In the summer of 2022 I began teaching from home in order to have a lesson space where we can have community care practices in place, especially for high-risk folks.

 

Here’s how we keep it well-ventilated and comfortable!

 

We use an Aranet4 CO2 monitor to help give us a rough idea of the airflow. Normal backroom levels outside are usually somewhere around 400 ppm, and I am to be as close to that as I can, and can usually stay between 450 and 800 ppm.

 

The space is designed so that I can adjust if I need to address the ventilation and/or temperature, which is largely accomplished with the help of bespoke window panels that we made. We used marine vinyl and cut the frames a little small to ensure ventilation and allow for our wonky window frames, and filled in the gaps a bit with some weather stripping. They’ve got latches so I can take them in and out to balance air flow and temperature, and in between and/or after lessons each day I can just open these up and blast the fans for a little bit to help clear it out and then put them back in quite easily.

 

During the summer, we make use of a number of fans! We’ve got one adjustable fan that can be pretty powerful (and also works great for gigs!) that blasts air across the whole space. We have an evaporative cooler pointed toward the student seating area, then another fan right over where students are seated, along with another evaporative cooler right in front of students to help keep folks nice and cool during the lesson.

 

We have a dehumidifier to keep it from getting too muggy, countering the moisture from the evaporative coolers and outside air.

 

We also have a portable AC unit that helps keep the temp in the 70s, and we’ve been able to mostly use it on dehumidifier mode to help keep it cool.

 

During the winter, we have two electric heaters to warm the space and help move air around. I cover the windows with greenhouse plastic to help it from being far too cold, and do spend a bit more time opening and closing the window panels, but it’s well worth it to keep us warm and ventilated!

 

Lastly, we’ve also got a HEPA filter near where students are seated.

 

All this together keeps things at a comfortable temperature with great ventilation, and with everyone properly masked and distanced, we have several layers of protection to help keep our community safe!

 

I'm very keen on continuously educating myself on how to make spaces more accessible and equitable for us all, so please do let me know if you have any thoughts on how we can further that goal!