When it comes to maintaining a healthy home, good ventilation is key. Without proper ventilation, your home can become a breeding ground for pollutants such as mold, dust, and allergens, which can lead to a range of health problems. Fortunately, there are a variety of ventilation options available to homeowners, including whole house ventilation systems.
Types of Ventilation
Before we dive into the benefits of whole house ventilation systems, it’s important to understand the different types of ventilation available.
Natural Ventilation
This is the most basic form of ventilation and involves the use of windows and doors to bring fresh air into the home. While it can be effective in certain situations, such as during mild weather, it’s not always practical or efficient.
Mechanical Ventilation
Mechanical ventilation is the use of fans, vents, and ducts to move air in and out of your home. The most common type of mechanical ventilation is whole-house ventilation, which uses a central fan to exhaust air from your home and draw fresh air in through vents.
Other types of mechanical ventilation include local exhaust fans, which are typically used in kitchens and bathrooms, and spot ventilation, which is used to ventilate specific areas, such as a kitchen or bathroom.
Air ventilation systems work to make indoor air as pleasant as possible; not only do they provide fresh air, but direct CO2 and moisture outside and save energy by recovering heat.
Benefits of Whole House Ventilation Systems
Now that we have a better understanding of the different types of ventilation, let’s take a closer look at the benefits of whole house ventilation systems.
1. Improved Air Quality
Perhaps the most obvious benefit of a whole house ventilation system is improved air quality.
The tight thermal seal on modern homes does wonders for your monthly heating and cooling costs. However, energy-saving insulation can have a negative impact on indoor air quality. Just as good insulation keeps outside air out, it also keeps indoor air in.
Studies show that indoor air can be even more polluted than outdoor air. A whole-home ventilator helps expel indoor air pollutants that might otherwise be trapped inside. Meanwhile, incoming air is filtered to remove outdoor pollutants, which is something that won’t happen if you rely on open windows for fresh air.
By constantly circulating fresh, filtered air throughout the home, these systems can help to remove pollutants such as dust, pet dander, and chemicals. This can be especially beneficial for those who suffer from allergies or respiratory conditions, as it can reduce the amount of irritants in the air.
2. Enhanced Comfort
Other ventilation options, such as bathroom exhaust fans only affect a single room or area. Your bathroom exhaust fan, for instance, can help remove the odour and humidity from your bathroom. But it won’t have any effect on the rest of your home.
In contrast, a whole-home system provides a consistent level of comfort throughout your entire house. By maintaining a constant flow of fresh air, these systems can help to regulate the temperature and humidity levels in your home. This can help to prevent the build-up of condensation, which can lead to issues such as dampness and mould growth.
3. Energy Efficiency
It might seem a little strange to think that mechanical ventilation can save on energy usage and costs. After all, you need to use energy to power the systems in the first place. This is true, but modern systems can use highly-efficient motors and fans that take comparatively little power to operate. Using mechanical ventilation can allow you to make your house more airtight without affecting air quality, reducing heat loss at the same time.
Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems go one step further by passing the air through a heat exchange unit. The extracting fan draws moist air from wet rooms, such as bathrooms, and passes it through the heat exchange matrix, where up to 93% of the heat can be captured.
With a heat recovery unit, a whole house ventilation system can help to reduce your energy bills by reusing the heat that would otherwise be lost in the outgoing air. This means that the system doesn’t have to work as hard to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home, resulting in lower energy costs.
4. Noise Reduction
A whole house ventilation system can also help to reduce noise levels inside your home. By drawing fresh air in from outside, it can reduce the need to open windows and doors, which can be especially helpful for those who live in noisy or busy areas.
5. Eco Friendly
Climate change is a global issue, and reducing our carbon footprint has become essential. MVHR systems play a significant role in reducing energy consumption in buildings and reducing carbon emissions. By using MVHR, buildings can reduce their heating, and cooling requirements by up to 50%. This will result in lower energy bills, and reduced emissions.
Find Out More
Could your home benefit from the advantages of whole house ventilation? Our experts can provide a free consultation to help you understand your air quality and provide advice on the best system for your home. Contact us today to find out more.