In the dorm room
Your college roommate is the most likely source of catching a cold, flu, COVID, and RSV. (Keep reading for tips on how to avoid picking up an illness in the cafeteria or lecture hall.)
You're sharing under-ventilated or even unventilated air with your roommate 8-18 hours a day, depending on how much time you spend in your dorm. And that shared space is probably approximately 230 square feet. If you're reading this, you're intelligent and conscientious enough to know not to share your roommate's water bottle or cup. But pause and think about how much you're rebreathing their exhalations. (a lot) As carbon dioxide levels creep higher, the amount of air you're rebreathing from your own and your roommate's exhalations also increases. 1500 ppm of CO2 is common in an underventilated room, and it can get above 2,000 ppm overnight. That's more than 3% of rebreathed air, according to Rebreathed Fraction of Air by David Elfstrom.
So what can you do?
* Open a window when weather permits and point a fan blowing out toward the open window to increase oxygen and decrease carbon dioxide (invest in a fly swatter)
* Crack a window when the temperature is cold and marvel at the beauty of thermodynamics that causes warm air from your dorm to be quickly sucked out the tiny crack and into the cold air outside, bringing CO2 along with it
* Place a personal 2-fan air purifier, the Exhalaron, or 3-fan purifier, the Triple Exhalaron, next to your bunkbed. If you're on the top bunk, don't worry, you can mount the device on the wall. If you want the best chance at keeping your roommate's germs away from you (and vice versa), use two Exhalarons--one near each person's pillow. Cross-table studies show just how powerful this type of purifier is at quickly filtering each person's exhalations. This video demonstrates how the Exhalarons work in a bedroom setting.
* We do NOT recommend counting on Exhalarons for white noise. If you need to drown out your roommate's snoring, even our loudest purifier, the Luggable XL Ultra, at 47 dBA of sound power and 39 dBA of sound pressure, probably won't get the job done. Perhaps the fan you got to point out the open window to help with ventilation will give you the white noise you crave if you're into that. For everyone who loves a super quiet environment, these Exhalarons will filter your air at only 42 dBA of sound power and 34 dBA of sound pressure. (Meaning, they're also perfect to take to class.)
* No outlet? No problem. The Exhalarons can run on a power bank for 8-12 hours overnight. We recommend getting two power banks and switching them out for daytime/nighttime use. Which brings us to our tips on avoiding illness while you're out and about on campus...
Attending classes
For those who want to level up their illness prevention game, here's what to do.
Leave the Triple Exhalaron in your dorm, and take your 2-fan Exhalaron with you for discreet personal air filtering during all your classes. at 34 decibels, it's so quiet that ambient classroom sound (even during a quiet test) will drown out the fan noise. Ideal placement is on a table or desk, but it also helps a lot placed in your lap or next to you on the floor. You can add flow-straighteners to hog the cleaned air even more (and remove them when you are using them in your dorm for a broader air flow).
On the off chance your professor notices your device and seems cranky about it, you can explain it only has fans and filters, no UV or ionizing. If the professor scoffs at infection control, we've had customers claim they're using it to maintain their temperature. Would the professor prefer a student disrupt the class by passing out from heat? If not, hopefully the instructor will allow it. If the resistance continues, we can share the success a lot of our customers have had from asking for reasonable medical accommations, sometimes involving going through the formal process to create a 504 Plan. But hopefully it won't come to that. Our prediction is that the vast majority of professors and classmates won't notice or care.
In the dining hall
You can also place this on your lap or dining table while you eat. This is especially important for those of you who mask everywhere but need to doff your mask to eat. Whether you find an empty part of campus to eat your to-go box or dine in the crowded cafeteria, the Exhalaron (with the flow-straighteners) will help you breathe in filtered, safer air.
Take $35 off the Triple Exhalaron or Exhalaron with coupon code: COLLEGEKIT.
