covid-19 and hvac

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gghrt000

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I was away from this forum for several years and coming back. Good memory back then while I was renovating my condo. I sold it.
nealtw was incredibly helpful on my various questions, still appreciate now.

with covid-19 ravaging, I turned off all A/C and winter approaching planning to shut the heater as I live in multi-dwelling area. Is it necessary?
I also vacationed few times and before checking into hotel, turned off a/c and heater all together.

result is sometimes endure the high heat with no A/C.

Will it be a concern the air with covid-19 aerosol can possible circulate within multiple units aforementaioned before? Since I am not aware of the intricate design of HVAC in my rented apartment so just erring on the side of caution.
There seems to be rare occurrence of possibility that it happened:
cruise ship's ventilation might have infected several passenger.
When SARS broke out back in 2006-ish, old dwelling units in Hong Kong infected number of residents through building ventilation systems.
With newer buildings design and building code, it seems lesser concern but nothing beats completely shut off the ventilation and staying safe.
 
I agree that it is a concern. There is so much that is still unknown about Covid. I would have thought by now, there would be a central location for known facts about the virus. CNN loves to post questions but rarely posts answers.

I wonder if filters could be fitted to your HVAC system. What kind and how effective they would be is a question beyond me,.

...and welcome back BTW.
 
best thing you can do is to keep your space humidity between 40 and 50% RH with space temps around 68 Deg or above. Most residential furnaces and A/C units won't handle the required filter media required to remove 0.3 micron particulate without damaging the equipment.
 
most a/c heater window units in hotel motel that i have seen just recirculated the same air in that room. there is no common ventilation with other rooms. as to filtering it is just large particle filtering nothing great. I would run the a/c as required but leave a window open at all times is possible.
 
Yes, individual a/c or heating units will be safe.
And keeping the air moving prevents covid droplets from lingering in one place, like if you have guests over, even if they are masked.
 

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