Indoor Air Quality Covid

Indoor Air Quality and COVID 19 16Sep20

People have started seriously considering their air quality in light of the recent pandemic, COVID 19. In large part the focus has been on masks, and M95 rated filtration, but how many of us took into consideration the filtration of our home air conditioning? Today we are looking at air quality and its relation to COVID 19.

What is the difference between good air quality and regular air anyway? The answer to that question is a good place for us to start today. Air quality is measured in a few distinct ways.

Temperature: Did you know that in warmer air it is easier for bacteria and microbes to live and grow? Some studies show that the spread of germs is slowed by cooler temperatures. This is why places like hospitals and grocery stores are always colder than your home. It is also the same reason food in your refrigerator stays good longer than it does out on the counter. Colder temperatures can slow the spread and reproduction rate of bacteria and microbes. It is not the same as temperature sanitization which is usually done at extremely high temperatures to kill microbes quickly. Instead, colder temperatures can slow the reproduction of microbes down where below the rate of their life cycles. Temperature also has a direct correlation with our next category, Humidity.

Humidity: Humidity can have a great impact on air quality. Life requires water to survive, this is the same for microbes and even mold. Maintaining an ideal level of humidity in your home can be particularly important to not only your comfort, but also your health. The way your home air conditioning works changes the humidity in your home. Too much humidity and you will not feel as cool, and you should in the same temperatures at ideal humidity. Too little humidity and you may experience dry itchy skin, or even find it harsh to breathe as you will lose moisture via your breath. The ideal humidity level is forty to fifty percent and is an inhospitable range for dust mites! As your AC cools your home it moves air over cold coils which causes condensation, this condensation then drains out of your home. Your AC’s main job is not to remove humidity from your home, however oftentimes it is the primary regulating factor.

Particulates: Now there are many different types of particulates. They are usually broken down into two categories, coarse and fine. Fine particles are usually the cause of some kind of process, usually chemical or when things change from gas to solid such as through condensation. Coarse particles are usually pieces of larger things such as dust, or construction materials. Some of these particles are the main cause of allergies such as pollen or mold spores. Larger particles can cause trouble breathing, hold odors, or cause dust to quickly build up on surfaces. Some of these particles can be, or transport microbial life, such as viruses and bacteria! Through better system filtration the number, and size of particulates in your home’s air can be significantly reduced. Hospitals use HEPA filters to remove nearly all the impurities from the air. In-home, whole home, HEPA filtration is a great and effective option that we use in our own home. Unlike with humidity and temperature, there is no balance to be found with particulates. The simple fact is, the fewer things floating in the air for you to be exposed to, the better. Besides removing particulates, there are ways to make the air safer in your home. UV, or Ozone air purifiers can be added to a system to attempt to kill some microbes and bacteria that might be on the particles that cannot be filtered out.

IAQ: Indoor Air Quality or I.A.Q. for short is the generalized term for a building’s overall air purity. There are outside factors that can affect indoor air quality, whereas above we saw a few examples of how certain factors may affect you and the air you breathe inside your home, we will now look at some things to consider. Your environment. Everything from how often it rains to how many trees are by your home can be considered when considering the quality of your air. For example, if you live near water it may be necessary to have a dedicated dehumidifier, or the ductwork of your home AC may need to be set up to specifically handle the potential extra humidity. Pets also have a major impact on the air quality of your home. If you live in a house with pets, it is likely you’ll greatly benefit from changing your filters on time, every time, or even replacing your filters with larger more efficient filters.

COVID 19: With the ongoing COVID 19 global pandemic what do you think the primary vector of infection would be? If you guessed your own home, you would be right.  If you cannot completely and totally stop leaving your home, then the increased interaction with those in your own home means if one of you is exposed then all of you get exposed. Not only that, but there is also evidence that the longer you stay in your home the weaker your immune system can become. Ensuring your air quality is in the ideal range could greatly improve your ability to stay well by making it more difficult for all kinds of viruses, and even COVID 19 to survive. Theoretically, UV air purifiers could be beneficial. There is evidence that suggests sunlight kills COVID 19 very quickly and the UV air purifier is basically synthetic sunlight.

Eventually if COVID 19 is gone and forgotten the effort you put into ensuring your home has ideal air quality will still be paying off! There is proof that less than ideal air quality can cause health issues overtime or even in a short period of time for those who have preexisting conditions. This blog post was not written to convince you to run out and fix your air quality; even though I can’t say it would be a bad thing to do after reading this! The intention is simply to bring something to your attention which affects your everyday life, but that maybe you have not really considered previously.

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