Tips for Better Ventilation

You may wonder why ventilation is important, and it is helpful to understand that air movement into and out of your home can play a major role in both indoor air quality and comfort levels. You may think that your home is properly ventilated, but if you notice unusual odors, this may not be the case. Even worse, there may be pollutants in your air supply that are odorless and invisible, meaning that poor ventilation isn’t obvious. Appropriate ventilation may help in reducing risks of exposure to excessive levels of contamination.

Types of Ventilation

Both mechanical and natural methods may be used to ventilate a home. Natural ventilation occurs when a window or door is open or when unsealed leaks allow the exchange of inside and outside air. Unfortunately, these methods are often impractical during hot or cold weather, meaning that a mechanical method may be necessary to keep the inside air fresh. Indoor pollution levels can be much greater than those outside your home, and ventilation helps to address this issue.

There are three primary approaches to mechanically ventilating a home. These include:

• Supply ventilation – air is pulled into the structure, reducing the concentration of inside pollutants.
• Exhaust ventilation – air is moved out of the structure. Pollutants are exhausted in the outgoing supply.
• Balanced ventilation – air is exchanged as both supply and exhaust ventilation occur simultaneously.

Tips for Better Ventilation

If you are unsure about current mechanical ventilation in your home, you may want to discuss your concerns with an HVAC contractor. You don’t need to rely solely on mechanical solutions, but you do want to think in terms of energy conservation as you enhance your indoor air quality. During mild weather, your windows and doors are excellent sources of fresh air. Use these when your heating and cooling equipment isn’t required to keep your home comfortable.

Consider installing or updating a mechanical ventilator to ensure that your energy usage is optimized as your indoor air quality is enhanced. Energy recovery ventilators are excellent choices because cooling energy can be transferred from the exhausted air to the incoming air as both supplies travel through a common box.

Professional Diagnostics and Installation

Grizzle Heating & Air is available to evaluate the indoor air quality in your Amarillo, TX, home. We can test for common pollutants and make recommendations for addressing these issues. We can also evaluate whether existing ventilation equipment is sufficient for addressing your household needs. At times, simple system maintenance may be sufficient for improving the performance of a ventilator that is already in place. We can identify specific needs when we visit your home. Call today for an appointment.