So who makes a good room air filter? I have a dozen container ships go by, a few hundred meters away from my window a day.
Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
61–70 of 176 posts
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#62How effective would a mediocre filter be, just by physically bouncing the virus around? Is the virus fragile enough to be deateoyed that way?
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#63Wouldn’t be a bad idea to start having air filters in confined spaces.
Elevators, gyms, restaurants.
Not saying it has to happen all at once, but it would help decrease most respiratory diseases from spreading.
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#64Wouldn’t be a bad idea to start having air filters in confined spaces. Elevators, gyms, restaurants. Not saying it has to happen all at once, but it would help decrease most respiratory diseases from spreading.
classrooms
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#65Not surprising? HEPA filters have been known to be able to filter viruses for some time; it's maybe the main reason they were invented? Not sure about that though.
I have believed this for about a year, based on things I was reading at that time. I thought this was widely known because as you point out, that’s kinda their purpose. This article acknowledges that it was shown to be effective in lab settings and this is mainly about seeing those results in real life settings. But come on, if anyone finds something that’s probably effective based on science and isn’t going to negat…
What bothers me is about 7-10 years ago there was a high quality paper linking transmission of flu to temperature, humidity, and air turn over. Depressingly the response was 'oh well nothing we can do cause too expensive'
We'd be in a lot better shape if we'd decided to actually do something instead of falling back on the usual learned helplessness.
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's quiet filters. I can barely hear the one(s) in my house, and they're just cheapo ones. Typically the key is to keep the fan speed reasonable, if you crank it up all the way almost any fan is going to be loud.
The sound increases with the air pressure requirement. A true HEPA filter requires much greater air pressure than a typical air purifier filter.
The ones I have are HEPA and the fan speed is still variable, and very quiet on low.
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#67Wouldn’t be a bad idea to start having air filters in confined spaces. Elevators, gyms, restaurants. Not saying it has to happen all at once, but it would help decrease most respiratory diseases from spreading.
I'm skeptical that would be good for overall long term health. There are only a limited number of endemic respiratory viruses. Most of us will be exposed to them at multiple times in our lives regardless of what protective steps we take. So I'd rather get them while I'm still relatively young and healthy because the resulting immunity will give me at least partial protection later in life.
Of course ideally it would be better to have effective sterilizing vaccines for all those various respiratory viruses, and perhaps someday we will. But those generally don't exist today for the vast majority of viruses.
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have believed this for about a year, based on things I was reading at that time. I thought this was widely known because as you point out, that’s kinda their purpose. This article acknowledges that it was shown to be effective in lab settings and this is mainly about seeing those results in real life settings. But come on, if anyone finds something that’s probably effective based on science and isn’t going to negat…
I'm student teaching in a third grade classroom, and I want to add a least a small counter: We are required to have two HEPA filters always running in the classroom. They are loud. Combined with the fact that (1) children mumble, (2) the children have masks on, and (3) everyone is supposed to stay 3+ feet apart, it's quite hard to hear what a lot of kids are saying! I don't know what the right answer is, but what we…
We have the Austin Air Healhmates at work. They are quiet.
That said the real failure was the FDA not making getting the vaccine approved for your 3rd graders by the start of the school year. Frankly I don't know how those guys can look themselves in the mirror while they are shaving in the morning.
I think vaccine approval for 5-11 year olds is coming in early November.
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#69Wouldn’t be a bad idea to start having air filters in confined spaces. Elevators, gyms, restaurants. Not saying it has to happen all at once, but it would help decrease most respiratory diseases from spreading.
I'm skeptical that would be good for overall long term health. There are only a limited number of endemic respiratory viruses. Most of us will be exposed to them at multiple times in our lives regardless of what protective steps we take. So I'd rather get them while I'm still relatively young and healthy because the resulting immunity will give me at least partial protection later in life. Of course ideally it would…
It's pretty standard in all office buildings, well before the pandemic. I don't think expanding it to classrooms and gyms is going to cause problems.
Re: Real-world data show that filters clean Covid-causing virus from air
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 1x 20x20 MERV-13+ MPR-2400+ HVAC air filter ($20) That's a MERV-13 filter, not a HEPA filter. HEPA filters 99%+ of small (0.3um) particles per pass. A MERV-13 filter only filters like 60% per pass IIRC. That means that a 1000 cu. feet of air through the HEPA filter will result in 990+ cu. feet of clean air. While the MERV-13 filter will only produce 600 cu. feet of clean air. -------- A MERV13 filter would be good…
It’s worth noting that filter efficiency is a function of particulate size. A MERV13 and a HEPA filter are nearly equivalent for filtering pollen, but have drastically different performance for smoke and virus particles. There’s a plot 1/3 of the way down the page that shows the curves: https://frdmtoplay.com/nagivating-air-purification/
"Virus particles" do not float free in the air to spread disease. It's usually mostly salt water aerosols with a few virus particles in them.