Why Home Ventilation is Necessary
In recent years, homes have been built to be more energy efficient than ever before. To do this, the structures have to be built with airtight designs, windows that have better seals and insulation materials that are meant to use less electricity and gas. The result is fewer drafts as well as lower costs for heat and air-conditioning for the homeowner. Unfortunately, the same efficiency also retains pollutants that can be hazardous to the people living in the house.
This is why decent ventilation is so important to install. When quality vents are maintained, whether they have been retro-fitted or drawn into new plans many common household problems can be controlled, if not pretty much eliminated.
All homes, to some degree, have biological pollutants, such as mold, viruses and bacteria. These include dust mites, pet dander and other hazardous waste that can effect the health of the inhabitants as well as to the building itself.
Most of these pollutants tend to thrive in moist environments-most commonly in bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms. However defective gutters, defective waterproofing in basements or attics and even humans breathing can also generate the growth of mold and mildew.
The best way to prevent this problem and improve indoor air quality is to obviously reduce or remove as many as the pollutants as possible. Besides installing proper ventilation, it must also be used! This is quite simple. With a flip of the switch when entering the room, the fan goes on and should remain so for at least 20 minutes after the water source has been turned off.
As an example: When you enter the bathroom for your morning shower or bath, turn on the fan. Leave it on while you are finishing up your morning grooming procedures and straightening up your bedroom before heading out for the day. Turn it off before you leave. If it’s the laundry room, put on the unit prior to starting the first load and leave it on until after the last load from the dryer has been removed and put away.
Other steps that should be taken to improve the air quality inside your home: Remove paints, cleaning solvents and other chemicals and store them in a garage, or better yet a stand alone shed. If you do chose to store them in an attached garage, make sure there is an airtight seal between it and the living quarters. Use cleaning products that have a low level of toxicity.
Today there is also continuous ventilation available. All this means is that the unit is installed throughout the complete household structure and is on a timer which includes a sensor. When the sensor is told that a certain amount of moisture is in the environment, it turns itself on.
Fortunately there are also many companies that also have taken the need to adjust for noise pollution as seriously as they have taken the need for controlling the need for clean air. The units today are incredibly quiet.
Ideally, in today’s “green conscious” society, we can all enjoy the comforts of clean, pure air as well as energy efficient homes.
