First clean water, now clean air
finmoorhouse.com
First clean water, now clean air
1–10 of 149 posts
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#2I bought a CO2 monitor, and although the effects of CO2 in cognition and energy levels are debatable[1], it shocked me and raised awareness to how poor my indoor ventilation is.
We live in a small apartment, and just being 30 min with 2 people in the room raises the CO2 ppm from 400 to >1000. Opening a window quickly lowers it. Never-mind doing some light activity like yoga or similar.
So if we want to do something, I think the first step is really to get visibility to the problem, especially to the costs of the problem (productivity, public health, sick leaves, etc).
[1] at the levels found in my apartment
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#3I bought a CO2 monitor, and although the effects of CO2 in cognition and energy levels are debatable[1], it shocked me and raised awareness to how poor my indoor ventilation is. We live in a small apartment, and just being 30 min with 2 people in the room raises the CO2 ppm from 400 to >1000. Opening a window quickly lowers it. Never-mind doing some light activity like yoga or similar. So if we want to do something,…
Not to hijack your thread, but I wonder if anyone here’s built their own Raspberry/Arduino CO2 monitor? Which (reliable) sensors did you use? Did you find it more affordable than purchasing a monitor, especially if you already had unused microcontrollers lying around the house?
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#4I bought a CO2 monitor, and although the effects of CO2 in cognition and energy levels are debatable[1], it shocked me and raised awareness to how poor my indoor ventilation is. We live in a small apartment, and just being 30 min with 2 people in the room raises the CO2 ppm from 400 to >1000. Opening a window quickly lowers it. Never-mind doing some light activity like yoga or similar. So if we want to do something,…
> So if we want to do something, I think the first step is really to get visibility to the problem
A sensible first step would be to very visibly display CO₂ monitors in buildings (e.g., throughout office buildings, schools, etc)
Once the CO₂ levels become visible, this in itself creates an incentive to improve.
Related from UK (2021): "All schools to receive carbon dioxide monitors" - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all-schools-to-receive-ca...
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#5> Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI)
Please do not do/use this.
Generally anything that is 'active', like UV lamps or ozone emitters, is not a good idea:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSFQQpgvgeo&t=6m1s
* Interviewee: https://civmin.utoronto.ca/home/about-us/directory/professor...
All that's needed for good indoor air quality (IAQ) is an ERV/HRV which exhausts stale indoor air and brings in fresh outdoor air (through a filter).
For comfort you want a furnace+AC/heatpupmp and a dehumidifier.
And try to make the enclosure as air-tight as possible so the air comes in and out on your terms and not 'randomly' through cracks (where it can carry dust and pollen, and bugs can perhaps get through as well).
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#6I bought a CO2 monitor, and although the effects of CO2 in cognition and energy levels are debatable[1], it shocked me and raised awareness to how poor my indoor ventilation is. We live in a small apartment, and just being 30 min with 2 people in the room raises the CO2 ppm from 400 to >1000. Opening a window quickly lowers it. Never-mind doing some light activity like yoga or similar. So if we want to do something,…
Not to hijack your thread, but I wonder if anyone here’s built their own Raspberry/Arduino CO2 monitor? Which (reliable) sensors did you use? Did you find it more affordable than purchasing a monitor, especially if you already had unused microcontrollers lying around the house?
I built one based on the AirGradient DIY sensor [1]. It is open source, and you can order PCBs or build them yourself. It is also compatible with ESPHome.
It uses the "Senseair S8" CO2 sensor, which costs a bit (25-30$), but (according to AirGradient) has a very high quality.
[1]: https://www.airgradient.com/open-airgradient/instructions/di...
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#7> Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) Please do not do/use this. Generally anything that is 'active', like UV lamps or ozone emitters, is not a good idea: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSFQQpgvgeo&t=6m1s * Interviewee: https://civmin.utoronto.ca/home/about-us/directory/professor... All that's needed for good indoor air quality (IAQ) is an ERV/HRV which exhausts stale indoor air and brings in fresh outdoor a…
That is an interesting explanation. I won’t summarize other than to say that as someone who might have added UV next hardware cycle, there were several A-Ha moments. Well worth watching.
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#8I bought a CO2 monitor, and although the effects of CO2 in cognition and energy levels are debatable[1], it shocked me and raised awareness to how poor my indoor ventilation is. We live in a small apartment, and just being 30 min with 2 people in the room raises the CO2 ppm from 400 to >1000. Opening a window quickly lowers it. Never-mind doing some light activity like yoga or similar. So if we want to do something,…
> , it shocked me and raised awareness to how poor my indoor ventilation is.
Do you want indoor circulation? Wouldn't that just mean your apartment loses heat/AC?
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#9I bought a CO2 monitor, and although the effects of CO2 in cognition and energy levels are debatable[1], it shocked me and raised awareness to how poor my indoor ventilation is. We live in a small apartment, and just being 30 min with 2 people in the room raises the CO2 ppm from 400 to >1000. Opening a window quickly lowers it. Never-mind doing some light activity like yoga or similar. So if we want to do something,…
I don't understand why you are being downvoted, you raise a good point.
Based on some HN comment from a while ago I invested in a CO2 meter (they are still quite expensive for some reason). And I share the same experience, CO2 levels can raise rapidly indoors, but simply turning on ventilation or opening a window very quickly lowers CO2 contents.
Using the meter I found CO2 levels in my bedroom can become quite high at night. So I improved the ventilation in my bedroom, and in my case it helped me to achieve better sleep.
Re: First clean water, now clean air
#10> Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) Please do not do/use this. Generally anything that is 'active', like UV lamps or ozone emitters, is not a good idea: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSFQQpgvgeo&t=6m1s * Interviewee: https://civmin.utoronto.ca/home/about-us/directory/professor... All that's needed for good indoor air quality (IAQ) is an ERV/HRV which exhausts stale indoor air and brings in fresh outdoor a…
I share their sentiment, especially because they are trying to explain the topic for the novice buyer - but I think it oversimplifies the issue and the discussion/benefit of UVGI.
UVGI does not create Ozone, some companies even sell certified lamps that will definitively not go into the UV spectrum that can cause Ozone.
This is true for UV-C and in the postings mention of new far-UVC LEDs.
https://www.uvresources.com/the-ultraviolet-germicidal-irrad...
For personal homes UVGI is most likely not needed, unless immunocompromised I'd guess. For hospitals, pharmacies, schools, airplanes and other high risk institutions I would guess that this could prevent plenty of deaths.
Edit: Their criticism is about the high-voltage needed for Mercury-vapor UV-C lamps. This can leak ozone, also if the glass is not filtering the 185nm wavelength properly that will contribute even further. The article talks about LEDs which will definitively not leak into this range. Also as far as I know the specific wavelength of pressure-lamps is not input-frequency defined as implied by the interviewed guy - not exactly sure what he's referring to. My takeout would be only buy mercury-pressure lamps from trusted sources with proper certifications in place.