HEPA Air Purifiers and COVID-19

It turns out that low-cost HEPA air purifiers can capture airborne viruses like COVID-19. This is important news for hoteliers looking for a way to provide consumers the peace of mind they’re seeking while traveling.

For centuries, staying in clean accommodations has been the primary concern of travelers. In today’s world, anxiety about cleanliness is heightened. Most travelers now want some extra assurance that the room they’re staying in will keep them healthy.

Even with hotels undertaking extra cleaning measures, travelers will be inclined to stay at places that can provide some additional promise of a healthy stay.  Hoteliers can provide this by offering guests allergy-friendly rooms equipped with a portable HEPA air purifier. HEPA air purifiers remove airborne microscopic particulates like dust, pollen, mold spores, bacteria, and even viruses.

There has been some confusion about this point because manufacturers of hyper-HEPA air purifiers often claim that only their more sophisticated (and expensive) models can capture airborne viruses. (These organisms are about 0.1 microns, smaller than the 0.3 microns HEPA standard.)

Intuitively, their claims seem correct. When we think of a filter, we might imagine a dropping handful of pebbles through a fishing net. None would be caught because the pebbles are smaller than the holes in the net.

But viruses are so tiny; they don’t behave like larger objects.

Small ‘nano-particles’ like viruses move in continuous random motion called Brownian movement and are easily captured in the mat of a standard HEPA filter. According to NASA, HEPA filters capture “virtually 100% of particulates,” even those much smaller than viruses.

For about 50 cents a day operating costs, you can equip a room with an effective air purifier. Your hotel guests will sleep better, awaken more refreshed, and have the peace of mind that comes from breathing purified room air.

A hotel can maximize its HEPA air purifier investment by packaging this product with other allergen-reducing items like hypoallergenic bedding as part of an allergy-friendly room. These rooms would have daily operating costs of under $1.00 a day and would earn a 400% ROI with just a $5.00 upsell. The WHAI has developed the AllerEase^® Hotel Program to help hoteliers provide these accommodations. Click here to learn more.