Asking the right questions when buying a home

Even through a pandemic people are buying and selling homes. When buying a home there are the standard questions that are asked – How much are they asking? How many bedrooms / baths? Square footage and so forth. But there is now a new question that is being asked on a more regular basis. What is the indoor air quality of the home? For most buyers, that is not a question that would have even crossed their minds a year ago. Designers and builders now understand that a home with good indoor air quality is not only meeting code, but has become a selling feature.

In an article by Jamie Gold that was published on the Forbes website earlier this year, she lists Indoor Air Quality as the first item for trends in residential wellness design. The COVID pandemic, quarantining, lock-downs and everything associated with it has put a lot of stress on a lot of lives. One positive we can take from all of this is a renewed awareness of how important our living environment is. As Jamie explains, a key feature is the indoor air quality of our home. So how do you know if you are buying a home with good IAQ? There are a few questions to ask as well as items to observe when viewing a potential home.

1. Does the home have any air exchange system built into it. This can be something like an ERV or exhaust fans and some type of mechanical system to bring fresh air into the home (you can learn more about these systems in our The Air Exchange post).
2. Does it have properly installed exhaust fans and a range hood that vents to the outside?
3. Do you notice any moldy or musky smells when you walk through the home?
4. Do you notice any mold or mildew build-up in the home, especially around and in the shower area?
5. What is the highest rated filter the HVAC system can handle? This might be a hard one to answer on the spot and you might have to ask the manufacturer of the system. Hopefully they have it posted in their user manual.
6. Is there a build up of dust in the home? While there are many things that can cause dust, including a lack of a cleaning schedule, a home that is properly exchanging air should have less build up.
7. Is there any technology built into the home? Items such as CO2 monitors (not just detectors but sensors that monitor the air quality and will turn exhaust or air intake systems on to mitigate), automated ventilation systems with either occupancy or humidity controls, smart thermostats and so forth.

This list is a good starting point but there are plenty of other good questions to be asked. If you are building a new home ensuring the proper equipment is being installed is a must. Take the time to meet with your builder to discuss these items. A few minutes of planning up front can have a lifetime of benefit as you will be spending a very large portion of your daily life in your home. Also, just because your find something on this list in a home you are viewing doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue purchasing it. Many of these items are very easily correctable. If you are looking at older homes, there is a good chance you will find most of these items are not up to where they need to be – that is to be expected. Hopefully you are now a little more aware and prepared as enter the process of buying a home. Happy house hunting.

Indoor Air Quality Products – What are the best options?

It seems like the entire world is talking about indoor air quality products, aerosols, spreading of viruses and so forth. There are also a lot of IAQ products on the market today that are putting some fairly aggressive claims out there. Everyone’s favorite is “Kills 99.9% of….”. We always like how they keep the 0.1% open just in case. In this post we are going to take a look at some of the more popular IAQ solutions currently being offered.

Air Filtration
Products that filter the air either coming into a space or the air already in a space have fairly universal acceptance with air quality experts. The downside of air filtration is, and this is going to sound obvious, it only filters air moving through the filter. In other words, if viruses and particles are not being drawn into the filters, they will not have any effect. Filters can be installed in many places. Most commonly they will be in the HVAC system but portable as well as installed air filtration devices are also effective. A negative about filters is they need to be replaced on a regular basis to stay effective. Another challenge is having the right filter in place. Studies have found that filters with a MERV rating of 13 or higher are effective in capturing contaminates and viruses. HEPA filters provide the highest level of filtration with MERV16 filters being a very close second. The issue is simply adding a HEPA filter to your HAVC system or mounting it to a box fan can cause other issues. HVAC systems are usually calibrated for a MERV8 filter which is good for most pollutants but when you get down to virus level, they are not doing much. Adding a higher rated filter is going to restrict the airflow, and could cause damage to your HVAC system or considerably reduce the life of a box fan. You should consult the manufacturer for the highest rated filter you can use in your system.

Air Movement Products – Exhaust Fans and Air Intake products
As with air filters, air movement products have a universal acceptance with IAQ experts as being a good solution. As you see more and more articles citing poor ventilation as a cause, it become clear that ventilation and air movement products are good solutions. These include exhaust fans to move the “bad” air out of a space and air intake products to bring fresh air into a space to replace the “bad” air. When it comes to viruses, studies are showing you are less likely to contract a virus in outdoor spaces than indoor. A main reason is the outdoor air dilutes the viral load (concentration of viruses) to a point it is not as contagious. Exhausting air while bringing fresh air in is using this same principle – remove and dilute. With exhaust and air intake products we are now talking about an installed item so there is an upfront cost but these are also going to be some of the most effective, long term solutions. As with filters, exhaust and intake fans are only going to work if they are operating so it is important you utilize products that will run continuously providing constant air exchanges.

