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The vast majority of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurs indoors, primarily through inhalation of airborne particles containing the coronavirus. But despite the obvious risks of being indoors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, small household gatherings are responsible for much of the recent increase in cases.
The best way to stop the virus from spreading in a home would be to simply keep infected people away. But that’s hard to do when around 40% of cases are asymptomatic and asymptomatic people can still spread the coronavirus to others. It is safest to have fun outdoors, but if you can’t, there are a few things you can do to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading.
First – and most important – always wear masks, make sure everyone stays at least six feet from other people, and don’t spend too much time indoors. But in addition to these precautions, making sure the air inside is as clean as possible can also help. I am an indoor air quality researcher studying how to reduce the transmission of airborne infectious diseases. Using increased ventilation or using an air filter or an appropriately sized filter can add an extra layer of protection.
Fresh air is safer air
A safer home is one that has consistently plenty of outside air replacing the stale air inside.
Homes are typically ventilated through windows or open doors, or air leaks through unintentional openings and cracks in the building itself. A typical air change rate for a home is about 0.5 air changes per hour. Due to the complex way air moves, that means it takes about two hours to replace two-thirds of the air inside an average home and about six hours to replace everything.
This slow air exchange is not good for limiting the spread of an airborne virus. The higher the ventilation rate, the better – how much fresh air is ideal? While the exact exchange rate depends on the size of the room, for example, a 10ft by 10ft room with three to four people inside should have at least three air changes per hour. In the event of a pandemic, this is expected to be higher and the World Health Organization recently recommended six air changes per hour.
It is not necessary to know the exact air change rate for your home; just know that more is better. Fortunately, increasing the ventilation of a house or apartment is easy.
Open as many windows as possible – the larger the opening, the better. Open the doors to the outside. Run the exhaust fans in your bathroom and above the stove – but only do this if the exhausts go to the outside and you also have a window or door open. Plus, you can place fans in open windows and blow indoor air to further increase your airflow.
I live in Colorado and the winter cold has arrived. I still think it’s worth having the windows open, but I only open them halfway and turn on the heaters in my house. It wastes energy, but I keep the time I have to do it to a minimum, and once visitors leave I keep the windows open for at least an hour to fully ventilate the house.
All of these things add up and increase ventilation.
Filtration as a backup
If you’re worried that your home’s ventilation is still too poor, air filtration can provide another layer of security. Just like an N95 mask works, circulating the air in your home through a filter with small openings can capture airborne particles that could contain the coronavirus.
There are two ways to filter the air in a home: by using a built-in system – like central heating, for example – or by using stand-alone air purifiers.
At my house, we use both air purifiers and our heating system to filter the air. If you have central heating, make sure your furnace filter has a Minimum Efficiency Ratio (MERV) value of at least 11. This value describes the efficiency of a filter in removing airborne particles. and recirculated air contaminants. The standard on most furnaces is a MERV 8 filter and many furnaces are not able to operate with a more efficient filter, so be sure to check your filter and ask a technician before replacing it. But a MERV 8 filter is better than no filtration at all.
You can also use a stand-alone air filter to remove airborne particles, but their effectiveness depends on the size of the room. The bigger the room, the more air needs to be cleaned and the stand-alone cleaners are only so powerful. My house has an open floor plan so I can’t use my air filter in the main living space, but it can be useful in bedrooms or other smaller enclosed space. If you are considering purchasing an air filter, I have worked with colleagues at Harvard to create a tool that can be used to determine the wattage of an air filter you need for different sizes of parts.
And don’t forget to also consider the filter efficiency of an air purifier. Your best option is a cleaner that uses a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter, as these remove over 99.97% of all particle sizes.
If you decide to share your home with other people in the coming months, remember that being outside is by far the safest. But if you must be indoors, shorten the length of stay for your guests, wear masks, and social distancing at all times. In addition to these precautions, keeping airflow high by opening windows as wide as possible, conducting more air into your home with exhaust fans, and using an air filter and filters can help. further reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Shelly Miller, University of Colorado Boulder.
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Shelly Miller does not work, consult, own stock or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has not disclosed any relevant affiliation beyond her academic appointment.
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