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Whole-House Ventilator
Supplies combustion air to appliances and fresh air for the occupants to
breathe
 US
PLUSAIRE® Gives
fresh air for life!
Some breathtaking facts
about the air you breathe:
- Indoor air pollution is the #1 public
health hazard. (Environmental Protection Agency)
50% of all illnesses are either
caused or aggravated by polluted indoor air. (American College Of
Allergists)
Children, the elderly, and those
suffering with breathing problems or allergies are especially sensitive to
indoor air pollutants. (Dept. Of Consumer Affairs)
US Plusaire®
supplies fresh air to a house, correcting indoor air quality, excessive
condensation and negative air pressure. Tight houses could display any or all of
these symptoms causing health problems for the occupants. A
US Plusaire®
whole house ventilator will provide warmed fresh air at the rate your house is
exhausting or using it in the most cost effective manner.
How US
PLUSAIRE® Works:
Expressed simply, US
Plusaire®
supplies warmed fresh air to your house at a rate equal to or greater than the
rate at which your house is using it.
Mechanical ventilation is when a
fan is used to draw air into the house. Passive ventilation is the same as
opening a window. Air is free to enter as its required. US Plusaire®
uses both methods to bring air into the house.
Firstly air is mechanically drawn
into the house by the furnace fan during the heat cycle, this is the time when
more oxygen is burnt and exhausted up the chimney than at any other time. Air is
also mechanically exhausted by the various fans such as in the bathroom, clothes
dryer, central vacuum, and kitchen causing outside air to be drawn into the
house through US Plusaire®.
Without an entry point for the replacement air it would have to find it's way in
through holes in the house structure, or depressurize the house.
Secondly, when the furnace fan is
off, fresh air is drawn into the house through US Plusaire®
by the combusting appliances such as a wood stove or fire place. The air that is
being combusted must be replaced and US Plusaire®
does this in the most economical way.
Remember for every cubic foot of
air that leaves a house a cubic foot must be brought in to replace it. The
diagram shows the method of installation and the air flows.
Fireplaces, wood stoves and
inserts sometimes experience back drafting. This is generally blamed on the wind
or the chimney not being high enough.
To really solve the problem first it
has to be correctly defined.
Smoke or fumes come out of the
heater when the door is opened, or the fire is difficult to light because of
cold air coming down the chimney. In most cases it's because the house is at a
lower pressure than outside and the air is being sucked backwards down the
chimney. The problem can be worse when it's windy so generally the wind gets the
blame. There is a name for this phenomena, it is called Stack Effect.
Stack Effect is occurring because
the house is acting as a better chimney than the chimney. All of the air within
the house is warmer and more buoyant than the air outside and therefore wants to
rise. If there is an opening in the uppermost part of the house then the warm
air will find it and leak outwards. This creates a powerful draw in the lower
part of the home pulling cold air in through the easiest opening; the chimney.
The areas that leak in the upper most parts of the house are the attic access
hatch, ceiling light fixtures, and poorly fitting windows. Each of these areas
can be reworked to stop the air leaks. By doing this it will not only reduce the
Stack Effect but your heating bills will also be reduced. What cannot be changed
are the various exhaust fans that blow air out of the house. These can create a
Stack Effect which can only be corrected by adding air to the house to balance
the air that is being blown out. The cure to Stack Effect is therefore a
combination of adding adequate ventilation air and sealing the leaks in the
upper most areas of the house. Sealing air leaks only in the basement can
aggravate the situation.
Remember for every cubic foot of
air that leaves a house, a cubic foot of air must be brought in to replace it.
A
US Plusaire® will handle the
ventilation and combustion air, the other measures can be easily corrected by
the homeowner.
The Consumer Federation of
America cites that indoor air pollution is responsible for up to 50% of all
illness. Estimated cost in medical bills and lost work time amount to over $100
billion annually.
The
American Medical Association
has stated that with the reduction of fresh air entering a home, increased
levels of
Radon gas
and other know carcinogens have
been detected. The pollutants are know to cause serious health problems.
Indoor air quality, or lack of
it, can be identified by
the three "B's"
of ventilation. The first "B" is
breathing.
Consider all of the people and pets
breathing in air and out
carbon dioxide.
Each breath reduces the amount of
oxygen that is available within the house. If the house is tight then the oxygen
content will lessen and air quality will deteriorate.