Ultraviolet Light Products
These products output high doses of UV light that claim to kill viruses when exposed. They can be added to the HVAC system or as their own system. Hospitals have been and continue to use UV-C to sterilize rooms. UV-C has been shown to be effective at killing viruses. The issue is the time of exposure needed to effectively kill viruses as well as the intensity. The other issue is UV – especially UV-C light is harmful to humans. Therefore it is important that these products are installed by professionals and used according to the manufacture’s recommendation. This also makes them a bit expensive. UV-A has not shown as wide a level of acceptance. You see these added to products and the disconnect seems to be in what can be proven in a lab and what can be proven in a real world setting.

Ionizers
This is another emerging technology that has some things that sound good, but also some red flags. Ionizers output charged ions that seek out viruses and contaminates and attach themselves to them. By doing so, they increase the weight, causing it to drop to the floor quicker (think about the 6 foot social distance recommendation). They also increase the size of the virus, making it easier to capture in an air filter. Now you might only need a MERV8 instead of a HEPA. Everything sounds good so far but here is the catch. To produce the ions many (not all) will also produce ozone, which is bad. Another issue is that ions only trap viruses; they do not kill them so you need a filtration device to remove the trapped particles. When looking at portable ionizers it is debatable if they can produce enough ions to be effective for the space.

Conclusion
Indoor Air Quality experts seem to agree that proper ventilation, fresh air and filtration are very effective in removing contaminates from the air we are breathing. They also agree that any one of these used individually is not a magic solution, so using a combination of these solutions is most effective. Past air movement and filtration it gets a little less clear. Technologies like UV and Ionizers may work, but further studies and real world testing needs to be done before there is a universal stamp of approval. If you do utilize UV or Ionizers, make sure you do your homework to ensure they are providing what they say they are and they are doing it in a safe way that does not have bad side effects.

To learn more about Air King’s fresh air solutions visit www.airkinglimited.com/fresh-air

Sick Building Syndrome Solutions

A term that is being used a lot more these days is Sick Building Syndrome or SBS. What is Sick Building Syndrome? Wikipedia defines it as: “A condition in which people in a building suffer from symptoms of illness or become infected with chronic disease from the building in which they work or reside.” Sounds a little scary. SBS can affect the health as well as the productivity of people working in the building. This is not a new concept and now it is expanding to Sick Home Syndrome.

As more people are spending more time indoors making sure your home or workplace is “healthy” is even more important. A lot of issues boil down to the Indoor Air Quality of the area. There are some fairly simple things you can do to identify issues in your workplace/home. They can be broken down into three areas of concentration:

Common Symptoms Between Occupants
Are there any common symptoms with people sharing the area? Do people complain about headaches, dizziness, being stuffy and so forth? Do they say it gets better when they are outside of the space? Many of these symptoms can look the same as allergies but can also be a tell tale sign of something bigger. Common symptoms are a big one as if people are experiencing symptoms; it probably means something needs to be addressed immediately.

Physical Signs
Are there any signs around the office or home such as mold or mildew growing or large areas of dust or dirt build-up? Are there items being stored indoors that shouldn’t be – gas, paint, cleaners or other odor emitting items? We refer to this as stopping it at the source.

Smells
Are there any smells that seem stagnant or just bad – think old socks. Some people will describe a “moldy” smell – that is not good and means that something is contaminating the air. Even good smells can be harmful (not all, but some can). Scented sprays, candles, aromas from cooking can smell good, but can also be contaminating the air.

Okay, now that we have identified the issues, what do we do now? Some solutions are certainly simpler than others. In the case of contaminates being stored indoors – move them outside the living or working area. Others are a little more complicated and difficult to address. We suggest a three-phase approach:

Remove
As we already stated, remove any contaminants that are contributing to bad indoor air quality but remove can also apply to the air. Properly using all of your exhaust fans (bath fans, range hoods and so forth) can have a huge effect on your IAQ. Exhausting stale, bad air removes it from being breathed in or staying stagnant. A good example of this is a smoky bar. Thankfully most bars and restaurants no longer allow smoking inside but go with us with this. If there is no ventilation, the bar continues to fill up with smoke to a point that you can’t see two feet in front of you. Now you and everyone else in that bar are breathing in the cloud of smoke (contaminants). Add ventilation to the mix and that smoke is directed out of the bar greatly reducing or even eliminating any smoke in the room. While most workplaces don’t allow smoking indoors, people are exhaling carbon dioxide and other contaminates are building up just from the normal daily activities. If they are not being directed outside of the building, that means they are staying stagnant inside and being breathed in just like that cloud of smoke in the bar example.

Dilute
Part B of Remove is diluting or more accurately, replacing the air you remove with fresh air. This can be done by opening a window or door or using a mechanical solution such as the Air King fresh air intake products that brings controlled and filtered air into the space. This creates a constant exchange of air that prevents contaminants from building up in the space.

