Want to Save Energy and a Few Dollars?

Now that we are in the heart of the summer almost all of us are seeing those energy bills skyrocket upwards. So how do we save energy without spending a ton of money to do so? Thankfully there are a few easy and cost effective things we can do that are little to no cost.

Windows

While replacing older windows with ENERGY STAR certified ones is a great way to save money, it can be really expensive. A simple way to help is to utilize curtains or shades. Make sure they are closed when the hot sun is out. This will help to deflect some of the heat coming in. This technique can also be utilized in the winter except you keep the curtains open to let the heat in instead of keeping it out. Best part about this is it cost no money (assuming you already have curtains or shades in place).

Thermostat

In the summer time raising the temperature a couple of degrees can have a big effect on your cooling costs. A great way to offset the higher temperature is to utilize a portable fan or your ceiling fans. While these fans do use energy it is significantly less that your HVAC unit. While portable fans won’t technically cool the room, the air movement makes it feel cooler (you can read our blog – Do Fans Cool for more info). If you already have the portable fans, this is an no cost way to save.

Exhaust

If you are in an area where the nighttime temperatures drop to a comfortable level, exhausting all of the hot air out of the home and replacing it with the cool outdoor air is a great options. The best option is if you have a window fan that is powerful enough to exhaust the entire home like the Air King 9166. You can either bring the cooler air in or exhaust the hot indoor air out. If you have a box fan or other type of fan, this can be utilized as well. ONE CAUTION – make sure the fan you are using is rated for use in a window and never use a fan if it is raining. Depending on if you have fans or not, this can be a no added cost option. If you do need to buy a fan, the prices can range from small to significant.

Water Heater

This might seem like an odd one but a majority of water heaters are not set correctly. Does your hot water get to a temperature that is so hot you can’t handle it? This probably means it is set too high and you are paying to over heat the water. If it is too hot, you can adjust the top temperature of the water heater, which will save you money. This might take some trial and error to get it right but it will be worth it in the end. Going away for a week? Turn the temperature down considerably so you are not heating water you will never use. NOTE: make sure to remember to turn the temperature back up when you return. Once again this is a zero cost to you item you can do.

Light Bulbs

This is one that we have suggested in many of our other blog posts but it still holds try. While there is a cost to this, it is worth it to replace any incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs with LED. LED bulbs use a fraction of the energy and in general last a lot longer.

These are just a few things that can save energy and save you money. We would love to hear your ideas.

To learn more about Air King air circulator fans including window fans use the menu bar at the top of the page. Also read through our other energy saving blog posts.

Am I Building Code Compliant?

For most of us when we hear the question asked; Am I building code compliant, the answer is I have no idea. Codes can get complicated even for building professionals. For most of the population, building codes are not something we need to deal with as we leave it to the professionals. With that being said, it is very helpful to have an understanding of the codes in your area. Building codes are broken down into basically three levels – National, State and then County or City. In order to keep this post to less than a billion pages (maybe a slight exaggeration) we are not going to list every code across the entire country. There are some great online resources that can guide you through the codes in your area. Sites like UpCodes can give you a quick overview.

So why is knowing if you are building code compliant important?

Building codes are in place for a reason. They are written and designed to help maximize things like safety, energy efficiency and so on. When building a home or with a major renovation there are multiple inspections that need to be passed. While most people classify these inspections into the “what a hassle” category, they are extremely important and in place for our own well being. Where things can go sideways is when it is a smaller job or one that does not require a permit. A “for instance” is an exhaust fan installation. Generally this is a project that does not require a permit and is a very popular do-it-yourself one. It might be replacing an old fan or installing a new one. The challenge is knowing if what you are doing complies with building codes in your area. Many states are now adopting new energy efficient standards when it comes to exhaust fans. So going into your local home improvement store and picking out whatever fan they have on the shelf might not match up with the code. While there are some expectations, most of the new codes for exhaust fans are written to ensure an ENERGY STAR® certified fan is being used. Having a basic understanding of the codes in your area can help with DIY projects as well as with conversations with your contractor if you are using one. It will hopefully give you a better understanding as to why they might be doing things a certain way or using different materials that what you expect.

So what should I do about codes?

Air King is always going to recommend that you consult a building professional to make sure you are fully covered and building code compliant. With that being said we don’t want to scare you off from completing the projects you want to do. Taking some time to so a little research in regards to the codes in your area could have a huge impact on keeping you compliant and safe. It can also be a big factor if you plan to sell your home. The last thing you want is for a home inspection during the sale process to reveal all the things that are not up to code.

