The history of home ventilation shows that good ventilation is important to promote good human health. The quality of home ventilation you have will depend on the type of air ventilation system you have installed. There are significant differences between the ways ventilation systems provide airflow. Is your air ventilation system doing a good job for your home and health? Read on to learn how you can tell.
Exhaust and Supply Ventilation
Exhaust and supply ventilation systems use one or more fans to force air out of the home (exhaust ventilation) or force air into the home (supply ventilation).
A few examples of exhaust ventilation are your kitchen and bathroom ventilation fans. These fans pull air out of the living spaces to help remove moisture and odors. Exhaust ventilation systems are not recommended if you use combustion appliances because of the possibility of a backdraft occurring.
Supply ventilation systems use a fan and ducts typically installed in the attic to draw fresh outside air into the home. Supply ventilation systems are preferred over exhaust systems because they don’t promote backdrafts, and the intake air can be filtered.
Balanced Ventilation
Balanced air ventilation systems operate using equal amounts of supply and exhaust airflow. This is accomplished using separate fans and ducts for air intake and air exhaust.
Balanced ventilation systems offer the advantage of maintaining balanced indoor air pressure rather than creating negative or positive air pressure inside the home that, respectively, exhaust and supply ventilators create.
The drawback of a balanced ventilation system is that outdoor air is not cooled or heated before it enters the home. This can cause you to use the cooling and heating units more often, which uses more energy.
Energy Recovery Ventilator
Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) are balanced ventilation systems that incorporate a heat-exchange core to transfer heat energy and moisture between air supply from outside the home and air exhaust from inside the home. ERVs help heat and cool air supply to minimize extra heating and cooling usage.
For assistance choosing the right air ventilation system for your Indianapolis home, please contact Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing!
