The Air Exchange is Now Open

As we welcome a new year, 2020 will go down in history as a one that most of us will want to forget ever happen. Words such as Quarantining, Social Distancing, Contact Tracing, Viral Load, and more are ones that we hope in the near future we will never need to hear again. But 2020 wasn’t all bad as we were able to bring some good words and phrases to the forefront - words such as Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), Air Exchange, Air Filtration and more. 2020 provided an opportunity to take a good long look at our living environment.

While Indoor Air Quality is not a new concept, it is gaining a lot of attention and will have lasting positive effects moving forward. Professionals in the HVAC and air movement industry have been working to improve IAQ for decades. Items such as better filtration in HVAC systems, more effective exhaust fans in the home, using range hoods and more have all contributed to a better living space. Now we are seeing and realizing that proper ventilation can play an important role in our overall health.

IMPORTANT NOTE: While studies are finding that a properly ventilated area (home, office, store, etc.) reduces the spread of viruses, it is not a magic solution that will 100% prevent it. It should be used as one part of a multi-part solution.

One aspect of proper ventilation is Air Exchange. First, let's define what air exchange is. Well, it’s fairly self-explanatory – it is exchanging the air inside a home/building with air outside the building. Good air in, bad air out. The complicated part is how do we do this and how do we do this efficiently and effectively. The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recommends 0.35 air exchanges per hour. Let's take a closer look at that number. If you have a 1,000 square foot home with 8 foot ceilings, that is a total of 8,000 cubic feet of air inside your home (for you engineers out there – yes the number will be considerably less than that because of walls, furniture, appliances and so forth – but just go with us on this for now). Take the 8,000 ft3 and times it by 0.35 and you get 2,800 (the quantity of air you need to move out of the home per hour). Now divide that by 60 (60 minutes in an hour) and you get 47. So to exchange the air at the rate ASHRAE recommends you should have an exhaust fan running at 47 cubic feet per minute (CFM) at all times. ASHRAE refers to this as continuous ventilation. Now, back to the engineers and numbers people out there. ASHRAE actually has a calculation for determining how much ventilation you need. Air King has a calculator at www.airkinglimited.com/ashrae622 where you can input your information to properly calculate how much ventilation you need.

Now that we have how much air we need to take out of the home, we can concentrate on how much air we need to bring into the home. Using our example, the easy answer is 47 CFM and that would be accurate. The challenge comes in how we bring that air into the home. Many homes will have what is referred to as natural air infiltration. The average person knows these as drafts. This is air coming into the home without any outside forces working on it. With newer “tighter” homes drafts are greatly reduced so a different solution is needed to bring fresh air in. The simplest way is to open a door or window. While very effective, there are two challenges with this approach. First, this will only work in mild climates. If you live in Minnesota, you are not opening a window in February. The same holds true in Texas during the summer months. The second challenge is you can’t be sure the air you are bringing in is any better than the air already in the home. If you live in an area with high pollution rates or bad air quality, not exactly what you want to bring in. The best solution is to control as many factors as you can. Adding an air intake fan such as the Air King Fresh Air Series will bring controlled and filtered air into the home/building. You now control how much air comes in and can ensure that it is filtered. In more extreme climates using an ERV or HRV is another great solution as these are designed to bring fresh, filtered air in while reducing the strain on your HVAC system.

The main point of all this is that we need to pay a lot more attention to the IAQ of our homes and working spaces than we have in the past. Having a viable solution to exchange the air is a great starting point and a major component of an overall strategy. To learn more about fresh air intake as well as ERV and HRV solutions, visit www.airkinglimited.com

What is a Net Zero Home

A trend in the building industry is towards Net Zero homes. The goal of a Net Zero home is to be able to provide all the energy needed for the home without using outside sources. An older term many used was “living off the grid”. When people hear that term, the mind can race to a picture of living in a tent in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness needing to forage for your food everyday. While that might sound like a fun adventure for a few days, for most of us we like the comforts we have. The good news is that Net Zero homes are designed to still give you all the modern day comforts just more energy conscience.