While Air King can’t help with things like if you need an extra support beam or if you have enough outlets installed, we can help with your ventilation and fresh air intake. To learn more about energy efficient options that comply with most codes across the country visit airkinglimited.com and look for the ENERGY STAR® logo.

What is Air Exchanges Per Hour?

When talking about ventilation the term Air Exchanges Per Hour is probably going to come up, but what is it? The simple answer if how many times the air inside your home is replaced by either outside or filtered air per hour. Think of it this way – if you have a glass full of water and you pour it all out, then fill it back up with water you have exchanged the water in the glass one time. The same holds true with air but it is a little more difficult to see.

How is the air exchanged?

Air exchanges take place in one of three main ways.

Exhaust Fans: Exhaust fans are one of the most effective ways to exchange the air in your home. They take the stale indoor air and exhaust it to the outdoors allowing fresh air to replace it. National building codes now require a continuously running fan to be installed in all homes for this very reason.

HVAC system: Your HVAC system also helps provide air exchanges but there are some challenges with using this as the only method. The biggest one is that the system has to be running in order to provide air exchanges. You can set your system to just run the fan, but this is a very inefficient way to exchange air in your home. Another challenge is for this to be effective, the system needs to be drawing fresh air into the home or have filters installed that will take out the “bad” stuff. A good amount of HVAC systems do not draw fresh air in – you can check with your technician. As for the filters, most systems utilize a MERV 6 or MERV 8 filter. These are good for capturing dust and larger particles but when it comes to the stuff we are really trying to remove, they are not as effective. It is recommended that a MERV 13 or above be used, but not all HVAC systems can handle that (see our blog on Filters).

Natural exchange: It sounds so nice – Natural, but there are also some issues with this method. Most of the time this means opening a window or door and letting the air come in. If you have a nice breeze blowing on a moderate temperature day with good outdoor air quality (low pollen, smog, etc.) this is a good way to exchange the air. The big issue is you can’t control how much air is coming in or what is in the air. A second and significant issue it temperature, think Texas in the summer or Minnesota in the winter. Opening doors and windows probably is not an option.

Why are air exchanges important?

A key component to Indoor Air Quality is air exchanges. When we are not properly exchanging the air we allow all kings of contaminates to linger in the air. Think of a smoky bar room. Without any ventilation or air exchanges the smoke just lingers in the air. While hopefully our homes are not full of smoke, they are full of contaminates in the air caused by breathing, cooking, pets, and just general everyday living. Having a plan to continually remove these contaminates is key to better living. 

How many air exchanges per hour should take place?

This is where we come to the great debate. Home many air exchanges are needed, what is too little, what is too much. There is always a balance and as we learn more about our indoor air quality the numbers can change. As of this posting ASHRAE, who sets most of the building standards when it comes to indoor air quality recommends that a minimum of 0.35 air exchanges per hour occur in your home. Other organizations recommend up to 5 per hour. Our thought is that 5 per hour might be a bit extreme and will definitely have a negative effect on the efficiency of the home in that you have to condition all that air coming in to replace the air going out. With that being said, lets examine what 0.35 exchanges per hour looks like. For a 1,000 square foot home with 8-foot ceilings you have 8,000 cubic feet of space. Divide 8,000 by 60 (minutes) to get 133. Now times 133 by 0.35 to get 46.67. This is the amount of CFM you would need to provide the recommended air exchanges per hour. ASHRAE also provides a calculator that is a bit more involved to determine how much continuous ventilation your home needs. You can access the calculator on the Air King site by clicking here.

For more information about the indoor air quality of your home and how you can improve it, please read through the many articles we have written over the years. For information regarding Air King exhaust fan and fresh air intake solutions visit airkinglimited.com.

 

When you walk into a room, office, business or a home do you ever stop and think – is the indoor air safe here. Four years ago our guess is that maybe one in a thousand people would ask that question. Now it might be one out of ten or more. The fact that more people are asking that question is a good thing to our overall health and well-being, the challenge is how do we tell if it is safe or not?

To answer that question we have to look at it a few different ways. There is a scientific method that tests the air for contaminates. Some of these can be fairly low tech/low cost, while others cost a significant amount. One that has gained a lot of popularity is a CO2 monitor. As it’s name suggests, it tells you the level of CO2 in the space at any given time. The lower cost ones just tell you the amount of CO2 at the time of the reading, more expensive ones can actually take multiple reading over the course of time so you can track it and get an average. Why is CO2 important? Since CO2 is what we exhale a monitor can tell us if proper ventilation or a stream of fresh air is coming into the space to dilute the air. This in theory would also give us an indication if other contaminates or viruses are hanging around in the air. For instance: if you are in a room with 20 other people and you get a CO2 reading of say 1000, you know that the room is not ventilated very well and all kinds of “bad” things could be lingering in the air. Now open a window or turn on a ventilation fan and you should see that number drop significantly. The theory being if the CO2 is leaving the room or being diluted so will all those “bad” things as well.

