Electric fans: A potential stay-at-home cooling strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic this summer?

Lily Hospers; James W Smallcombe; Nathan B Morris; Anthony Capon; Ollie Jay

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141180

Electric fans: A potential stay-at-home cooling strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic this summer?

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Dec 10:747:141180. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141180. Epub 2020 Jul 25.

Authors

Lily Hospers¹, James W Smallcombe¹, Nathan B Morris², Anthony Capon³, Ollie Jay⁴

Affiliations

¹ Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
² Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³ Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: ollie.jay@sydney.edu.au.

Abstract

Current public health guidance designed to protect individuals against extreme heat and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is seemingly discordant, yet during the northern hemisphere summer, we are faced with the imminent threat of their simultaneous existence. Here we examine the environmental limits of electric fan-use in the context of the United States summer as a potential stay-at-home cooling strategy that aligns with existing efforts to mitigate the spread of SARS-COV-2.

Keywords: Convection; Cooling centers; Evaporation; Fan-use; Heat balance; Physical distancing.

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus*
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections*
Hot Temperature
Housing
Humans
Pandemics*
Pneumonia, Viral* / epidemiology
SARS-CoV-2
Seasons
United States
Ventilation