How can I increase ventilation at home to help protect my family from COVID-19?
Ensuring proper ventilation with outside air is a standard best practice for improving indoor air quality. However, by itself, increasing ventilation is not enough to protect people from COVID-19. When used along with other best practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, increasing ventilation can be part of a plan to protect yourself and your family.
To increase ventilation in your home, you can:
- Open the windows, or screened doors, if possible
- Operate a window air conditioner that has an outdoor air intake or vent, with the vent open (some window air conditioners do not have outside air intakes)
- Open the outside air intake of the HVAC system, if yours has one (this is not common). Consult your HVAC manual or an HVAC professional for details.
- Operate a bathroom fan when the bathroom is in use.
Will an air cleaner or air purifier help protect me and my family from COVID-19 in my home?
When used properly, air purifiers can help reduce airborne contaminants including viruses in a home or confined space. However, by itself, a portable air cleaner is not enough to protect people from COVID-19. When used along with other best practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, operating an air cleaner can be part of a plan to protect yourself and your family.
Can running the HVAC system in my home help protect me from COVID-19?
By itself, running your HVAC system is not enough to protect yourself and your family from COVID-19. However, when used along with other best practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, operating the HVAC system can be part of a plan to protect yourself and your family, since running your HVAC system filters the air as it is circulated.
If you have an HVAC system:
- Run the system fan for longer times, or continuously, as HVAC systems filter the air only when the fan is running. Many systems can be set to run the fan even when no heating or cooling is taking place.
- Check to be sure the filter is correctly in place and consider upgrading the filter to a higher efficiency filter or the highest-rated filter that your system fan and filter slot can accommodate (consult your HVAC manual or an HVAC professional for details).
- Open the outside air intake, if your system has one (this is not common for home systems). Consult your HVAC manual or an HVAC professional for details.