Filter
Making sure the HVAC system is properly fitted with effective air filters that are maintained on a regular basis is a must. The system should be using the highest rated filter that is can without decreasing the performance of the unit. In older systems adding additional filtration devices might be necessary.

So the bad news is that SBS is a real thing that needs to be addresses and can cause issues at home and work. The good news is that it can be addresses and improved. While there is no magic solution or one size fits all remedy, using the technics suggested can have a positive impact on the Indoor Air Quality of your home or workspace. If you believe your building or home is “sick”, we suggest consulting a HVAC expert who can assess and test your space and help you identify how to increase your indoor air quality.

To learn more about Air King’s exhaust fans, range hoods and fresh air intake solutions, visit www.airkinglimited.com.

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

Ventus – A Ventilation Story

When the typical person hears the word ventilation it can call to mind different pictures. For most it probably is thought of as a fairly new technology routed somewhere in the mind 1900’s. The fact that you are reading this blog probably means ventilation means exhaust fans and range hoods. You would not be wrong, but we are going to go a little deeper and look back through the ages at ventilation.

Let's start with the word “ventilation”. It comes from the Latin word ventilatio which has its root in the word ventus, meaning wind. In the ventilation field we use terms such as exhaust and air movement which at its root is wind (moving air).

Next, we’ll trace back to the origins of ventilation devices. It might come as a surprise that it can be traced back to thousands of years BC. As humans began to bring fire into the houses/structures they built to either heat them or cook with, it quickly became evident that they had to get rid of the smoke created. The first form of ventilation was a chimney. Archeologists have found examples throughout the years of chimneys being used. The earliest is probably in China approximately 4000 BC. Other significant finds include Roman homes that had a hole in the roof to direct smoke. Thousands of years later we are still using this same technology. A little updated to the times, but in essences the same basic principle.

Another milestone in the history of ventilation was in the 17th century. King Charles I of England recognized that poor ventilation was causing health problems and he decreed that the ceilings in homes must be at least 10 feet high and that windows must be higher than they are wide to allow for ventilation.

Skipping ahead a few hundred years and we come to the 1920’s/1930’s where modern ventilation was created. While chimneys were okay, they were not as effective as they needed to be. The solution was to add a motor to the chimney and force the smoke up and out of the home. This was the first range hood. With most homes now having indoor bathrooms and especially showers, the need for ventilation increased even more and the same technology was now being used in the bathrooms to exhaust steam and odors.

From that first range hood in the early 1900’s we have seen a lot of advancements in the ventilation field. Technology has allowed exhaust fans and range hoods to become more energy efficient, quieter and more effective. Recently even more emphasis has been placed on indoor air quality. Ventilation is a key component of good indoor quality and the more we continue to learn, the more we are finding that a properly ventilated home is a much healthier home. I guess King Charles I did know what he was talking about hundreds of year ago.

To learn more about indoor air quality or ventilation fans browse through the Air King blog or visit www.airkinglimited.com.

The Air Exchange

When you hear the term Air Exchange what comes to mind? Some picture a place like where you exchange your gas grill propane tank, some think of a returns department. Even those who have heard the term sometimes don’t fully understand what it really is. 

On the surface air exchange is a fairly simple concept. Taking the air inside your home and replacing it (or exchanging it) with fresh outdoor air. Not all that difficult to understand. The complexity comes in on how that is done. Lets first get an understanding of what an air exchange is.

Air Exchange is the number of times the air inside your home is replaced with fresh outdoor air. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAR) recommends at least an air exchange every 3 hours. Exchanging air is typically done by having a continuous source of fresh air coming into the home while exhausting the stale air out. So far everything still seems fairly straightforward. Good air in, bad air out – easy. The challenge comes in calculating exactly how much. Bringing too much in and you put unneeded stress on your HVAC system. Not brining enough in and now your indoor air quality suffers. Here is where we need to do a little math. Not to worry, this is fairly simple math. If you have a 1,000 square foot home with 8-foot ceilings you have approximately 8,000 cubic feet of air in your house. Exchanging the air once every 3 hours will mean that you need to move about 2,700 cubic feet of air an hour. Now divide that by 60 (60 minutes in an hour) and you get approximately 45 cubic feet per minute (CFM).  That would be for a home that has zero natural air infiltration. To get a better picture of how much air is actually needed, we need to look at different types of homes.

Older, drafty home. If you have an older home that has drafts, the good news and the bad news is the same news. The good is that you have a natural flow of fresh air coming into your home. Engineers call this natural air infiltration – the rest of the world calls this a draft. The bad part of a drafty home is that you have no way of controlling the air and your utility bills are probably high. For these types of homes it is important that you are properly ventilating the home with bathroom exhaust fans and a kitchen range hood but typically you do not need any additional equipment to ensure fresh air is coming in. The amount of air coming in is going to naturally “push” the stale indoor air out. Adding insulation, sealing doors and windows and so forth can reduce the amount of drafts, which is a good thing, but keep in mind that you may need to add a mechanical solution to bring fresh air in.

