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Whole House HEPA Air Purification To Prevent Virus Spread?

jaxo
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago

What are recommendations for a whole house HEPA filtration that can be effective in preventing spread of viruses through the HVAC?

Even though HEPA filters are tested and rated at .3 microns and viruses are smaller, the filters are still supposed to be effective because viruses do attach to larger particles and droplets in the air that would be filtered by HEPA. It generally isn't going to be just naked virus floating in the air on its own.


Suppose there is a sick person in a bedroom with the door closed. They breathe in that room, but air returns out of the room under the door and then gets sucked up into the air intake in the hallway outside their door and then is spread throughout the home.

One option is to just put a portable purifier in each room and the other option is to get a filtration system installed in the attic, tapped into the air supply duct work so that all the air coming through the vents has been HEPA filtered. Charcoal filtering would also be nice to keep cooking smells from being pushed through the vents. It would also probably need to have some kind of fan boosting to make up for the extra air restriction.

What kind of costs are associated with installing a system like that in a a smaller 1 story home?

I see systems online listed for around $1100, but that isn't what an HVAC installer would charge with labor.

Portable filters would be much cheaper and easier to deal with maintenance, but I wonder if a portable unit would filter enough in the sick person's bedroom to prevent any contaminated air from leaking out under the door and then being sucked up into the hallway air intake?

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