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#Air conditioners can help prevent coronavirus spread

#Air conditioners can help prevent coronavirus spread

June 22, 2020 | 5:33pm

They’re no cure, but when used properly air conditioners can help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

As the US emerges from quarantine and heads into summer, air conditioners are turning on across the country — and, experts say, the machines are not only safe but potentially helpful in preventing further spread of the disease.

The standard air conditioner works by recirculating and filtering air inside a space and mixing it with outside air. Just by bringing more outside air into interior spaces, air conditioners are helping combat the virus in a small way, as outside air reduces the risk of coronavirus transmission compared with confined spaces. High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, considered the gold standard of AC filters, are also capable of capturing small particles, including viruses, Bloomberg reports.

“Changes to building operations, including the operation of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems, can reduce airborne exposures,” says the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ (ASHRAE) official statement. “Air conditioning systems can reduce the airborne concentration of SARS-CoV-2 and thus the risk of transmission through the air.”

The exception, however, is in spaces with poor ventilation.

“When we see reports of super-spreading events that apparently involve air conditioning, it usually means there’s little or no ventilation in the space,” Pennsylvania State University architectural engineering professor William Bahnfleth tells Bloomberg. “You can have one drink and you’re fine, but if you drink a whole bottle of hard liquor, you may die. With pathogens, it’s similar. It takes a certain number of them to have a high probability of getting an infection. If you can reduce the concentration in the air, then the rate at which you can be exposed drops.”

So, in the case of a poorly ventilated space, simply opening the windows is a better solution than recirculating musty air.

While in some instances air conditioners are not helpful in virus prevention, ASHRAE stands by the fact that air conditioners do more good than bad in context. “In general, disabling of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems is not a recommended measure to reduce the transmission of the virus,” reads their statement.

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