Throughout this blog, we have addressed filtration and operation of commercial HVAC systems in several areas. However, we’ve always stopped short of recommending practices involving residential grade or residential sized equipment.
This omission was intentional due to several factors, including limited research, less prevalent application in higher education, and the wide variety of equipment available. Haphazard application of commercial principles to residential systems can lead to coil icing, humidity control problems or compressor damage among other issues.
However, ASHRAE released a study this month that addresses the ability for viral filtration with residential grade HVAC systems. Instead of rehashing filtration material we’ve already posted (you can search the blog for previous posts), and summarizing what ASHRAE has already done seems redundant. So I’ll just quote the article, and post a link to review if you are interested.
“Researchers recently carried out an experimental study to understand the efficacy and effectiveness of residential HVAC filters at removing airborne virus particles in the airstream. It concluded that high-efficiency residential HVAC filters were effective at capturing airborne virus particles in the air passing through the filters.”
Contributor: Stephen Oskin, PE, LEED AP, Director of Mechanical Engineering at Barton Associates.
