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Turn off the Air Conditioning

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Turn off your air conditioning, experts say after WHO shifts stance on airborne coronavirus

Anne Gulland
,
The Telegraph•July 11, 2020
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Air conditioning units that recirculate the same air in a room should be switched off or only used with open windows, experts have urged, amid mounting concern around the role of airborne transmission to spread Covid-19.

Experts told the Telegraph that air conditioning units that only used recirculated air could exacerbate the spread of virus particles if someone was infected with Covid-19. 

Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, a fellow at the Royal Academy of Engineering, said there were two types of air conditioning units - ones that take air in from outside and expel it out again, or those that recirculate the same air. 

This second type, known as a “split” unit, draws air in, passes it over cooling coils and sends it back into the room. 

Guidance from the Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers, which Dr Fitzgerald helped draw up, warns that split air conditioning units that do not have a “dedicated source of outside air supply into a room… could be responsible for recirculating and spreading airborne viral particles into the path of socially distanced users”.

Dr Fitzgerald said that it may go against conventional wisdom and be more expensive, but opening a window while operating the unit was the best way to mitigate risk. 

“The recommended strategy now, if you have one of these split units, is to throw the window open and sacrifice your desire for a cold or cooler environment. If there is a modicum of wind it will move the air around. If you can’t open a window turn the unit off.” 

He said these kinds of wall-mounted units were often installed when people only needed air conditioning for a few days each year.

Experts have been concerned about air conditioning units since the publication of a study in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases that looked at an outbreak of coronavirus among 10 diners at a restaurant in Guangzhou, China. The diners were seated at three separate tables and researchers believe that airflow from an air conditioning unit could have spread droplets between the three groups.

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Comments

13 comments

Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    Easier said than done, when it's 114. Like it was here, yesterday. Cooled off to 90, last night though. 
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  • US Military Guy
    I am curious where the Good Doctor lives . . . and what the climate is like there.

    I already know the various governments of the world give him more money than they give me.  That part I understand.


    Also when the headline says "experts", why do they only quote one individual?  When did "one" (singular) become "experts" (plural)?  Of course, if everybody says it you must be the only one that disagrees. 

    I mean . . . We all know that, right?
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  • Rocky Raab
    In order to recirculate an airborne virus, there must be virus present to begin with. If nobody in your house has ever had "IT" then it serves no purpose to suffer the summer heat.
    3
  • Grasshopper
    Another "expert" . Could you imagine if people did what every "expert" said since this charade they would have died in a dark closet.
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  • SW0320
    If I turn off the air conditioning then someone from WHO can live with my wife.  Might be a good thing they won’t last long and they will be begging for AC.




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  • mogley98
    BS article. As noted whatever was already IN the air is simply being recirculated and has the potential to be trapped by the filter. adding outside air doesn't really remove the risk either LOL.
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  • Rocky Raab
    As an expert myself (self-described) I can say that the one definitive way to prevent getting the COVID is the Robin Williams/Anthony Bourdain method. I strongly suggest Dr Fitzgerald adopt it personally.
    3
  • serf
    You spray your evaporator coils with a disinfectant on a mini split. Do not use chlorides on aluminum fins however and you should be fine.
                                                                 serf
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  • US Military Guy
    Just put a bandana on your AC . . . you know kinda like a mask.

    Oh . . . wait . . . your AC already has a filter (and probably more effective than a bandana).  According the WHO you should be good to go.
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  • select-fire
    Spray lysol while running thru the return. Stink up the whole home
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  • bpost
    I live alone and don't care to be uncomfortable in my own home, 72 degrees it stays.
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  • Ditch-Runner
    I will guess like some more of you old geezers   I was about 23 yrs  or so before we even had a window AC . or a car with AC 
     a fan in the window was it . 
    but being older spoiled and use to having a cool place in the hot weather  or for that matter warm in the winter house and car  the good doc can can STFU  :o

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  • Mobuck
    The only problem would be finding the old window AC unit. It might still be turned on but hasn't been plugged in for almost 40 years.
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