Air quality is one crucial component of maintaining a healthy, comfortable indoor environment. In terms of the level of air quality within a home, one of the biggest factors is whether it has sufficient ventilation. Ventilation is the process of exchanging the air inside the house with air from outside to reduce indoor air pollution. Find out more about the reasons why ventilation is so important along with what options you have for improving both your home’s efficiency and comfort, and achieving better indoor air quality.
Why Having Adequate Ventilation Is So Critical
The fact that the Colorado Front Range has experienced such a massive boom in population over the past few decades means that a high percentage of homes in the area are relatively new. Older homes are often sufficiently ventilated without needing to have some type of mechanical ventilation system. The way that most older homes were built and the materials that were used in the construction typically resulted in them having a fairly leaky envelope or exterior structure. That means there are numerous places within the envelope where air can continually flow in and out of the house. The result is that all of the air within the house gets exchanged fairly frequently and the house gets well-ventilated. This is why the only type of ventilation you often find in older homes are the exhaust fans in the bathrooms and kitchen.
Modern building methods and materials are designed to produce a much more airtight envelope so that the house is more energy efficient. The only drawback is that all of the air remains trapped in the home, resulting in the air getting stuffy and the concentration of airborne pollutants continually increasing. This is part of the reason why newer homes usually have much more indoor air quality problems than older properties.
If your home isn’t well-ventilated, the airborne pollutants and contaminants can negatively affect you in a wide variety of ways. For instance, you may frequently experience various symptoms related to something often known as sick building syndrome. This can include things like frequent headaches, dizziness, nausea, trouble breathing, memory and concentration difficulties, etc.
Most homes also have many different sources of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. VOCs are used to manufacture a huge number of things from building materials to furniture. They’re also given off by things like cleaning and laundry products, cosmetics and even many of your electronics. The main concern about many common VOCs like formaldehyde and benzene is that they are carcinogenic and/or can lead to long-term heart and respiratory issues.
Without sufficient ventilation, you end up constantly breathing in all of the chemicals and other pollutants. The concentration of allergens like pollen, mold spores, pet dander and dust mites is also going to be much higher if the house doesn’t have proper ventilation.
Options for Improving Your Home’s Ventilation
The two main options for improving the ventilation in a home are an energy recovery ventilation (ERV) system and a heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system. Both of these systems have two powerful fans. One fan is used to draw air out of certain areas of the house and then pump the stale, polluted air outside. At the same time, the other fan spins in the opposite direction to bring cleaner air into the house from outside. A properly sized ERV or HRV will usually completely exchange the air in the house multiple times a day. It could exchange the air far more if it ran constantly, but this really isn’t necessary and would just lead to a bigger increase in your electricity bills.
An ERV or HRV works somewhat similarly to having windows on opposite sides of the house open to let the stale air out and fresh air in. However, if you just have your windows open, you’ll also let lots of heat out and cold in during the winter or end up with your house quickly getting much hotter during the summer. This is where ERVs and HRVs have a major advantage as they have a heat exchanger that captures and transfers heat.
During the winter, the heat exchanger pulls most of the heat out of the indoor air before it gets blown outside. The heat then gets transferred to the air coming in from outside to make it much warmer. That way you don’t just end up with lots of cold air being brought in and both cooling your house and increasing the workload on your heating system. The heat transfer process then works oppositely when the air outside is hotter than the air inside the house. That means heat gets absorbed from the air getting drawn inside, resulting in it getting at least partially cooled before it gets released into the house.
The difference between the two systems is that HRVs only transfer heat, whereas ERVs can also capture moisture. In the winter when the outdoor air is much drier, an ERV captures moisture from the air it’s pulling out of the house and adds it back to the air it’s bringing inside. That way the system doesn’t cause your home to be even drier than it normally is during the winter. In the summer, an ERV will also help prevent the humidity level in your house from rising too much by removing excess moisture from the incoming air.
The other option for improving your home’s ventilation is a whole-house attic fan. This type of fan is much more powerful, allowing it to fully exchange the air inside the house in just a few minutes. The way it works is that air gets drawn into the attic through a centrally located ceiling vent and then naturally flows out through the attic vents. However, the only way it can bring fresh air in from outside is if some windows are partially open. That means you can really only use it at certain times of the year.
Why Air Filtration Is Also Important for Improving Indoor Air Quality
Ensuring that your house has sufficient ventilation is only one part of preventing indoor air quality issues. Ventilation will always make a big improvement by lessening the amount of pollutants and contaminants present. Nonetheless, even the best ventilation system won’t fully eliminate everything. That’s why you also need to make sure that your home has sufficient air filtration.
The main purpose of an air filter is to protect the HVAC system by preventing dust and other particles from getting pulled into the system. An air filter also helps with indoor air quality issues by at least somewhat reducing the amount of allergens and contaminants the HVAC system spreads around the house. Basic air filters aren’t very efficient and won’t make much of an improvement in your indoor air quality. A higher-rated filter or, better yet, a whole-home air filtration system, will work much more effectively and make a far bigger improvement in your home’s air quality. In some cases, you could see more than a 90% reduction in airborne allergens and contaminants.
If you’re searching for the best HVAC and indoor air quality service in Mead, Longmont or the surrounding areas, turn to the team at My Guy Heating and Air, LLC. We offer professional indoor air quality testing and can help you determine what issues you’re facing and what your best options are for overcoming them. To schedule an air quality test or any cooling or heating service, contact us today.
