Public Good News, a health-centred community-driven website, recently interviewed Joey Fox, an HVAC engineer and a big advocate of good ventilation. In the article, the author interviews Joey regarding the best ways to improve ventilation at your home to reduce COVID-19 transmission.
The first point is, as you might expect - opening windows! There is no better way to improve ventilation than to open your windows. The best part? This is the most simple step to improving your ventilation that everyone can take. There’s no need for air filters or other items to increase home ventilation.
If you want to improve on this natural ventilation, Fox suggests setting up a fan facing outwards at the front of the home. Alternatively, if you have exhaust fans, these can also be used. Both will give you more consistent airflow and provide constant fresh air.
If you want to take your ventilation a step further or have rooms that can’t be adequately ventilated by opening windows or doors, you might want to look into a DIY filter such as the Corsi-Rosenthal box. These boxes are cheap to make air purifiers that have been proven to be as effective as many air purifiers you’d buy in a store.
The filter is the most important aspect of any Corsi-Rosenthal box, and HEPA is the way to go here. HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters are highly performant, and a MERV filter (high-performance HEPA filter) can filter the vast majority of airborne particles.
The final tool that Fox suggests having on hand is a carbon dioxide monitor. While these devices are designed to monitor carbon dioxide, they also indicate when better ventilation is needed. Therefore, they are very handy for identifying ventilation needs and verifying ventilation improvements.
Although none of these prevention measures is entirely effective, it’s important to use as many as possible. Each will decrease the chance of COVID-19 transmission, and together, these prevention measures add up and work together to provide a safe environment.