The events of the past two years have made us all extremely aware of the quality and cleanliness of the air we breathe on a daily basis. To address this concern, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has updated the guidelines for at-home ventilation to keep us safe from the current pandemic, as well as regular illnesses and diseases well into the future.

What are the new guidelines?
The PHAC guidelines for at-home ventilation were developed to improve the air quality in homes across Canada to reduce the transmission rate of COVID-19. These guidelines were developed with general respiratory health in mind as well, so they will continue to protect us from airborne illnesses long after the pandemic has gone.

What do they include?
The at-home ventilation guidelines are essentially a list of dos and don’ts that Canadians can follow to improve the air quality in their homes and reduce their chances of contracting COVID-19. One of the main things they have urged Canadians to use with caution is portable air purifiers and ceiling fans. Fans increase air circulation, but not ventilation which means they prolong the length of time that virus particles can remain airborne. The PHAC also noted that the portable air purifiers are not effective at filtering out the virus particles. So, what can you do to improve your at-home ventilation?

HVAC Settings
Setting your HVAC system to the “Fan On” setting will increase the amount of air in your home that passes through your system’s air filter. While this setting may slightly increase your electricity bills, it will drastically improve your at-home ventilation.

Filter Choice
The PHAC has suggested that homeowners use HVAC filters with a high MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values) rating. The higher the MERV rating a filter has, the better it will be at filtering contaminants, including virus particles, out of your household air.

Open Windows
Now that the weather is beginning to warm up, one of the best ways to improve your at-home ventilation is to open up your windows and let in as much fresh air as possible. Placing a box fan in one of your open windows and facing it outward will increase the amount of air that gets drawn in through your other open windows.

Humidifiers
Whole-home humidifiers won’t increase the amount of ventilation in your home, but dry air allows airborne contaminants to remain in the air longer because there isn’t enough moisture to weigh them down.

Need help meeting the new at-home ventilation guidelines?
Fahrhall has the equipment and solutions you’re looking for!

Fahrhall has been proudly serving the HVAC needs of the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent regions for over 50 years. Our team of licensed professionals’ number one priority is providing our clients with reliable equipment and quality service.

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