4 ms·
People used to die of Cholera in London because they were drinking sewer water. There were so many deaths that they were motivated to fix this. We still breath
by Syzygies 3y ago
People used to die of Cholera in London because they were drinking sewer water. There were so many deaths that they were motivated to fix this.
We still breathe sewer air. There weren't enough pandemic deaths to motivate us to fix this.
Proper ventilation gets CO2 levels down below 500ppm, at which point all respiratory illness transmission rates approach zero. CO2 is a proxy for how well our exhales are clearing the room before other people inhale.
What makes fixing this expensive is that one doesn't want to trade energy use for clean air. Modern heat exchange technologies require more space than old building support without modification.
There has been much written about this. Here is one article:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/09/coronavirus-pandemic-ventilation-rethinking-air/620000/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/09/coronavir...
- J_Shelby_J 3y agoNo one wants to hear that the solution is to move to somewhere they can keep the windows open year long. The most intellectually productive places in the modern world are good climates. This is one potential reason.
- AlotOfReading 3y agoI don't normally associate places like the Pearl river delta and Iceland (most writers per capita) with clean air and great weather respectively. What's the point of comparison here, Mars?
- tomjakubowski 3y agoIceland's climate is quite temperate. It doesn't get hot in the summer and the winters are mild. Someone who's lived there could say if they are able to keep windows open most of the year. I would bet yes.
- AlotOfReading 3y agoMy family lives there. It's considered mild relative to the Arctic, one of the harshest environments on earth, but it's not compared to most places people actually live. Hurricane force winds and blizzards are extremely common during the winter months. You can open the windows in spring and summer if you're willing to deal with the bugs (which don't include mosquitos, thankfully), but you'll mainly be outside already trying to get your annual supply of vitamin D. Storms are fairly common most months, like everywhere else in the North Atlantic.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoThe solution can be implemented in any climate, whether in the middle of the Sahara or Antarctica, without crazy energy usage either. It's just that the energy recovery equipment is expensive, bulky and needs to be maintained.
- throw0101b 3y ago> It's just that the energy recovery equipment is expensive, bulky and needs to be maintained. ERVs can be had for US$ 500: * https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-FV-04VE1-WhisperComfort-Ventilation-Patent-Pending/dp/B000XJNZ1Y/ https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-FV-04VE1-WhisperComfort-Ven... * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3CRGhu8C5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3CRGhu8C5I You can get some pretty small units as well: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-wCCJHIZAo&t=10m35s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-wCCJHIZAo&t=10m35s * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGB83pSLMiI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGB83pSLMiI
- MichaelZuo 3y agoYes for a small room, but a whole house system typically needs a lot more then one small ceiling mounted unit.