These days homes are being built tighter for more energy efficiency. It’s a logical step in our ever present struggle to save energy resources and as a result – money. A tighter, less leaky home will require less energy to keep climate controlled. What you might not realize is that less air leaked out of a home means less fresh air leaked in. This could mean a dramatic effect to your indoor air quality and health. Carrier’s Healthy Air Experts put it best when they said this:
“A solution to Indoor Air Pollution can be Dilution”
The solution to this problem can be as simple as a ventilator. Carrier ventilators are available in both HRV (heat recovery ventilator) and ERV (energy recovery ventilator) models. Both models exhaust stale air from a home and replace it with fresh air from outside, while transferring heat between the air streams. While the incoming and outgoing air streams do not mix, the heat is transferred through a heat exchange core in the ventilator. The heat exchange core is specially designed to capture and transfer maximum heat for maximum efficiency. While ERV’s amd HRV’s perform the same tasks, there is one main difference. ERV’s contain a core that can also handle moisture. So, ERV’s are normally used in hot and humid climates, while HRV’s are primarily used in climates with much less humidity.
Another option for home ventilation is using a simple powered outdoor vent. When choosing this option ; however , you may want to consider that the powered outdoor vent may cause your home to become pressurized. This may cause the negative effect of drawing moisture into the structure of your home, thus causing a dangerous build-up of mold and other moisture loving microbes. This will not occur with a properly balanced Carrier HRV or ERV system. You should never use any ventilation device where outdoor air is highly polluted or contains strong, offensive odors. This will just cause a larger IAQ (indoor air quality) problem.
For more information on home ventilating we suggest you visit the Home Ventilating Institute Directory at www.hvi.org ! Don’t forget to ventilate! Proper ventilation can make your home more comfortable and healthy for all!
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