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The health benefits of better air

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Re: The health benefits of better air

#61

Post by blackoil »

clairity wrote: post #55
tehnub wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In practice, how does one try to achieve a balance between CO2 and PM? Do you open the windows for a while when CO2 is up and PM is down, and then close them and run your purifiers when CO2 starts to go back down? Is it possible to keep both low with HEPA filters on the windows?

co2 and pm should both go down with windows open. i put my air purifiers on low when the windows are open to deal with the particles i throw up by moving around and doing stuff indoors. with the windows closed (usually only at night), i put the air purifiers on medium/high.

Don't think this would be true in any city in Asia or for city centers around the world.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#63

Post by porb121 »

acwan93 wrote: post #33
briefcomment wrote: post #14

This is a good list. One other important thing to do if you can help it is to never live near a road. Any road, even infrequently driven on ones. If there's only one car per day on a road, but you live ten feet from it, and occasionally the wind blows the exhaust in your direction, you're breathing that in. Walls don't help. Live at least one mile in a straight line from highways.

I’ve thought about this while cycling to work that I’m inhaling a bunch of exhaust, but with the push to EVs will this no longer be an issue? Dust and particulates that settle on asphalt will still be a problem though.

EVs still have tires and brake pads. There's less pollution, but not none.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#64

Post by PurpleFoxy »

eli wrote: post #48
clairity wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

put urban roads (and parking) underground, and use industrial scrubbers at air exchange. expensive but worth it. tax fossil fuels/carbon to subsidize this and internalize the environmental costs.

Wouldn’t electric trains and busses make a lot more sense?

Yes, reducing pollution always makes more sense than cleaning it up after the fact.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#65

Post by clairity »

eli wrote: post #48
clairity wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

put urban roads (and parking) underground, and use industrial scrubbers at air exchange. expensive but worth it. tax fossil fuels/carbon to subsidize this and internalize the environmental costs.

Wouldn’t electric trains and busses make a lot more sense?

yes, but this way, we could have our (expensive) cake and eat it too. we could free up the above ground streets for electric buses, pedestrians, bikes, malls/parks, and the like, make cities denser/more walkable, remove asphalt/concrete to lower the heat island effect, add trees/plants everywhere, and all sorts of human centered stuff. it’s not so realistic (though the boring company may help with that), but what a vision it is!

Re: The health benefits of better air

#66

Post by simondotau »

gruez wrote: post #24
ahaucnx wrote: post #9

Thank you for this extensive resource on air quality. Yes, it needs to get more attention as it is one of the main drivers of mortality of environmental risks. One thing one has to bear in mind is that often when you optmize your home for low PM (e.g. with air purifiers and fixing of air leackage) your CO2 will get very high causing headaches and reduce cognitive performance. So it always makes sense for indoor air q…

Does the Senseair S8 actually measure co2, or is it inferred via VOC levels?

I don't know the answer to that specific question, but I do know it's an NDIR sensor. The Wikipedia page on that sensor type likely answers your question—

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondispersive_infrared_sensor

Re: The health benefits of better air

#67

Post by clairity »

blackoil wrote: post #61
clairity wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

co2 and pm should both go down with windows open. i put my air purifiers on low when the windows are open to deal with the particles i throw up by moving around and doing stuff indoors. with the windows closed (usually only at night), i put the air purifiers on medium/high.

Don't think this would be true in any city in Asia or for city centers around the world.

i live in LA on a relatively busy neighborhood street and according to my air quality meter, it’s true. concentrations go down during the day (windows open) and up at night (windows closed).

edit: i mentioned the road to note that outdoor pollution is higher during the day, yet opening the windows despite that lowers overall particulate levels indoors. it may be different in indian cities or cities like beijing with much higher pollution levels.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#68

Post by mikefallen »

MattGaiser wrote: post #49
ahaucnx wrote: post #9

Thank you for this extensive resource on air quality. Yes, it needs to get more attention as it is one of the main drivers of mortality of environmental risks. One thing one has to bear in mind is that often when you optmize your home for low PM (e.g. with air purifiers and fixing of air leackage) your CO2 will get very high causing headaches and reduce cognitive performance. So it always makes sense for indoor air q…

I am interested. Do you ship to Canada (happy to pay the difference/wait for you to figure out the postage rate)?

Also in Canada and interested in getting some PCBs. Not sure if OP is selling if not i would be into splitting the cost of getting a batch made if its economical

Re: The health benefits of better air

#69

Post by nitrogen »

clairity wrote: post #65
eli wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t electric trains and busses make a lot more sense?

yes, but this way, we could have our (expensive) cake and eat it too. we could free up the above ground streets for electric buses, pedestrians, bikes, malls/parks, and the like, make cities denser/more walkable, remove asphalt/concrete to lower the heat island effect, add trees/plants everywhere, and all sorts of human centered stuff. it’s not so realistic (though the boring company may help with that), but what a v…

Aren't parts of Chicago already kind of like this, with two tiers of streets?

Re: The health benefits of better air

#70

Post by ReactiveJelly »

modeless wrote: post #28

I'm surprised this doesn't mention gas stoves and ovens. Gas is the "high end" option, yet creates totally unnecessary PM2.5 pollution in your home. Children growing up with gas stoves have higher rates of asthma.

> Gas is the "high end" option

Few years ago I moved from a little apartment with an electric range to an SFH with gas everything.

"Good for you," my gas-enthusiast family said, "now you have a REAL stove"

It still takes forever to boil water in a pot. The food tastes the same. I wonder why furnaces have these fancy high-efficiency heat exchangers and stoves don't? Cost?

I wouldn't mind going back to electric. I just assumed it cost more, but maybe cooking isn't significant compared to running a furnace.

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