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How to Create a Negatively Pressurized Room

Many industries require the use of a negatively pressurized room, or a room where the net air flow goes into rather than outside the room. Hospitals, microchip fabrication facilities and organizations that study diseases all use these types of rooms to limit the amount of contaminants entering the environment. Creating one is really only a matter of having a partial vacuum, which a simple fan can make.

Things You'll Need

Two box fans
2 five-foot square sections of cardboard
Expanding foam sealant
Measuring tape
Sissors

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the exact opening of a window with the measuring tape. Use those dimensions to draw the opening on both pieces of cardboard.
- 2
  Place one of the box fans on the window area of the cardboard and trace its outline. Cut out the frame with scissors. This frame will help ensure a good seal around the fan and window. Be sure the fan will blow air outside room.
- 3
  Place the frame around a box fan and place in the window. It should fit snuggly but there might be some holes where air can reenter the room. Use the expanding foam sealant to block these holes.
- 4
  Close all the doors in the room. When the fans are turned on they will remove air from the room faster than it can be replenished through any other openings and will create a negatively pressured area.

Nature