Ventilation
ON CAMERA NARRATION:
Ventilation. Proper ventilation in your home comes down to a couple of things: preventing wasteful uncontrolled air leaks and ensuring that you have energy-efficient mechanical ventilation. A ventilation system is important as it removes indoor air filled with pollutants, dust and moisture and replace it with outdoor air.
So, how can you control ventilation in your home?
VOICE-OVER:
Let's begin with air leaks. Air leaks from cracks and holes in the structure of your home let warm air out and cold air into your house. Don't confuse leaks with ventilation, though. Of course older homes are almost always leakier than modern homes, because building knowledge and materials are very different today that they were 20 years ago and then of course, wear and tear takes its toll. In winter air leakage means high energy bills, uneven temperatures, and drafts.
In a typical older Canadian home, if you added up all the cracks and joints that let cold air in and heated air out, you'd have a 16-inch hole, big enough to let in a German Shepherd!
Understanding where those leaks are and how to reduce them could save that same typical Canadian homeowner about 15 percent on energy bills.
Part of the solution then is to have your home professionally air sealed and tested.
Part two is to install a mechanical ventilation system to exhaust stale air and distribute fresh outdoor air throughout your house.
Poor ventilation causes your indoor air to feel stuffy or odours to linger. It can lead to problems that will affect your family's health, such as mould growth. You can use the bathroom or kitchen fan to exhaust this air to the outside but the best route to go is to have a heat recovery ventilator installed.
A heat recovery ventilation, or HRV, system not only ensures you've got regular outdoor air ventilation, it's also energy-efficient. It's efficient because it takes the heat from stale indoor air as it's expelled and uses it to warm cold incoming air. HRV's not only save you energy. By exchanging your indoor air regularly they also help ensure your indoor air is cleaner and healthier.
ON-CAMERA NARRATION:
An EnerGuide for Houses evaluation can help you assess your home's ventilation needs at the same time as they identify energy wasting air leaks. If your home smells musty or stuffy, an EnerGuide for Houses evaluator can tell you if you would benefit from mechanical ventilation.
