Duck tape the cracks and a filtered air intake system with enough air flo to maintain positive pressure to prevent contaminated air from leaking in .

 

What I'm getting from these first two replies is that there's nothing to be done unless you have the money to throw at the problem...is that about right? That was kind of what I was afraid of...

 

You won't get a home THAT airtight...it's not possible. Plastic over the windows, blocking up the flue pipes, you still have some air exchange. It really depends on the contaminants. Nuclear fallout rides on dust particles and you would be fairly safe if not near the down-wind side for awhile. Bacteria would depend on the number of infectious people outside, and you would be fine. Chemical warfare like Sarin gas, etc would depend on the concentration levels outside. Remember you are talking about 16000 cubic feet of air inside vs a gazillion cubic feet of air outside. Only serious close nuclear fallout would be a real issue and then you should bug out ASAP

 

You won't get a home THAT airtight...it's not possible. Plastic over the windows, blocking up the flue pipes, you still have some air exchange. It really depends on the contaminants. Nuclear fallout rides on dust particles and you would be fairly safe for awhile. Bacteria would depend on the number of infectious people outside, and you would be fine. Chemical warfare like Sarin gas, etc would depend on the concentration levels outside. Remember you are talking about 16000 cubic feet of air inside vs a gazillion cubic feet of air outside. Only serious close nuclear fallout would be a real issue and then you should bug out ASAP

Fair point, but I'd imagine I could get a single room that airtight...Yes you are right it all depends on concentration levels.

 

I recall reading and/or seeing something about most homes built today still have enough leaks in them where it's equal to leaving a window open 24/7.

And, all the insulation, vapor barriers, sealers, etc. present their own problems with air stagnation - to the point where humidity, mold and other indoor air quality issues will arise.

So, yes, your best and most affordable option would be to seal up a room that can be vented in a way texstephen implied - an air filtration/treatment system to force clean, conditioned air into the room and keep dirty air out.

 

Here is a possible rig which will work.

The key is two fold, to keep a positive air pressure in the house-to keep particulate from leaking through cracks, and to filter incoming air.

A shop vac can get the job done, in a small sealed room. Seal off a safe room with plastic/duct tape, and connect the intake (suction) end of the vac to the outside, so air blows into the room from the outside.

Here is the critical part... USE A HEPA FILTER Home depot has them. this will filter almost all particulate.

This will not help with chemical contaminants. You could possibly rig some sort of filter containing activated charcoal, but this would be a bit tricky.

The down side to this approach- it requires electricity, and it is REALLY LOUD! Also the filter may clog after a day or so if it is really dusty outside.

 

So what would your setup filter? Fallout?.. that's a big one for me.. your homedepot filter won't make me feel safe? Guess it would work for pollen season

 

HEPA filters will remove fallout.

HEPA filters will remove 99.97% of 0.3 µm particles...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEPA

 

Cresson Kearny's Nuclear War Survival Skills is offered free online at www.oism.org. He includes information on making your own air pump out of plywood.


Dean Ing wrote an appendix to "Pulling Through" that explains how to make a air filter using rolls of toilet paper. Reportedly, it's effective down to the micron level, but I can't find any confirmation of that - so consider it speculation! He also includes instructions for an air pump built out of a cardboard box, duct tape, and plastic bags.

 

This ^^^ - along with a HEPA filter which are not that expensive as they are used in a lot of things now. You can have multi-stage filters too. Start with the outside filter being the one that picks up the larger particulate and as you proceed you add finer and finer filters. You should design the filtration system such that you can easily change the filters and be in a decontamination room.

For example, I have a semi-enclosed porch that I could quickly modify to be more enclosed. Right outside of that porch is a water spigot. I could modify the porch to be a decon room. That porch leads into my utility room where my clothes washer/dryer and furnace are. I could take the filters out to the decon room and clean them outside while I am in a decon suit. I could seal off that room very easily as it has no windows with one door.

The rest of the house could be sealed off tightly and pressurized with filtered air from the furnace (it can run just with the fan). I could probably modify the fan speed to be lower if needed.

Ideally I think I would prefer an external geo-thermal heat pump and have the intake system be multi-stage filtered. I will have to think about this for my next house which I want to be super-insulated and very energy efficient - hence it will need a positive air flow from a fresh air source.

One of the things that some people do is they use a earth tube, which can be filtered, and can also double as an escape tunnel and a place to store cached supplies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-coupled_heat_exchanger

 

Read about that guy in Ontario I think it was. He buried a bunch of school buses to serve as an ark for humanity in the event of nucleod disaster. it will no doubt show the detailes of his forced air filtration system and other measures to decon people upon entry.

he was also featured on one of the survival prepper shows about 2 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ark_Two_Shelter

http://www.webpal.org/SAFE/aabeachbiography/index.htm

how to filter the air
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cab2Az4zBCw&feature=youtu.be

 

Consult some of the excellent downloads available on this very site for loads of reading on great ways to do this stuff.

 

A lot of talk here about sealing yourself in, air filters & positive pressure.

Realize it takes a “fan” of some sort to create positive pressure + a means or power to drive the fan.

Also air filters are generally reliant on a “fan” & power to drive the fan.

