I don't remember a time when the air outside my home in a car-dependent industrial city was fresh. Luckily my current apartment gets centrally filtered and heat-exchanged replacement air.
lived in apts from 2000-2015 - the ones in texas had their own AC, but elsewhere? Shared heating (steam fed radiators in ny) or large AC units on roofs pumping cold air into multiple units (VA, OR, WA)....
My apartment complex had individual central air for each unit, each with its own furnace and AC. Is that not common? I guess there were only 20 units per building, though.
perhaps, but it's not that dramatically different - you share hallways, foyers, garages, but generally have control over a few select places - bedrooms, living rooms etc.
obviously this is a concern in some places otherwise why would they have written the article?
I mean, I use one evaporator to condition the air on the first floor of my home. I get what you're saying, but a one bedroom apartment could be served by two PTACs.
Perhaps I've lost the thread of this conversation though.
"Attention, test prisoners attempting to escape through the air ducts. I don't know what nonsense you learned on TV, but in real life, air ducts just go to the air conditioning unit. It's also pretty dusty, so if you've got asthma, chances are you're gonna die up there. And we'll be smelling it for weeks because, again, the air ducts aren't a secret escape hatch, they're how we ventilate the facility."
You know Andy Weir, author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary? He wrote a comic strip back in the day with a villain who was, by religion, a stereotypical movie bad guy. So his fortress is in a volcano with his face carved on it, and it's full of flagrantly convenient air ducts.
I mean it makes sense, public hallways are also usually pressurized so it keeps smells inside the units too. This would push anything pathogens from the hallways into the units.
Not really. The hallways need to be heated and supplied with fresh air, it keeps smells inside units, and if there’s burnt toast, the smoke isn’t making it into the hallways to evacuate the whole building when the alarms go off.
You guys are getting ventilation? Best we got is a wall unit. Luckily we have heated floors, otherwise we'd also have to deal with electric radiant heaters along the floorboards.
I lived in an apartment for a summer in 2022 and the area didn't regulate cooling requirements since summers were very mild when the regulation was written. The building was new construction and only "cooled" common areas while exhausting through the apartments. At that point summers regularly had 95F/35C for ~6 weeks with peaks above 110F/43C and lows not dropping below 85F/29C.
Furthermore you could only crack the windows and one of the walls was entirely window. I had taped up foil and cardboard to block the sun.
Anyways the entire apartment building got covid simultaneously at the peak of the heat.
50 Comments
spittingimage@lemmy.world · 90 pts · 112d
Was it in doubt? I heard about Legionnaire's disease spreading through air conditioning 40+ years ago.
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 26 pts · 112d
Its even part of standard testing protocol, and tests positive a lot...
reddig33@lemmy.world · 45 pts · 113d
chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 113d
Remember when the world didn't suck so bad that you could have windows above the third floor that people didn't want to jump from?
reddig33@lemmy.world · 46 pts · 112d
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 112d
Its gotten significantly warmer
M137@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 111d
I don't think I've ever seen one that doesn't have that in my country, Sweden.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 112d
Where I live you keep the windows closed to have clean air.
Tehdastehdas@piefed.social · 4 pts · 112d
I don't remember a time when the air outside my home in a car-dependent industrial city was fresh. Luckily my current apartment gets centrally filtered and heat-exchanged replacement air.
CultLeader4Hire@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 112d
What?? Sharing air can allow airborne disease to spread??
Typically in the hospital isolation rooms both have their own ventilation but also have negative pressure, it’s for a reason.
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 32 pts · 112d
Jesus why would ducts be shared between units
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 112d
so you don't have to heat and cool 185 individual units one by one.
I know it's kinda gross but imagine every room in a house having it's own HVAC....?
jaybone@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 112d
Most modern apartments or condos in the US have their own HVAC. I’d say anything build in the last 50+ years at least.
Where are you where this is not common?
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 112d
lived in apts from 2000-2015 - the ones in texas had their own AC, but elsewhere? Shared heating (steam fed radiators in ny) or large AC units on roofs pumping cold air into multiple units (VA, OR, WA)....
BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 112d
My apartment complex had individual central air for each unit, each with its own furnace and AC. Is that not common? I guess there were only 20 units per building, though.
jaykrown@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 112d
A false analogy. Every room in a house is not every apartment in a building.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 112d
perhaps, but it's not that dramatically different - you share hallways, foyers, garages, but generally have control over a few select places - bedrooms, living rooms etc.
obviously this is a concern in some places otherwise why would they have written the article?
