After a long winter, summer weather brings us out of our homes and into nature; however, with hotter temperatures, Calgary residents might find themselves back inside enjoying a brief respite. In both seasons, ventilation is important because it improves the air quality in your home in several ways:
- It helps you save money on energy use.
- Home comfort is enhanced because circulation of conditioned air increases.
- The quality of your indoor air increases when air moves around.
There are several ways you can increase the air circulation in your home through ventilation:
- You can achieve ventilation through natural means, which is accomplished by opening doors and windows. This is not practical, however, if the weather requires the use of A/C.
- Another natural means of ventilating is through air leaks, which generally occur in older homes. As construction practices have improved, homes no longer have naturally occurring leaks and are tightly sealed. Regardless, using air leaks as natural ventilation is not ideal, because you can lose a significant amount of conditioned air — and money — as it escapes.
- Mechanical ventilation systems are often the best solution for homeowners who use air conditioning and have a tightly-sealed home.
There are four components of your HVAC system that accommodate ventilation:
Exhaust, supplied by bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans
Supply, often provided through a separate duct that draws fresh air into the home and sends it through your HVAC system
Distribution, accomplished through the ductwork
Controls, normally installed with the ventilation system to operate exhaust, supply and distribution
It’s likely that your home already has some of these components. Installing a mechanical ventilation system is a matter of retrofitting existing components to the system that you select.
Do you need more air circulation? Does your house feel closed up? What’s your indoor air quality like? Have you considered ventilation? Contact the experts at Arpi’s. We are happy to answer your questions about ventilation and walk you through the options that will help improve the quality of your home’s air.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about fostering your indoor air with ventilation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Arpi’s services Calgary, Alberta. Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!
