Keeping the air in the room clean can reduce the chance of the coronavirus spreading.

Sherry Mirror, University of Colorado at Boulder

The majority of SARS-CoV-2 infection occurs indoors, Mainly by inhalation of airborne particles containing coronavirus. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite the obvious risks posed by being inside. A group of small households Driving a lot of Rapid increase in recent incidents..

The best way to prevent the virus from spreading to your home is simply to keep infected people away.But this is difficult to do when estimated 40% of cases are asymptomatic And asymptomatic people can Still spreading the coronavirus to others..The next safest thing is Entertain outsideHowever, if that is not possible, there are some things you can do to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading.

First – and the most important – Always wear a mask, make sure everyone is at least 6 feet away from others, and don’t spend too much time indoors. However, in addition to these precautions, it is also helpful to keep the air inside as clean as possible.I Indoor air quality researcher Those who are researching ways to reduce Transmission of aerial infections..use Increased ventilation Or running Appropriate size air purifier or filter You can add a layer of protection.

Fresh air is safer air

A safer home is one that always has a lot of outside air instead of the old air inside.

Houses are usually ventilated by leaking air through open windows and doors, or through unintended openings and cracks in the building itself.The typical air exchange rate of a house is 0.5 air exchanges per hour.. Due to the complexity of how air moves, it takes about two hours to replace two-thirds of the air in an average house, and about six hours to replace everything.

This slow air exchange is not good if you want to limit the spread of the virus in the air. The higher the ventilation rate, the better, so how much fresh air is ideal?The exact exchange rate depends on the size of the room, but for example, at least in a 10 x 10 foot room with 3-4 people inside. Air exchange 3 times an hour..In a pandemic, this should be higher, recently recommended by the World Health Organization Air exchange 6 times an hour..

You don’t need to know the exact air exchange rate in your home. Please know that the more you have, the better. Thankfully, it’s easy to increase ventilation in your home or apartment.

Open as many windows as possible – Large opening Better. Open the door to the outside. Run the exhaust fan over the bathroom and stove. However, the exhaust goes out, Windows and doors are also open.. In addition, you can place a fan in the open window to blow away the air and further increase the air flow.

I live in Colorado and the cold of winter has come. I think it’s worth keeping the windows open, but I only open about half of them and have a heater in my house. This wastes energy, but I minimize the amount of time I have to do this and leave the windows open for at least an hour to completely deflate the house when the visitor leaves.

All of this is added together to increase ventilation.

Filtration as a backup

If you’re worried that your house’s ventilation is still too low, Air filtration It can provide another layer of safety. Just as the N95 mask works, letting air through the house through a filter with a small opening can catch airborne particles that may contain coronavirus.

There are two ways to filter the air in your home. For example, using an embedded system such as central heating or using a stand-alone air purifier.

In my house, I use both an air purifier and a heating system to filter the air. If you have central heating Furness filter there is Minimum efficiency report value (MERV) This value indicates how effective the filter is in removing particles and contaminants in the air from the recirculated air. The standard for most furnaces is the MERV8 filter, and many furnaces cannot operate with more efficient filters, so be sure to check the filters and ask a technician before replacing the filters. However, the MERV 8 filter is better than no filtration at all.

You can also use a stand-alone air purifier to remove airborne particles, but the effect depends on the size of the room. The larger the room, the more air needs to be cleaned, and standalone cleaners are very powerful. Since my house has an open floor plan, I can’t use an air cleaner in the main living space, but it works in the bedroom and other small enclosed spaces. If you’re considering buying an air purifier, we’ve worked with a colleague at Harvard University to create a tool that you can use to: Determine the performance of the required air purifier For different room sizes.

Also, don’t forget to consider how effective the air purifier filter is.Your best option is a cleaner to use High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, These are to remove more than 99.97% of all particle sizes.

If you decide to share your home with others within the next few months, keep in mind that being outside is much safer. However, if you need to be inside, make sure your guests stay shorter, wear masks, and stay at a social distance at all times. In addition to these precautions, open the windows as wide as possible to keep the air flow high, use an exhaust fan to pump more air into the house, and use an air purifier and filter to further increase the possibility of spreading the coronavirus. Can be reduced.

Sherry Mirror, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder

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