Fresh indoor air is vital for maintaining a healthful and comfortable home. Yet, the vast majority of homes in southern California have poor indoor air quality (IAQ). A major factor affecting IAQ is a lack of daily whole-home ventilation. Without daily air exchange, indoor air becomes stale and stagnant. If you are concerned about the quality of the air inside your San Diego area home, keep reading to learn how a heat recovery ventilator can help.
Heat Recovery Ventilator
A standard balanced ventilation system utilizes two fans that deliver an equal volume of fresh air and exhaust air. By supplying balanced ventilation, you eliminate the risk of pressurizing or depressurizing your home, which can cause back drafting of combustion appliances and disrupt airflow from the supply registers to the return grilles.
A heat recovery ventilator is a whole-home, balanced ventilation system. The advantage of choosing this type of ventilation system is that it uses the heat energy of your home’s indoor air to preheat cooler fresh air supply. This helps minimize your heating bills to enjoy fresh air during the heating months.
During warmer weather in the San Diego area, your heat recovery ventilation system absorbs from fresh supply air so that your A/C doesn’t have to work as much (or at all) to ensure your home has fresh air.
Why Home Ventilation is Important
Newer homes that were constructed with more energy-efficient materials and building methods are excellent for saving energy. Though, as homes are designed to be tighter and more efficient, IAQ tends to suffer. This is also true of retrofitted older homes with insulation and air sealing upgrades.
The problem is that contaminants and moisture become locked inside tight homes when ventilation is lacking. Heat recovery ventilators solve this dilemma and allow you to enjoy fresh air any time of year without significantly increasing the load on your HVAC system.