having to redo everything again, though. I wonder if anyone knows any easy/simple add-ons like the one we got to add a bidet to the toilet to deal with the TP shortages.
If you have forced air, you can get a UV bulb that all air passes by for $200-300 - just requires drilling some holes and an AC plug. Also helps with killing mold and bacteria as an added benefit (and some of the original intention for the devices, e.g., OdorStop).
I totally believe that UV light is great at killing pathogens and that UV belongs in ventilation systems, but we presumably need to know how much UV light is needed.
The UV doses needed also seem to depend on a lot on the type of pathogen. For example, viruses require a higher dose than bacteria. In
I’ve bought the Coway AP-1512AH which filters air, and is extremely silent, and I have a separate CO2-PM10-PM2.5 measurer. It does wonders against asthma. PMs go from 25microgram/m3 to 1 in half an hour, which I trust because the measurement tool is separate. I never succeeded to have less than 10 before the Coway.
Before that, I would sneeze first thing in the morning, then sneeze by rows of 10 times in Spring, 30 times a day, nose bleeding from too much sneezing. I would also have an irritated bronchitis which gave me slight asthma (but enough to make me abandon intensive sports). Now I still have risk of asthma, but at least when I want relief, I close the windows, switch on the Coway, and breathe fresh air. I live in a city center of average density.
However, CO2 fills up quickly. I wish I could find some portable air exchanger: Taking air from outside, exchanging temperature, and filtering. I’ve lodged a bit for a house which has that, I’m hoping I’m selected.
I would love to find a portable air exchanger too—opening windows helps with CO2 levels but it’s inefficient for most of the year in much of the United States. Built-in air exchangers with heat recovery are available but are a non-starter for anyone in a rented place. Unfortunately, no good solution exists so far
Yeah, I live in a place where, well, let's just say that opening the window for much of the year simply isn't done. I don't think some of my windows will even can be opened any longer due to having been closed for so many years.
I actually got one of those for the bedroom after reading someone mentioning it during another HN thread. It does seem to make the bedroom better, though I don't think it's quite enough for the whole house.
I don't have any measuring devices to see the impact directly, though.
I chose it because someone mentioned it on HN, and said it was:
- silent
- HEPA
- non-AI/IoT
I was afraid it was a paid sponsored comment, but after comparing versions and prices, I tried it and was satisfied. It’s ugly though, looks straight out of the 60ies with its rounded corners.
Off topic: See, this is what happens when enough people try to use a mild word for something bad they’re doing in order to try to hide the badness: other people who see this usage alter their perceived meaning of the mild word to represent what they see as prevalent usage. The mild word comes to mean the bad thing.
In this example, “sponsored”. A more accurate term in this case would have been something like “paid dishonest shill”, but the constant use of “sponsored” by paid shills (esp. on YouTube) has altered our perception of the word “sponsored”. I would not be surprised if soon many companies would like to move away from that word and not be “sponsors” anymore, and instead be “supporters”, etc.
It’s the reverse of the euphemism treadmill, really.
I don’t use it because I’ve heard it releases Ozone indeed. I don’t see the point. I have hard times trusting stuff made by others, so I’m just seeing 2 filters and a fan, that was just what I wanted ;)
The AP-1512HH sounds like a great buy for most cases, although if you're particularly concerned about VOCs including exhaust fumes (we are - we live in a dense city, close to a main road), the Austin Air HealthMate HM400 is probably what you want. Used by "FEMA and the Red Cross ... for deployment at Ground Zero and the surrounding areas in the aftermath of 9/11", apparently.
The best place to get started on that is with Corbett Lunsford's books/videos/podcasts. His book, "Home Performance Diagnostics", is the ultimate resource [1].
He also has a YouTube channel [2] that has a ton of useful information on proper ventilation, humidification, and environmental safety, along with podcasts [3]. You can also check out his main site, Building Performance Workshop [4].
Alternatively, there are books on the subject of "building performance" that you may want to check out.
UV will kill covid, ionic species such as ozone will kill covid, and electrostatic filtration will adsorb particles based on electrical charge rather than mechanical porousity, keep them in place and let the UV+ Ozone do its job.
I never could find any easy/good way to add UV to the mix without having to redo everything again, though. I wonder if anyone knows any easy/simple add-ons like the one we got to add a bidet to the toilet to deal with the TP shortages.