Is Evaporative Cooling the Safest Cooling Solution During a Pandemic
                     Is Evaporative 
Cooling the Safest 
Cooling Solution 
During a 
Pandemic?
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and stay-at-home orders extend, 
your family will likely need to ride out summer at home. To guarantee a 
cool and comfortable time, we recommend looking into cooling solutions 
now. However, cooling the air in your home during a viral pandemic is 
not so straight forward.
Humidity Levels Can Affect 
Virus Spread in the Air
 Dry air is known to help spread seasonal viruses like the flu as it’s a “key factor 
that impairs a person’s ability to fight off respiratory viral infections,” says Dr. 
Iwasaki.
 What does this mean for your home? Air conditioning dries the air, which could 
make it hard to maintain humidity at the 30-50% levels recommended by the 
Mayo Clinic — especially if you live in a dry climate.
 Additionally, dry air has adverse effects on respiratory health as it dries out 
sinuses and can cause asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis (source: Cleveland Clinic).
 However, an evaporative cooler could solve this; It humidifies and cools the air at 
the same time.
 One caveat, to make sure you’re not overdoing it, monitor the humidity in your 
home with an inexpensive digital hygrometer. 
 Excess moisture encourages mildew and wood root. 
Does Humidity Reduce Viruses 
on Surfaces in Your Home?
 Per the WHO, studies show the COVID-19 virus can survive for up to 72 hours 
on plastic and stainless steel and less than 24 hours on cardboard.
 Why does this matter? We frequently touch our faces without even knowing 
it. Per one study, 16 times per hour! If you rub your eyes or nose after 
touching a contaminated surface, you could infect yourself.
 Some research suggests increasing the humidity in your home could help the 
virus die more quickly on surfaces. The Department of Homeland Security ran 
a study that shows increasing humidity from 20% to 80% dropped the half-
life of the virus on surfaces from 18 hours to 6.
 However, we didn’t find any other studies showing half-life impact within 
recommended home humidity levels of 30%-50%, so we can’t make any 
conclusions on how this impacts your home.  For more on keeping your home 
virus-free, see Unicef’s home cleaning guide.
Air Conditioning Spreads the 
Virus?
 AC systems recirculate the air in a room. The CDC shared a study that 
suggests an AC could spread COVID-19 via aerosols.  Recent studies, 
including one in the journal Nature supports this idea. However, the 
Washington Post reports the scientific community is still debating 
aerosol spread. Given this, in the meantime, we advise caution.
 A central AC system also recirculates air throughout your entire home. 
If these studies are correct, it could be dangerous if someone in your 
home has been exposed to the virus. Even if you quarantine a family 
member in a separate room, you could be inadvertently spreading 
their air to the rest of your home.
 An evaporative cooler could give you peace of mind. Unlike an AC, an 
evaporative cooler pulls in fresh air from outside and expels the old air 
out your window.
Speaking of, Fresh Air is 
Healthier Air
 A study by the University of Oregon and the University of California, Davis, found 
that opening a window is the best way to (literally) air out the Coronavirus.
 Fresh air is a known virus buster. A study published in Nature, covered in the 
NY Times, found that “ensuring even minimum levels of outdoor air ventilation 
reduced influenza transmission as much as having 50 to 60 percent of the 
people in a building vaccinated.” 
 But, what if it’s too hot to open a window? An evaporative cooler can save the 
day by continually pumping in fresh, cool air into your home. 
 However, it is important to know that evaporative coolers are most effective 
when relative humidity is 50% or less, so it’s best used in dry climates.
If you are looking for an outdoor solution however, evaporative coolers are still 
one of the best options if you are cooling outdoors in your backyard, patio or 
garage.
Next Steps?
 If you’re interested in learning more about evaporative coolers check 
out the space-saving, Honeywell Evaporative Tower Air Cooler or this 
Amazon bestseller. 
 Please let us know if we can answer any questions. We wish you a 
healthy and cool summer!
Thank You
 Visit: 
https://myhomeclimate.com/blogs/knowledge-centre/is-evaporative-cooling-
the-safest-cooling-solution-during-a-pandemic