Lets Talk Ventilation – Easy Explanations to Ventilation Terms Part 2 (E – N)

In our last Blog Post we started a series to help explain some of the more common terms used in the ventilation industry. We continue the series with the following:

ENERGY STAR: A government-backed program helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. Learn more at energystar.gov.

ETL - Intertek: ETL (Electrical Testing Laboratories) was founded by Thomas Edison in 1896 and in their words, "Intertek provides quality and safety services to businesses across the globe. We help our customers improve their products, assets and processes to make them more successful in their chosen markets". Learn more at intertek.com/.

Fluorescent (CFL): Compact Fluorescent Lighting - Energy efficient lighting option that uses a chemical reaction of gases inside a tube to generate light. Fluorescent lighting is more efficient that standard incandescent lighting but new technology in LED lighting is slowly phasing out Fluorescent lighting.

Fusible Link: Term used with fire rated dampers. The fusible link is two pieces of metal joined together that will release when the temperature reaches a set point (212° on Air King models), breaking the link and allowing the curtain to seal off the ducting.

GFCI Circuit: Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. Switch utilized for high voltage electrical shock protection. The GFCI will shut off an electric power circuit when it detects that current is flowing in a way it is not meant to, such as through water or a person.

Grease Filter: Filter used to catch grease and other contaminates from entering the unit. Most commonly used with range hoods. Grease filters should be cleaned at least once per month or more depending on usage.

Hanging Brackets: Used to mount certain Air King exhaust fans. They attach from one ceiling joist to another ceiling joist and allow the installer to position the exhaust fan between them. Can also be referred to a Hanger Bars or Hanging Rails.

Horizontal Exhaust: Exhaust that enters into the duct work on the horizontal plane (out the side or the back of a unit).

HVI: The Home Ventilating Institute - HVI - is a non-profit association of the manufacturers of home ventilating products. HVI offers a variety of services including, but not limited to - test standards, certification programs for airflow, sound, energy performance for heat recovery ventilators, market support and three annual meetings to discuss common industry issues. Through a Certified Ratings Program, HVI provides a voluntary means for the residential ventilation manufacturers to report comparable and creditable product performance information based upon uniformly applied testing standards and procedures performed by independent laboratories. Together these activities help to promote the health and growth of the home ventilation while providing consumers with valuable information and confidence in their choices. Learn more at hvi.org.

Incandescent: Common household lighting option. Many incandescent lighting option have been phased out over the past several years in favor of more efficient lighting option such as CFL and LED.

Infinite Speed Control: Controls the speed of the motor. The user has the ability to set the unit at any desired speed level.

Keyhole Slots: Mounting system for installing units where the mounting screws or nails can be put into place and then the unit is lifted over the screws and slid into place.

NFPA: The mission of the international nonprofit NFPA is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating scientifically-based consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. Established in 1896, NFPA serves as the world's leading advocate of fire prevention and is an authoritative source on public safety. In fact, NFPA's 300 codes and standards influence every building, process, service, design, and installation in the United States, as well as many of those used in other countries. NFPA's focus on true consensus has helped the association's code-development process earn accreditation from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Learn more at nfpa.org.

Night-Light: Low wattage light feature. Air King products that have this feature utilize either a 4 Watt or 7 Watt bulb.

Have What It Takes to Be Most Efficient

As we come into the holiday season and homes are putting up decorations and lights (you are using energy efficient lights – right) it can be a time of holiday bliss. Then it can turn into holiday regret when the electric bills start rolling in (see, told you, should have used energy efficient lights). The holidays shouldn’t be the only time to be looking at energy efficiency however.

Almost everyone in the United States is familiar with ENERGY STAR®. We see it everywhere. What many people are not aware of is that ENERGY STAR has a special category that recognizes the most efficient products within a product category for that year. Each year ENERGY STAR provides product performance criteria in order to be recognized. In the ventilation fan category, specifically bathroom and utility room fans they must operate at an 85% higher efficiency level than a standard model. This is measure in CFM/Watt (cubic feet per minute of air the fan moves divided by how many watts of energy needed to run the fan). ENERGY STAR has set the criteria at greater than or equal to 10 CFM/Watt. That means that a 100 CFM fan cannot use more than 10 watts of energy to operate.

Great, but what does this mean in real world numbers? Lets first look at the efficiency number of two 100 CFM fans. A standard – builder grade fan operates at about 1.4 CFM per watt. The Air King model D4S, an ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2017, operates at 15.6 CFM per watt when set to 100 CFM. Now lets take a look at what that means from an electric standpoint. For our purposes, we are going to say the exhaust fan runs for a total of 4 hours a day. The builder grade fan operating at 72 watts for 4 hours needs 288 watts per day. Times that by 365 and you get 105-kilowatt hours per year. Using that same equation the D4S only uses 9.3-kilowatt hours per year.

When needing to replace a fan, energy efficiency is a great starting place. Other factors to consider are sound levels, duct size, fan size and of course price is always going to play a part.

To learn more about the ENERGY STAR Most Efficient Fans visit www.energystar.gov/most-efficient/me-certified-ventilating-fans or the Air King site at www.airkinglimited.com

Duct it right – how to properly duct your exhaust fans

You did your homework, picked the perfect exhaust fan for your room and are now ready to install it. You have now entered a make or break crossroads in the installation process - how are you going to connect the ducting to the fan.

Okay maybe that is a bit dramatic, but the ducting is a key element to the installation process. There are basically two scenarios you will be faced with, existing ducting and new ducting. If you are replacing an old fan, there is probably ducting already in place. It is very important that the ducting be the same size as the new fan’s duct collar. Many older homes utilized 3” or 4” round ducting. Many newer fans are utilizing 6” ducting. Duct reducers are available to make the transition to smaller ducting, but this will increase the sound level of the fan and decrease the performance level – so that perfect fan you just bought, might not be so perfect after all. The best thing to do is to replace the ducting to match the size the fan requires.

With a new installation, you will need to run ducting anyway, so make sure it is the size required by the fan. It doesn’t end there. You also want to use the shortest and straightest ducting possible. This allows the fan to perform at an optimal level. The longer the ducting and the more twists and turns, the less effective the fan will be. While rigid ducting is the best, if you need to use flexible ducting, make sure it is cut to length and as straight as possible. If the ductwork looks like some mythical sea creature, it is probably not an optimal installation. Each twist and turn builds up Static Pressure (SP), which causes the fan to work harder to push the air through. Think of blowing air through a large straw. If it is straight, it’s not all that difficult, but if you bend it a few times, it is a lot harder to blow air through it. Insulating your ducting will also help with any condensation issues. In colder climates, as the warm air passes though the cold ducting, condensation builds up and can actually cause water to come back through the ducting and into the room.

To finish the ducting installation, you want to make sure the air is making it outside of the home. The worst thing you can do is have air blowing directly into your attic or wall cavity. Air coming from a bathroom will most likely be hot humid air, over time that will build up in the form of mold and mildew. Making sure all seams are sealed is also critical. If air is leaking out of the ducting as it comes through, it is not making it to where it needs to go. Using a properly sized roof, wall or gable mounted cap will ensure that the air is going where it needs to go.

To learn more about exhaust fans and ventilation visit www.airkinglimited.com.