The Goldilocks House. Not too drafty but not too tight. These homes are typically a few years old (10 to 20) or an older home that has been renovated. They have a good balance of natural air infiltration but not so much that they would be considered “drafty”. In these houses ventilation is important but you might also need to add some type of system to bring fresh air in. Calculating how much as we have mentioned above gets a little tricky. Using our 1,000 square foot home example we calculated that you need 45 CFM but if you have a natural air infiltration of 10 CFM now you only need 35 CFM. To determine these numbers you will need to consult an HVAC professional. They are able to run tests on your home to see what your true infiltration rate is.

The Tight Home. These are typically homes that have been built in the past 10 or so years to the higher building standards. They are called tight homes because there is little to no natural air infiltration. This is great for the heating and cooling cost, but not so good for indoor air quality and air exchanges. The good news is that building codes include provisions for a mechanical solution to exchange the air – venting the stale air out and brining fresh air in. There are a number of solutions that are able to do this without a noticeable impact on the HVAC system. It wouldn’t make sense to build a home to gain all the advantages of a tight home, then turn around and lose all of that because you need to bring fresh air in. One of the best systems on the market is either an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) or a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV). Both “recover” the lost energy by tempering the air coming into the home.

To learn more about air exchanges and indoor air quality visit https://www.ashrae.org/

For information about exhaust fan options as well as ERV and HRV units, visit www.airkinglimited.com

Saving Energy During a Pandemic

As working from home and schooling from home continues to be the norm, a side effect can be higher energy usage and bills. Having two, three, ten computers running, every light in the home plus increased pressure on the HVAC system can quickly add up. Here are a few tips to keep the energy usage down.

Use LED Lights

With an increased need for lighting, it is even more critical that the most energy efficient types of bulbs be used. LED bulbs are over 75% more efficient than standard bulbs. Stop and think how many and how long your lights are on during a day, then think about how much you can save if they were LEDs. While switching to LED bulbs is a huge savings, turning off lights is even better.

Location, Location, Location

Typically you hear this term in the real estate business, but it holds very true when working and schooling from home. If possible choose a location in your home that has plenty of natural light. This will allow you to turn off the lights as we mentioned above. Another consideration is with many families converting spaces into offices or schoolrooms, it is important to be strategic on placement. Make sure not to cover up HVAC vents or returns that would cause the system to have to work harder. Shared spaces can be difficult, especially if interactive meetings are taking place. If possible, having everyone in one room can save energy by only needing to condition and light one room rather that multiple rooms throughout the home.

Use Portable Fans

In many cases, all that is needed to keep the room comfortable is either a portable fan in the warmer months or a portable heater in the cooler months. These use a fraction of the electricity that your HVAC unit needs. Air King and Lasko offer a wide range of residential and light commercial options.

Turn Items Off

If you have children, then you have probably at one point in your life (or every 10 minutes) walked into an empty room that has every light in that room turned on. No matter how many times you tell them to turn the lights off when they leave the room, there it is – every light still turned on. For sanity sake, just accept the fact that your job as a parent is to follow them around and turn the lights off. Turing lights off however are just one way to keep the energy usage down. Turning off other items such as computer and monitors when not in use can have a positive effect also. Most electronics nowadays have some sort of energy savings mode (sleep mode) but even in these modes, they are still using energy. Turing electronics completely off when not in use is the best way to save. Another consideration is once the workday or school day is complete, turn everything off and get away from them. This will save energy and give your eyes and body a break. How many times have you or your children finished a full day of online school or work meetings just to leave the computer and go right to the TV to binge watch the new series. Try going for a walk or having a cup of coffee outside (making sure to turn the lights off before you leave).

Washing

Being home most of the day can lead to some habits that could be costing you in energy usage. Things like doing laundry can have a large effect. There might be the temptation to do a small load of laundry each day instead of waiting for a full load. We absolutely get it that doing laundry for most people is not on the top ten list of enjoyable activities in the home. Doing smaller loads throughout the week instead of one big laundry day might be preferred but it will more than likely come at a cost of using a noticeably more amount of energy. Air-drying clothes will save a significant amount of energy. It will also get you out of the house and away from the screen. If you turn off the lights when you leave, you now have hit on multiple energy saving tips with one activity! Washing dishes is similar to clothes. A dishwasher’s energy efficiency is predicated on running full loads. Avoiding the temptation of running the dishwasher after every meal will save energy.

For more tips on how to save energy within the home visit www.airkinglimited.com or the ENERGY STAR® website at www.energystar.gov