Diy filters: the 15-minute fix to keeping our schools open
PEOPLE can build their own homemade air filters that are as effective as high-end purifiers for as little as €100.
Last week Education Minister Norma Foley announced grants worth €62m for schools to help combat Covid in the classroom. Ms Foley said the funding announced under the minor works scheme can now be used to buy HEPA filters.
However, earlier this week Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said air-filtration systems are
‘not expensive’ and should be centrally procured and provided to all schools. She added: ‘The Government shouldn’t be standing back and leaving it to the discretion of the school community.’
Taoiseach Micheál Martin previously cited a cost of €1,500-€1,800 to install an air purifier of ‘sufficient quality and grade’ in a classroom, but the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal it’s possible to build a homemade version for a fraction of that price.
Volunteers in the US have been coming together to build DIY air purifiers that are then installed in classrooms.
The purifiers, known as the Corsi-Rosenthal Cube or Comparetto Cube, have been independently tested and shown to work more effectively than many expensive off-the-shelf purifiers. They can be constructed in just 15 minutes (see panel).
Orla Hegarty, assistant professor at UCD school of architecture, said the DIY purifiers are a worthy alternative to their off-the-shelf counterparts. ‘We’re in an emergency situation,’ Ms
Hegarty said. ‘I think it is a good option. [People are] not tampering with the electrics. And even if it’s not perfect it’s doing something.’
Unfortunately for Irish customers, obtaining the required materials in-store is currently difficult. The MoS contacted 20 separate air purifier retailers for the HEPA filters with no success. However, the required materials can be found online for €100-€120.
A far cheaper alternative that has also been shown to work is to simply attach one filter to the front of a fan. For this option, a fan with solid casing around its sides should be used to ensure that air is funnelled through properly. A fan with a flat protective cover is preferable.
Ms Hegarty said putting air purifiers in classrooms makes the room more Covid-safe due to the natural properties of air.
‘If a teenager spreads Lynx in the house, you’ll smell it everywhere,’ she said. ‘And that’s because air is moving. A purifier actually draws the air from the room into it, and pulls it into the filters.
‘The vast majority of transmission is inhaling infected air… so clean air is absolutely key. Transmission from hands is very low.’