 

There are multiple components to a Net Zero home that are all designed to reduce the energy usage down to a level that can be sustained using alternative energy such as solar power. Net Zero homes look to be about 80% more efficient than a traditionally built home. To get there takes a total home approach – looking at every aspect of the build, inside and out.

 

Generally these homes are going to have solar panels as the main source of electrical supply. The next largest area of concentration is what is called the building envelope. This includes doors, windows, roof, and the walls. Properly and even over insulating the walls and making sure air does not leak out cracks and gaps is a key component. The goal is to maximize the energy usage of the home and not have any of it wasted by leaving the home.

 

The next largest area of energy usage is the HVAC and appliances. When a high efficiency HVAC system is used in parallel with a well insulated building envelope, it will greatly decrease how long it will need to run. Some homes will also incorporate a GeoThermal system that uses the ground temperature to regulate the home’s temperature. Net Zero homes are going to use energy efficient appliances throughout the home – washer, dryer, fridge, cooktop, etc. These will also be almost exclusively electric so as not to have to depend on gas.

 

The ventilation system of these homes is a very important element. With a sealed building envelope (also referred to as a tight house), the natural exchange of indoor and outdoor air is by nature greatly reduced or non-existent. This means that a mechanical solution needs to be added. Most homes are going to utilize either a HRV (heat recovery ventilator) or an ERV (energy recovery ventilator) depending on what part of the country you live in. The function of these units it to exchange the stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air with as minimum of an impact as possible on the temperature of the indoor air.

 

Other features of a Net Zero home are items such as LED lighting, low flow water fixtures, smart – programmable thermostat and even things like shingles that reduce the amount of heat absorbed through the roof.

 

Many would be asking right now why all homes are not being built as Net Zero homes. The answer comes down to cost. A Net Zero home is going to cost 10% to 15% higher than if you build the same home without all the focus on energy efficiency. If you are planning to say in the home for a long time, the energy savings will be more than the initial cost, but that can take between 10 to 20 years depending on where you live, size of the home and many other factors.

 

For more information regarding ventilation solutions, visit ww.airkinglimited.com. To learn more about Net Zero building and to see a project in process visit SYMBI Duplex One.

Bad air out, fresh air in – bringing fresh air into your home

When you hear the term Fresh Air, it might invoke thoughts of a warm summer breeze, a walk on the beach, or that first smell of spring after a long winter.

When it comes to your home, it is much more than that. Fresh air is a vital part of maintaining Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Bringing fresh air into the home can be as simple as opening doors and windows and letting it happen naturally. The challenge is that opening doors and windows is not always practical. That is where other solutions come into play.

Lets first take a look at why it is important to have fresh air coming into the home. Not to try and scare you, but your home is full of pollutants that are negatively affecting the air you are breathing. Something as simple as you breathing is producing CO₂ gas. Add in cooking (especially on a gas range), cleaning or using almost any appliance and the air quality can quickly deteriorate. Brining fresh air in is as simple as exchanging the stale (bad) air in the home with new (fresh) air from outside the home.

Now back to how to do this. We already talked about windows and doors and the limitations they have. Another option is using what is known as a mechanical solution. With a mechanical solution such as the Air King model QFAM, fresh air is brought into the home with a fan. There are a large variety of mechanical solutions on the market and they all have their pros and cons. HRV and ERV units are good, but expensive to purchase, install and maintain. Simpler solutions such as small fans that bring air in can work, but the air is not conditioned or filtered. Depending on the location or day, sometimes the air coming in might be worse than the air inside (high pollution areas or days). It is best to look for a solution that provides air filtration (filters that can be easily accessed and changed) as well as some type of humidity and temperature control that doesn’t allow extreme cold, warm, or humid air into your home.

From a homeowner standpoint, do the simple things – open doors and windows when you can, utilize your exhaust fans and range hood. Consult a HVAC expert to walk through the best solutions for your specific home. To learn more about fresh air solutions from Air King visit http://www.airkinglimited.com/page/qfam-fresh-air-machine.html