A couple tips I forgot, some of which may increase the all-important "wife acceptability coefficient":
- carbon tends to get saturated pretty quick, so in regular use I would replace the (cheaper) prefilter at least weekly, mask every 2-3 weeks
- testing may show you can get away with a non-carbon N95 and just the carbon prefilter; cheaper and the look may be found more acceptable
- carbon will immediately start adsorbing pollutants from ambient air, so keep all unused carbon in a sealed jar or sealed original packaging
- have fun with it! At Starbucks and pizza places I'm either Mr Snuffleupagus or Discount Darth Vader :D
- Corsi Boxes can be loud, so I use Low if people are around (High only for unoccupied space); shrouding or draping with fluffy towels can help too (hint: not the good towels)
- if you have forced air HVAC you might start out just using a MERV-13 filter in there; I prefer Filtrete 1900, but in general anything with many pleats = low pressure drop is better; most HVAC is not rated for large pressure drops across the filter
- I've had good success making an experimental "Carbon Corsi", taping two cheap 20x20 filters together with ~2 lb of replaceable aquarium carbon in the middle (change every ~two months) and taping that on top; this filters gaseous pollutants in the home, and can further muffle the box fan
(sorry, I swear this list was two items long when I started...)
Hope she can find some relief via your mutual efforts! Severe asthma can feel almost like a prison, so it's important to be extra kind and patient. Best of luck you guys
A couple tips I forgot, some of which may increase the all-important "wife acceptability coefficient":
- carbon tends to get saturated pretty quick, so in regular use I would replace the (cheaper) prefilter at least weekly, mask every 2-3 weeks
- testing may show you can get away with a non-carbon N95 and just the carbon prefilter; cheaper and the look may be found more acceptable
- carbon will immediately start adsorbing pollutants from ambient air, so keep all unused carbon in a sealed jar or sealed original packaging
- have fun with it! At Starbucks and pizza places I'm either Mr Snuffleupagus or Discount Darth Vader :D
- Corsi Boxes can be loud, so I use Low if people are around (High only for unoccupied space); shrouding or draping with fluffy towels can help too (hint: not the good towels)
- if you have forced air HVAC you might start out just using a MERV-13 filter in there; I prefer Filtrete 1900, but in general anything with many pleats = low pressure drop is better; most HVAC is not rated for large pressure drops across the filter
- I've had good success making an experimental "Carbon Corsi", taping two cheap 20x20 filters together with ~2 lb of replaceable aquarium carbon in the middle (change every ~two months) and taping that on top; this filters gaseous pollutants in the home, and can further muffle the box fan
(sorry, I swear this list was two items long when I started...)
Hope she can find some relief via your mutual efforts! Severe asthma can feel almost like a prison, so it's important to be extra kind and patient. Best of luck you guys