Now we know that most people are not going to walk around taking CO2 readings, especially if you were invited as dinner guests. Talk about awkward. So what are other indicators of poor indoor air quality? Here are a few things to look for or be aware of:

1. What is the size of the room and how many people are in the room – does it feel like you are packed in like sardines?
2. Are there lingering odors (good or bad)? If so, this indicates that the room may not have a good flow of air.
3. Do you see any type of air filtration system or an air purifier in the room? Some of these are easy to see, others are a little more difficult as they might be working behind the scenes like a ventilation fan or fresh air intake system.
4. Are there windows in the room and are they open? Better yet, is there a window fan in them?

Our hope is this gives you a few simple points to help answer the question – is the indoor air safe in the place I am entering. There are a host of other things like asking about the HVAC air filters, what the air exchange rate for the builder is, what is the fresh air mixture for the HVAC and so on. These require a bit more involvement and can not be answered by simply walking into a location and looking around.

While we might not be able to identify a 100% safe location, we can utilize these tips to help reduce risk. The common theme in all of this is that the more ventilation, filtration and fresh air coming into a location, the better. Stagnant, poorly ventilated areas are going to be the highest risk.

For more information about indoor air quality read our other blog posts. For information regarding Air King exhaust fan and fresh air intake solutions visit airkinglimited.com.

Making Sense of What Air Filter to Use

You hear terms like MERV, HEPA and more when it comes to air filters but what do they all mean? It can get a bit confusing. In this post we hope to clear up some of the confusion out there and guide you to what air filter is best in some of the more common locations.

First let's look at the types of filters. The two most common are HEPA, which stands for High-Efficiency Particle Air filter. Sounds fancy. Basically a HEPA filter is the top of the line. It is going to capture the most particles and the “bad” things in the air. Next is MERV, which stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values. MERV filters will also have a number after them like 8, 11, 13, 16 and so on. The number is the key component, as this will tell you how effective the air filter is in capturing particles. The higher the number the more it will capture.

At first glance most people would say it is an easy decision to just use the best, highest rated filter for everything. Unfortunately it isn’t that easy. Air filters are a balance of working efficiently and capturing contaminates. What happens is that the higher the efficiency of the air filter, the more restrictive the airflow through the filter.

That brings us to the main point of this post – what air filter to use. This is a little bit of a trick question. The answer is it depends on the situation. Let's take a look at the more common areas of the home that benefit from air filters.

HVAC System: This is a key component of the home and one you definitely want to get the air filters correct in. The HVAC system is going to provide air to the entire home so it makes sense that we want it to be the best it can be. As we stated earlier the temptation is to utilize HEPA filters then sit back and enjoy all that high quality air floating through the home. Sounds great but most current HVAC systems cannot handle HEPA filters. The filters constrict the airflow and can actually cause damage to the system or reduce the life of the system. We are hopeful that as technology advances so will the filtration systems. So what do we do? Enter in MERV. Most systems can handle up to a MERV 11 filter. While not a HEPA filter it still provides high quality filtration and will remove items like Pollen, Mold, Dust, Pet Dander, and Debris. What are missing from this list are items such as viruses, bacteria and allergens. To filter these out you need to move up to a MERV 13 or higher. You should always consult your HVAC professional to see what the highest rated filter your systems can handle is.

Portable Air Filtering Devises: If the HVAC system is unable to remove some of the more hazardous items or you don’t have a central system, we need to turn to other methods. Room level units are a good alternative. Here is where we go for the gold and you should look for a unit that is using a HEPA filter. There are a lot of these units on the market and they have varied effectiveness. You will also see units with added items like UV, IONs and so forth. The jury is still out a bit on the added technology so our recommendation is to focus on the HEPA air filter aspect of the unit. The downside to these units is they typically can only filter small areas (might need one for each room you use) and the filters can get a bit expensive to replace.

