Cottage Air Flow re: Covid-19

A growing body of evidence is pointing to airborne transmission as being the route that gives the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 its high degree of infectiousness.*  Washing hands often, cleaning high touch surfaces and avoiding touching your face in public environments are all worthwhile precautions in preventing spread. But the wearing of face-masks, social distancing and attention to indoor air quality may be of primary importance.

At Oak Hill Cottage we have taken an old fashioned approach, utilizing the natural airflow of the house to create a near-outdoor air quality environment during tours. Our doors have screens and are kept open, as well as the doors into our ventilated attic space, creating the rising air thermal effect that was the natural air conditioning our ancestors built into their homes. We are taking the same precautions in the Carriage House during meetings, with all doors and attic ventilation open.

As cooler weather approaches, and the science on the issue of transmission begins to gel on the subject, we will continue to reevaluate our situation at Oak Hill. Can we maintain a high enough level of airflow in colder weather? Opening the doors for the hour or so of a tour appointment has not significantly reduced the indoor comfort level in hot weather. How far can we go with that during the heating season?

Indoor air quality is already a concern and a design consideration in modern, tightly constructed buildings and homes. Re-engineering HVAC systems to utilize outside air by the use of air-to-air heat exchangers is a solution and may take on more urgency in the Covid-19 world. It remains to be seen whether the Cottage and other breezy old houses need such updating  But it is becoming worrisome that recirculating air within closed spaces, as we do in most of our public buildings, might be much more problematic in the current situation.

* Mounting evidence suggests coronavirus is airborne — but health advice has not caught up