Air Quality: Breathe Easy This New Year

As part of your New Year’s resolution this year, add better air quality to the list of your home projects. There is an ever-growing problem with mold and mildew in basements that can lead to allergies such as asthma. Poor attic ventilation in an overheated, humid attic can deteriorate the structure of your house, not to mention that the hot summer air that can’t escape causes your air conditioner to work harder. Each season presents a different set of conditions you must tackle. Resolving these problems is not a mystery and can bring greater protection and relief for you and your house. In addition to the mechanics of adding ventilation, the vast selection of grille covers for wall, ceiling, and floor vents can really help disguise an otherwise unattractive hole and still fit your house. There are new technologies in air distribution and cooling that won’t destroy your historic house, like high velocity tube systems and outdoor compressors that can handle up to four wall mounted condenser units and provide heat as well. These inventions add up to ventilation solutions that work and look good too.

In the summer high humidity and heat need to escape from your house, and in winter stagnant dry air needs to be humidified but at the same time warm moist air that rises in your house still needs to escape. Modern heat and air conditioning do a pretty good job of taking care of this. What most homes lack is an energy efficient method of cleaning the air that is in the house and also adding new fresh air as part of a daily cycle. In addition, the prolonged lingering of spring and fall where you neither heat nor air condition, present a different set of problems. Dust mites, allergens, and especially mold love humidity over 50% leading to low air quality in parts of your home. Adding an outside air-intake with a Hepa filter on the air/heat exchanger can help quite a bit. This will give you the option of exchanging stale inside air with fresh outside air in the transitional seasons, and help replace stagnant air during the heating season without bringing in any outside dust. At the very least you can use the thermostat-fan’s on/auto button separately from the heat/cool to help circulate air and to eliminate dead air zones.

In addition to heat build-up poor attic ventilation can cause insulation and wood to retain moisture leading to premature deterioration in the form or rot. Ventilating your attic is simple and you can do it yourself. Soffit ventilation can be installed on the sides of your home under the roof overhang. Louvered slats and screens in the gable walls allow air to flow into and out of your attic without allowing bugs to do the same. A fan can be added to force the circulation. Wind turbines are another option. Turbines are located on the roof of your house and circulate to draw moisture out. In some cases it may even be prudent to add a ridge vent to you roof.

Dehumidifiers are the solution to basement humidity problems. These electronic devices draw wetness from the air and collect the moisture in a basin. (Some models are equipped with a drain line that can run directly outside or to a sink drain.) As the humidity is removed, so is the breeding ground for mold and mildew.

With some simple additions to your home you can breathe easy knowing your family – and your home – is safe and healthy.