Air Intake Units: Many home, especially newer homes are required to have what is referred to as a fresh air intake system. This is typically a fan that brings outdoor air into the home to replace the air being exhausted out the home. While in most cases an air filter is not mandatory, it can make a very positive impact if it is used. This is also a case where your specific situation will dictate what filter should be used. We have already talked about a HEPA filter but here again we are faced with a HEPA filter restricting the airflow to a point where it may render the unit ineffective. That leads to using a MERV filter, but which one? In general outdoor air can be up to 5 times less polluted than indoor air. This is important because it means the air coming in doesn’t necessarily need to be filtered as much as the air inside the home. One big thing is generally you will not be bringing in viruses from the outdoor air. Most times you only need to be concerned with items like pollen, dust, particles and so forth. A MERV 11 or higher will be fine for that. Now if you live in an area that has high levels of pollution like in or close to a large city or in areas of the country that have wildfires, you might want to consider a MERV 16. MERV 16 filters are able to remove items like smoke, smog and even viruses.

So how do we bring this all together? At the root of this is improving indoor air quality. To do this takes a group effort. Just having good filters in your HVAC system won’t be enough just like having only a portable air filter won’t do it either. Developing a strategy is key. Having a proper ventilation system (bad air out) while bringing in filtered outdoor air will greatly improve the indoor air quality. Now add the highest rated filters you can to your HVAC system as well as a portable air filter and you’re onto something. Air King has developed what we refer to as the Total Home Ventilation system that utilizes air intake and exhaust to create a better living environment. To learn more about the system click here. Also make sure to view portable solutions from our Germ Guardian division.

For more information about the indoor air quality of your home and how you can improve it, please read through the many articles we have written over the years. For information regarding Air King exhaust fan and fresh air intake solutions visit airkinglimited.com.

A lot has been made recently about gas stoves and indoor air quality. Claims are being made that gas stoves can cause health issues and should be banned. Not surprisingly this has create a divide with one side saying absolutely and the other with a no way no how.

One of the key issues at the heart of this debate is that gas stoves produce contaminates during the cooking process including nitrogen dioxide as well as PM2.5 (particulate matter). This is true – contaminates are produced. Now we are not doctors so we are not going to get into the debate of exactly what that means from a health standpoint. We will say this, allowing contaminates to permeate your home is never a good thing no matter what that contaminate is.

Here is where we try and take the middle ground of the two sides of this debate. We agree that gas stoves reduce the indoor air quality of the home, but cooking on electric stoves also produces contaminates (maybe not as many but contaminates are still produced). We also understand that gas stoves are the preferred method of cooking for many people. Our solution – ventilation. We realize your first reaction might be “of course, you’re a ventilation company”. Yes it is true we are a ventilation company but let's look at what is happening during the cooking process.

Our first question is would you set a fire pit in the middle of your living room? Crazy – right, the room would be filled with smoke within a matter of seconds causing you to have to evacuate the house immediately. When a gas stove is used, we are in essence doing the same thing. Now the big difference is that a gas stove is a cleaner burning energy compared to wood so there isn’t the immediate build-up of smoke but the contaminates are still being generated. What needs to happen is for those contaminates to be exhausted out of the house. This is where a properly sized and functioning range hood comes in. Simple – bad air with bad things out, good air in.

The next question we pose is if there is a properly sized and functioning range hood that exhausts to the outside over a gas stove, won’t that greatly reduce contaminate build-up in the home? Even in some of the “shocking” studies that are floating around currently, they agree that ventilation is a key way to improve the indoor air quality.

As we stated earlier, we are a ventilation company so we hope you didn’t expect to get through this entire post without us stating we have the perfect solution? Well we do. Air King produces a wide selection of range hood solutions but here is where we get into the “perfect” solution. Of utmost importance is that the range hood vents to the outside, otherwise it is just recirculating most of those contaminates right back into the home. Second is that the range hood is turned on every time the stove is used – even when baking. A big complaint is always the sound level of range hoods. Don’t worry we have that covered and are almost at that perfect solution we talked about. Third is that the range hood stays on long enough to clear any residual contaminates out that might be hanging around after the cooking is done. Now take any range hood (Air King or others) and you can solve for most of these as many range hoods have the ability to vent to the outdoors, some are on the quieter side and if you keep them on, they will clear the residuals. But we are not satisfied with “good”, we want perfect. Enter in the ECQ and LE series from Air King. Here is what makes them perfect. They vent to the outdoors and they operate at very low sound levels. On low speed they are about the sound your refrigerator makes. Even when you need the full power on high speed they are considerably quieter than other hoods. The “perfect” part is these series have a continuous speed that as named runs constantly. Why is that important? This allows the hood to take care of any residual contaminates that are hanging around as well as if there are any slight leaks from a gas stove. The best part is the sound is barely audible at <0.3 sones (what is a sone – click here). These series are ENERGY STAR® certified and also solve for ASHRAE 62.2 which is an indoor air quality code regarding ventilation of homes.

