Proper garage ventilation has become an increasingly important issue. Unlike yesteryear, residential garages today tend to be secured areas where the door remains closed most of the time. Garages are typically storage spaces for paints, solvents, fuel and other toxic substances. Fumes accumulating in an enclosed garage can contaminate household living spaces through structural cracks and gaps that exist in any house, or even by infiltrating HVAC ducts routed through the garage.
Another issue is carbon monoxide (CO) gas produced by automobiles and other internal combustion vehicles. Merely pulling a vehicle into or out of the garage produces an invisible cloud of poisonous CO that lingers after the door is closed. Tests by a major university proved that molecules of carbon monoxide are small enough to pass through tiny pores in gypsum wallboard separating an attached garage from the living spaces of most residences. Carbon monoxide from the garage can thus permeate the household at levels that could be harmful or even fatal.
Garage Ventilation 101
Removing toxic fumes from the garage with a wall-mounted ventilation fan that exhausts directly to the exterior is the best way to ensure a healthy indoor air quality in both the garage and the home. A fan with a volume of 100 CFM (cubic feet per minute) is generally adequate to keep a standard two-car garage free of accumulating fumes and carbon monoxide. The fan may be actuated in one of several methods:
- Timed Operation — The fan may be programmed to turn on and off at specific times of the day. It will also include a manual override to turn on at any time with an auto-off feature to stop the fan later.
- Motion Sensing — The fan will operate for a pre-set period when persons walk into the garage or a vehicle enters or leaves.
- Temperature — Interior temperature of the garage can be a trigger to start fan operation.
- Humidistat — The fan triggers when relative humidity levels rise to a pre-set level.
Ask the professionals at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing about proper garage ventilation for your household health and safety.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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