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 112d
I don't think air ducts are needed for central heating.
It's much better to have individual AC units than have everyone get long covid because one person in the building was irresponsible
village604@adultswim.fan · 3 pts · 112d
Of course ducts are needed for central heating with the exception of a boiler/radiator system.
Dozzi92@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 112d
You can do PTAC or mini splits to avoid ducts.
village604@adultswim.fan · 1 pts · 111d
Neither of those are central heating.
Dozzi92@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 111d
I mean, I use one evaporator to condition the air on the first floor of my home. I get what you're saying, but a one bedroom apartment could be served by two PTACs.
Perhaps I've lost the thread of this conversation though.
village604@adultswim.fan · 2 pts · 111d
Right, but "central heating" means that the heat is generated in one location then distributed to all other rooms via forced air or steam.
PATCs aren't a form of central heating
quick_snail@feddit.nl · -1 pts · 111d
Who wouldn't use steam for central heating?
If it's cold enough to warrant central heating, you should probably distribute the heat in steam pipes.
village604@adultswim.fan · 1 pts · 111d
Heat pumps are more efficient
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 111d
Heat pumps can't create steam?
username123@sh.itjust.works · -3 pts · 111d
Omg imagine bro?
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 111d
nah.
username123@sh.itjust.works · -2 pts · 111d
Exactly.
FippleStone@aussie.zone · -1 pts · 111d
Brilliant, what a clever retort, and it perfectly encapsulates your argument, really brings me around and gets me to see it in a different light
username123@sh.itjust.works · -1 pts · 111d
💯
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 112d
"Attention, test prisoners attempting to escape through the air ducts. I don't know what nonsense you learned on TV, but in real life, air ducts just go to the air conditioning unit. It's also pretty dusty, so if you've got asthma, chances are you're gonna die up there. And we'll be smelling it for weeks because, again, the air ducts aren't a secret escape hatch, they're how we ventilate the facility."
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 111d
You know Andy Weir, author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary? He wrote a comic strip back in the day with a villain who was, by religion, a stereotypical movie bad guy. So his fortress is in a volcano with his face carved on it, and it's full of flagrantly convenient air ducts.
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 111d
Wut. I'm talking about super contagious viruses traveling in the air ducts.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 111d
It just reminded me of that Portal 2 line.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 112d
To enjoy the smell of your neighbour's sardines
imgcat@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 111d
To save 15 euro for a flap and fan.
plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works · 22 pts · 113d
I mean it makes sense, public hallways are also usually pressurized so it keeps smells inside the units too. This would push anything pathogens from the hallways into the units.
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 112d
God that's a bad design
plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 112d
Not really. The hallways need to be heated and supplied with fresh air, it keeps smells inside units, and if there’s burnt toast, the smoke isn’t making it into the hallways to evacuate the whole building when the alarms go off.
quick_snail@feddit.nl · -1 pts · 112d
And everyone gets covid when one person has it. Good design
plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 111d
The air gets exchanged, if there wasn’t air being exchanged, what would be different? You would be exposed anytime you go into the hallways anyways.
Stick a towel, or get a better doorsweep and seal yours better.
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 0 pts · 111d
Obviously wear masks in common hallways
kamenlady@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 112d
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net · 10 pts · 112d
Very interesting. I remember reading about the SARS case from before the pandemic. Make sure to run water through all your drains periodically!
Zorque@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 112d
You guys are getting ventilation? Best we got is a wall unit. Luckily we have heated floors, otherwise we'd also have to deal with electric radiant heaters along the floorboards.
Kommeavsted@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 112d
I lived in an apartment for a summer in 2022 and the area didn't regulate cooling requirements since summers were very mild when the regulation was written. The building was new construction and only "cooled" common areas while exhausting through the apartments. At that point summers regularly had 95F/35C for ~6 weeks with peaks above 110F/43C and lows not dropping below 85F/29C.
Furthermore you could only crack the windows and one of the walls was entirely window. I had taped up foil and cardboard to block the sun.
Anyways the entire apartment building got covid simultaneously at the peak of the heat.
Elting@piefed.social · 2 pts · 113d
Another win for steam heating.
grue@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 112d
Steam heating only covers one third of the functions of an HVAC system.
Elting@piefed.social · 1 pts · 112d
Usually I achieve the other two by opening some windows.
TryingToBeGood@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 111d
sure. why not?
Attacker94@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 112d
Sky blue says star witness