To bring this all to a close, we fully understand that the debate of gas stoves and indoor air quality will probably rage on for a while. Our request/hope is that we look at all the factors involved before we make wide spread decisions based on some knowledge but perhaps not all the knowledge. Main point, vent your range hood and turn it ON!

For more information about the indoor air quality of your home and how you can improve it, please read through the many articles we have written over the years. For information regarding Air King Range Hood solutions click visit airkinglimited.com.

How Is the Air In Your Office or School?

As we turn the calendar to a new year, we unfortunately are not turning the page on the COVID era. While almost all schools and offices have returned to a somewhat normal (however you now define normal) operation, the question still remains – how is the air in the office or school you are working in or sending your children to?

As our knowledge of COVID has increased our methods of combating it have also gotten better. Long past are the days where people in hazmat suits with foggers are going through public space after someone walks in. There has however been some good things. A focus has been placed on the indoor air quality of our homes, our workplaces and our schools. We are also now understanding that increased indoor air quality not only helps in the battle against COVID but also other viruses like the flu and colds.

So what is your workplace or school doing to improve the health of the working or studying environment? These are great questions to ask but, before you storm down to the HR department we want to encourage you to take a minute to stop, relax, and think of how you can be a part of the solution, working with your company or school rather than just demanding answers.

As we have navigated through all of this there have been some things that have been effective and some we thought were going to be effective but were not (Plexiglas dividers, the magical 6 feet, foggers, and so on). The challenge is always to do the best you can with the knowledge you have at the time, then use the test of time to figure out if it is effective. Through all this ventilation, fresh air and filtration have stood out as very effective ways to fight it. These “technologies” have been around for thousands of years so we think it passes the time test.

So using those test of time technologies lets take a look at what your office or school may be doing our could be doing.

Ventilation: Simply defined it is moving stale or contaminated air out of a given space. The most common way is exhaust fans. Many time people think they are only used in bathrooms or kitchens, but they should be used throughout all spaces. A test to see if the space is being properly ventilated is using a CO2 monitor. If you have a room full of people or kids, as they breath the CO2 level of the room will rise if it is not properly ventilated. Another way is the “human” test. Does the space feel stagnant, have smells and so forth. There are multiple ways a space can be effectively ventilated. Adding exhaust fans, air exchangers or utilizing existing infrastructure are some. Depending on the building there can be some low cost solutions or it might require a larger investment.

Fresh Air: Having a source that brings fresh outside air into the space to replace the exhausted air or at least dilutes it. There are basically two ways to do this. One is passive – doing things like opening windows or doors if it can be done without compromising the safety of the building. A second is mechanical – utilizing a fan to bring in fresh air. This can be done in a standalone unit or as part of the HVAC system. One thing to note about bringing in outdoor air is if you are in an area with very poor air quality such as near forest fires or locations with large air pollution, adding a filtration system to the incoming air is an almost must.

Filtration: Having a system in place that removes contaminates in the air, capturing them in a filter. All HVAC systems will have some type of filter with them. Filters are measured by what they can remove from the air. Filters are typically identified with a MERV rating. A quick explanation of the MERV number is the higher it is, the more effective it will be in removing particles from the air. Filtration is an extremely effective way to fight viruses as it removes them from the air. This goes back to our statement that if the virus is not there, it can’t infect you. We mentioned HVAC systems having filters but sometimes the system cannot handle higher MERV filters without compromising the effectiveness of the HVAC system. This is where portable air filters come into play. Generally room level air filters or air purifiers are very easy to add and in a lot of cases do not cost a lot of money. Utilizing something like the Lasko FF305 Air Flex is a quick and easy way to filter air in office spaces, classrooms or at home. There are additional technologies out there for improving indoor air quality but some of these have not be fully proven yet. You can read more about these in one of our earlier blog post.

Our goal is to give you the tools to create the best possible working, learning and living environments possible. If you have a good ventilation system with a source for air exchange (fresh air coming in) and are filtering the air within the space, you are well on your way. We encourage you to have open and productive conversations with your workplace, school board and so forth to find out what they are doing to ensure these items are taking place.

For more information about Air King’s line of ventilation solutions including exhaust fans, range hoods and fresh air intake, visit airkinglimited.com. Also check out our other posts about ventilation and indoor air quality.