Initial reaction "Dollar drops after Trump fires Fed's Cook":
* https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dollar-drops-after...
Readit NewsDeleted Comment
Or for anyone on the west coast the last 5 years, nasty smoke.
Carbon filters on your incoming air supply (e.g., ERV):
Your HEPA filters must be real ones. HEPA is just an acronym anyone can slap on anything, there's no accreditation.
Recent testing on the Vacuum Wars channel showed big differences between filters from the vacuum manufacturer and off-brand "HEPA" filters. Probably the same applies everywhere.
> HEPA is just an acronym anyone can slap on anything, there's no accreditation.
There are standards:
> Filters meeting the HEPA standard must satisfy certain levels of efficiency. Common standards require that a HEPA air filter must remove—from the air that passes through—at least 99.95% (ISO, European Standard)[4][5] or 99.97% (ASME, U.S. DOE)[6][7] of particles whose diameter is equal to 0.3 μm, with the filtration efficiency increasing for particle diameters both less than and greater than 0.3 μm.[8]
Empirically, the ionizer is good for wildfire season, but the rest of the year HEPA is good.
> Empirically, the ionizer is good for wildfire season, but the rest of the year HEPA is good.
Smoke can be dealt with via a carbon filter and you don't have to do a chemistry experiment in your house.
All the tech in the world won't change anything if people don't focus on airflow and airchanges. Air needs to move and be replenished with air from the outside. Filters/UV/etc are just a bonus.
> * Air needs to move and be replenished with air from the outside. Filters/UV/etc are just a bonus.*
Outside air needs to be filtered otherwise you can bring in pollen and other things (e.g., exhaust/brake dust from cars if near heavy arteries). Avoid UV for residences:
In 2023 there was a conference about Chemistry of Indoor Environments (CIE) that looked at the research that was done over a ten-year period; opening presentation:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt0GLbi20Q4
* https://indoorchem.org/publications/
Playlist of the various presentations from the conference:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2iHOCI2hz4&list=PLsc2-5fAgM...
Generally: avoid any use of electronics to 'do stuff' to the air or pathogens (e.g. UV) and just use high-MERV / HEPA filters, and use an ERV to vent stale air and bring in (filtered, conditioned) outside air.
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> Upgrading to a filter rated MERV 13 or higher can be especially important during smoky periods to effectively remove fine particle pollution from smoke in the indoor air.
* https://www.epa.gov/wildfire-smoke-course/preparing-fire-sea...
The carbon is for the smell. The EPA also points to this California list, which include "mechanical" types which do not use electronic measures:
* https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/list-carb-certified-air-cleaning-devi...
The main challenge is the resistance to airflow (US: inches w.c.) that can be a problem with for HVAC equipment, which is why you want a large surface area, e.g.:
* https://electronicaircleaners.com/docs/aprilaire_2416_2216_a...
* https://www.aprilaire.com/whole-house-products/air-purifiers...