Pet allergens spreading between basement and main floor suite?
February 3, 2023 12:22 AM Subscribe
I'm considering living in the main floor suite of a house, but the landlord will be leasing the basement suite to tenants with cats and/or dogs. The two units have a shared central furnace & AC system, but no shared spaces, laundry, or entrances. Will this be a problem if I have allergies to pets?
It is my understanding that pet dander particulates are very small (2.5 microns) and can travel through ducts, but that HEPA filters capture particles as small as 0.3 microns.
- Would installing a HEPA filter in the HVAC system be sufficient?
- What about installing HEPA filters fitted to each individual heating vent in the main floor rooms? (Is this safe/viable for the HVAC system?)
- Is HVAC ductwork well-sealed enough that allergens won't be circulating in any other ways?
- Can dander spread upwards from the basement through cracks in the house, the flooring, etc.? (The flooring is all hardwood/tile for both units.)
- Would it help to ask what specific type of HVAC/air circulation system the house has? Does it matter?
- Unrelated to ductwork (but very pertinent to this specific situation!): if the downstairs tenant has two chihuahuas, will we be able to hear them barking all the time?
Info about allergy severity: I can spend an hour or two at the houses of a friend with pets, no problem, but have difficulty breathing when staying overnight. I've lived in a house with a HEPA filter in the HVAC system before and that didn't help my pollen allergies, but I'm guessing this is because the pollen gets in from the outside and all over the surfaces, which is a slightly different situation.
Folks with allergies, any additional tips? Has it been difficult for you to find rentals in situations where you have to share a house/apartment with other units? Many rentals in my city are listed as pet-friendly these days.
This rental has some characteristics I want that are very hard to find, so I'd like to make it work if I can!
It is my understanding that pet dander particulates are very small (2.5 microns) and can travel through ducts, but that HEPA filters capture particles as small as 0.3 microns.
- Would installing a HEPA filter in the HVAC system be sufficient?
- What about installing HEPA filters fitted to each individual heating vent in the main floor rooms? (Is this safe/viable for the HVAC system?)
- Is HVAC ductwork well-sealed enough that allergens won't be circulating in any other ways?
- Can dander spread upwards from the basement through cracks in the house, the flooring, etc.? (The flooring is all hardwood/tile for both units.)
- Would it help to ask what specific type of HVAC/air circulation system the house has? Does it matter?
- Unrelated to ductwork (but very pertinent to this specific situation!): if the downstairs tenant has two chihuahuas, will we be able to hear them barking all the time?
Info about allergy severity: I can spend an hour or two at the houses of a friend with pets, no problem, but have difficulty breathing when staying overnight. I've lived in a house with a HEPA filter in the HVAC system before and that didn't help my pollen allergies, but I'm guessing this is because the pollen gets in from the outside and all over the surfaces, which is a slightly different situation.
Folks with allergies, any additional tips? Has it been difficult for you to find rentals in situations where you have to share a house/apartment with other units? Many rentals in my city are listed as pet-friendly these days.
This rental has some characteristics I want that are very hard to find, so I'd like to make it work if I can!
Allergens are hard to predict because it can be hard to predict how well-sealed a unit is.
You’ll definitely hear the dog when it barks - I can hear my neighbour’s dogs and we’re fully detached - don’t even share a wall. Also backyard dog poops n pees smell bad, even when they’re cleaned fairly regularly.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 4:24 AM on February 3, 2023
You’ll definitely hear the dog when it barks - I can hear my neighbour’s dogs and we’re fully detached - don’t even share a wall. Also backyard dog poops n pees smell bad, even when they’re cleaned fairly regularly.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 4:24 AM on February 3, 2023
Yes, you should expect to be able to hear barking dogs, absent a particularly good level of soundproofing.
I don't think you can be certain about the dander/allergen situation without trying it out, unfortunately. More aggressive filters might or might not get the job done. Standalone HEPA units in each room of your own apartment might help a lot but are you willing to go to that extra expense, how disastrous would it be for you to move in and find out you really can't live there comfortably, etc.
Any chance you could negotiate a short-term lease to test the waters and see if you can live there comfortably, before your lock yourself in to a year or more? If it's that desirable for other reasons it might be worth trying that.
posted by Stacey at 8:42 AM on February 3, 2023
I don't think you can be certain about the dander/allergen situation without trying it out, unfortunately. More aggressive filters might or might not get the job done. Standalone HEPA units in each room of your own apartment might help a lot but are you willing to go to that extra expense, how disastrous would it be for you to move in and find out you really can't live there comfortably, etc.
Any chance you could negotiate a short-term lease to test the waters and see if you can live there comfortably, before your lock yourself in to a year or more? If it's that desirable for other reasons it might be worth trying that.
posted by Stacey at 8:42 AM on February 3, 2023
Best answer: You will definitely be able to hear the dogs. If you are like me and very sensitive, you will also definitely be allergic through the shared HVAC system and you will also catch any illnesses that they have. They did a pretty good study recently showing viral movement through shared HVAC on an epidemiological level, using sequencing. I wouldn’t share air with people I don’t know. And given that we have evidence for HVAC spread, I would be assuming that you would also be exposed to allergens. Not all HVAC systems can tolerate HEPA filters because of the increased air resistance.
posted by Bottlecap at 3:12 PM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Bottlecap at 3:12 PM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
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Adding HEPA filters to each register/vent would restrict the airflow which would at best throw the system off balance (the unit with the filters added would get less air volume and be colder/hotter) and at worst could cause the furnace to bounce off the high limit during heating season due to insufficient airflow across the heat exchanger. Changing the main filter to a more aggressive type is probably the only option- and sometimes that can even cause problems, as once again, a better filter is more restrictive to airflow and can tip a marginal system over the edge. People sometimes ran into this installing MERV-13 filters to try to reduce the spread of Covid.
Good luck! If it's a more informal renting scenario and the unit is vacant, perhaps you could negotiate to pay for an overnight stay before signing a lease to see if this is a theoretical problem or a practical problem?
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 4:13 AM on February 3, 2023