Let’s assume the “power” is down, WHAT THEN.

Also, if intent on sealing yourself “in” > for any extended period of time?

You need to make provisions for light, water, food, toilet, means to secure refuse/garbage.

All of that is a lot to think through, then make an appropriate plan.

There is a ton of how to info here & online. Just take the time to review & assimilate it.

 

Air – How about one or more hepa filters located outside your basement/shelter connected to your shelter with PVC pipe. In-line blower, or some manual fan/pump. As an example, see:

http://www.alpharubicon.com/basicnbc/newhepafiltersf.htm

 

There are many issues to consider. The generic solution would be expensive with unknown results. Let's look at one issue at a time. 1. Fallout. Never mind the actual fallout: what are you going to do about the radiation? If you are a reasonably young person, or have a family you need a shelter with protection factor of at least a 100 (which may still make one sick, so PF 1000 is much better. The shelter should be of reinforced concrete, at least. If you have that, concern yourself with ventilating the shelter only. The house would have to take care of the contamination by itself. Taping windows and doors is still a good idea. In the shelter, the immediate solution is no ventilation at all. You may need some carbon dioxide absorbers. Realistically, one may be o.k. completely sealed for 2 or 3 days. Next step: natural ventilation. Works well with outside temps lower than inside temps. Two advantages: a) no power required b) the natural airflow is gentle, so even with the simplest filter, there would be very minor fallout intake. With power intake, the airflow itself "invites" a lot of dust in, so you need a much better filter and the better filter you use you need more power. One must have this type of ventilation though in case it is required.

 

As for radiation, some have suggested dealing with fallout on a roof by installing sprinklers to at least partially wash away any fallout from the roof. You could go further by having a system setup that washes the fallout away from the house.

As already mentioned, you should have a shelter that has enough protection from the radiation. Properly designed you might be able to set that up under the main residential area.

 

The answer is building your own cheap air filtration system.
I built mine for under 100 bucks.

Here is one example
http://www.wwgoa.com/homemade-air-filtration-system/

I made mine out of 5 gallon buckets, some charcoal, fan, automotive air filter, and PVC pipe.

There are other home made air filtration systems online.

 

Building one's own filtration system is surely possible and, probably, the only feasible solution for most people. Here are some of the problems: 1. It must be effective and auto filter and some plastic is questionable. And testing is absolutely essential even for a professional system; how one is going to test the homemade?
2. What happens if there is a kinetic threat also? The system must be robust and withstand concussions and other kinetic threats.
3. The system must be installed in the shelter itself, not somewhere in the attic. There is an example of such a system on the net, installed in the attic. Aside from the fact, that that system is not at all resilient, the author did not think thru the whole idea: the house would be fully contaminated by the system and unlivable forever.
4. There must be redundancy.
5. There must be a reliable provision for filters change and repair. Without killing the homeowner that is. Which is possible, but not easy. There is a site englishrussia.com, which devotes quite a bit of content to old Soviet military installations and shelters. I have seen, maybe a dozen such shelters of different sizes and protection factors. In no case the idiot-designers had provided means to change the filters without killing the people.

 

I'm resurrecting this thread for the benefit of a newer member, who asked about this subject in a different thread.

You don't need to do anything special to keep nuclear weapon fallout out of your home/basement. Nuclear plant accidents are a little different, but more on that later. Close windows and doors, and turn off the furnace/AC. You do not need to, nor should you seal up your home or basement, safe room, shelter, etc with plastic. The "duct-tape and plastic" recommendation was borne out of protecting against air-dispersed chemical weapons or Anthrax spores and only for short periods of time until evacuation could take place (usually less than 24 hours). If you seal yourself into a room without ventilation while you're sheltering against fallout, carbon dioxide (from you breathing) will build up in the area until it reaches fatal levels.

What you should do is turn off your heat/AC (if the power isn't already out) and close your windows until the fallout is no longer falling (should be around 24 hours). After that, you could crack some windows for ventilation. The book Nuclear War Survival Skills talks about some improvised methods to move air in a shelter situation. It's available free here: http://www.madisoncountyema.com/nwss.pdf

Nuclear plant accident "fallout" is a bit different. In a meltdown or other accident, the materials released are usually the gasses and vapors. There may be some particulates but the vast majority of the material from the core stays where it is. Even with those vapors present, the recommendations don't change that much. Heat and AC off, and close the windows until the plume passes. Chances are if the plume is projected to be significant enough, mandatory evacuation would occur. I certainly wouldn't go any further than what you might do to winterize your windows.

Room-sized HEPA air purifiers are all fine and dandy, but they're primarily a feel-good measure when it comes to fallout... because they really aren't necessary. Most fallout particulates that reach the ground in the first 24 hours are >100 microns, so yes, they would be filtered out by a HEPA filter... but they also aren't going to float into your house without considerable help either. The smallest particulates (<10 microns) are the ones that are spread all over the planet and take years... decades to settle out.

 

I am really getting lazy in my old age. So I am attaching the following documents without redoing them specifically for the OP topic.

Two are about homemade air filtration systems.

The Isolation One that covers shelter in place has additional info that does not pertain to the OP, but might be of general interest.

Feel free to ask questions about any of the aspects.

Just my opinion.