A Ventilation System Is Great for Fresher Air, But Get These Benefits As Well

If your Northwest Arkansas home is newer or tightly sealed, your indoor air quality may be lacking. Particles such as mold and bacteria and gaseous pollutants can cause a range of health problems. A whole-house ventilation system is ideal for keeping your indoor air clean by mechanically replacing stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air. 

The four types of whole-house ventilation systems are:

• Supply systems force outdoor air inside, depressurizing your home so that stale air is forced out through air leaks in your home’s shell.
• Exhaust systems force indoor air outside, pressurizing your home so that stale air is forced out through air leaks.
• Balanced systems bring in outdoor air and and remove stale indoor air in equal amounts, neither pressurizing nor depressurizing your home.
• Heat recovery and energy recovery systems transfer heat from outgoing air to incoming air in the winter and vice-versa in the summer. Energy recovery systems also transfer humidity from outgoing air to incoming air in the winter and vice-versa in the summer.

When choosing a ventilation system, look for these features to ensure optimum performance based on your needs.

Quiet Operation

Choose a ventilation system that has a noise rating of less than one sone.

Efficiency

As with all new appliances, choose a product with the Energy Star label to ensure efficiency. Make sure any ventilating fan is properly sized to lower your operating costs.

Controls

Choose a system with the controls located in an out-of-the-way space, such as the basement, to prevent accidental shutdowns. Turn the system on when your home is occupied, leave it on the lowest setting at all times, or install a programmable control that lets you program operation based on your schedule.

Distribution

A good ventilation system will utilize in-line fans to ensure optimum distribution of the fresh incoming air. Make sure your qualified installation technician tests the system for distribution before packing up and leaving.

For more expert advice about choosing a whole-house ventilation system, please feel free to contact us at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal, providing air quality solutions to Northwest Arkansas residents since 1968.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Northwest Arkansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about ventilation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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