Should I Be Concerned About Proper Ventilation in my Home?
Whether you realize it or not, your home is designed for adequate ventilation. Your home has vents that let old air out and bring in the fresh air. Typically, roof vents let out the old air and soffit or gable vents bring in the new air. Since roof vents are normally up higher than the gable vents, the hot air will rise and be released through your roof keeping your home ventilated. But, you should be more concerned than just releasing heat out of your home. When your home is well-ventilated, you are also removing odors, moisture, and pollutants. Pollutants are around five times higher in your home than outdoors.
Proper Ventilation For your Home
Although you might think that a low-cost and easy way to ventilate your home with fresh air is to simply open a window, you will need a fan to ensure the indoor air is being directed where it should be. Don’t worry though, good ventilation can be affordable.
Whole-House Ventilation
Window fans are good; however, a more convenient choice is a whole house fan. Typically, you mount a whole-house fan on the top floor in a hallway ceiling where it draws in air from your home and blows it into your attic. These types of fans bring the fresh air from the outdoors into your home,which helps to improve your home’s ventilation. You can turn them on once the temperature outside drops a few degrees below the temperature indoors. The evening is a good time. You can adjust the speed of the fan to suit your cooling needs of your home and how quickly you wish to cool it down. This option conserves more energy than air conditioning.
Exhaust Fans
Smaller exhaust fans can be used in your bathroom and can operate either intermittently or continuously to exhaust moisture and stale air. This properly ventilates your bathroom to prevent the growth of mold. Exhaust fans are also needed in your garage to keep you from breathing in offgassing and toxic chemicals. If you don’t ductwork already in your home to distribute cooled or heated air, exhaust fans are a good choice.
Attic Ventilation
When moisture condenses in your attic, it can lead to mold growth and wood rot. It’s important to install an attic fan and additional vents at the ridge of your roof and eaves if your attic gets really humid and hot during the summer. You should have a professional come in to do this. The attic fan will also prevent ice dams in the winter and extend the life of your roof.
Proper ventilation is a very important part of removing humidity and contaminants and maintaining a healthy life. A combination of all three of these ventilation systems can help.