The second "B"
is blowing.
Take into consideration all the fans
within the house, bathroom, kitchen, clothes dryer, central vacuum, power vented
furnace or water heater each of these blows air out, not one is designed to
bring air in to balance itself. Too much air being blown out of a house can lead
to depressurization. Smoke escaping from a
wood stove
is one indication that your house is
being depressurized. Few people realize that they have a down draft problem but
freely admit to having that nice woodsy aroma. That nice woodsy aroma turns to a
nasty creosote smell in the early hours of the morning.
The third "B"
is burning
and concerns all of the appliances that heat
or involve the combustion process. These appliances include a furnace, water
heater,
fireplace, woodstove,
cooker, toaster and toaster oven. When
these appliances are working they simply burn up the oxygen again reducing the
amount available for breathing. If you leave a
fireplace
burning, in the early hours of the
morning, when the fire is nearly out and the furnace comes on, there is enough
draw up the furnace flue to reverse the flow in the
fireplace
chimney, thereby creating a
downdraft and the nasty smell associated with it. This can also work in reverse
where furnace fumes can be drawn out of a flue by a briskly burning fire, these
fumes are dangerous and could lead to
carbon monoxide
poisoning.
If your house is closed up and
does not have adequate ventilation, when morning comes you can actually smell
the residue from the wood fire or the previous days activities, couple these
with the household chemicals and the off gassing from furniture and carpets and
you can see that you are living in a soup of low pressure polluted air. The easy
answer is to open a window in each room however this solution is not always
practical since the air coming in will be cold and your heating bills will go up
very quickly. Obviously you need fresh air but in a controlled fashion and at
the lowest possible cost. What is required is a ventilation system that is able
to supply warmed fresh air, be able to compensate for negative air pressures,
supply combustion air at a place and time when needed and be cheaper to run than
opening a window. Fortunately the
US Plusaire®
system was designed to do exactly
that
Carbon monoxide (CO) is called
the silent killer or the silent threat. This is because it is colorless,
odorless, and silent. It is formed as a by-product of combustion of carbon based
fuels such as natural gas, propane (LPG), coal, coke, furnace oil, kerosene and
wood. Carbon monoxide is absorbed by breathing and is 245 times more absorbent
to the body than oxygen. Symptoms of poisoning can be misdiagnosed as flu since
they are very similar.
-
Persistent, severe
headaches
-
Dizziness and
blurred vision
-
Nausea and
vomiting
-
Confusion,
weakness of muscles
-
Insomnia and
constantly tired
-
Chest pain
-
Fainting
-
Cherry colored
skin
High concentrations of 4000 parts
per million can kill in minutes but lesser amounts can produce any or all of the
above symptoms. A level of nine parts per million is reckoned to be the maximum
safe level over 24 hours which is very little so you can see just how deadly it
is. It is highly recommended that CO detectors be installed in your home at
places recommended by the manufacturer. These detectors can be purchased for
around $30, a small price to pay for protection.
The appliances that can generate
CO within your house are the furnace, boiler, water heater, un-vented fuel
burning heaters and solid fuel burning appliances. The three main problems are
improper installation, chimney or vent blocked by bricks or birds nests etc. and
inadequate ventilation, providing insufficient air to properly fuel the
combustion process.
Improper installation can be
easily checked by referring to the manufacturers installation instructions and
by having your heating system checked yearly by a qualified professional. A flue
system should be checked by a professional at the beginning and end of each
burning season and cleaned accordingly. A flue that is in poor condition will be
easily spotted and the appropriate action taken prior to disaster.
Supplying adequate combustion air
is very simple. A window opened in the room of the appliance is a good, cheap
method but not too practical since it will allow cold air in unless you close it
when the appliance goes off. A better solution is a
US Plusaire®
correctly
sized for the house. It
will supply not only adequate combustion air but also ventilation air to
compensate for any of the exhaust fans that tend to depressurize the house.
Radon is the second leading cause of
lung cancer.
Radon is an odorless invisible
gas that is produced naturally by the decay of the element of uranium. On
average about six atoms of Radon emerge from every square inch of soil per
second. In the air Radon is diluted to about 2 Pico curies per liter of air
which is not dangerous but in concentrations it has been found to cause lung
cancer.
Radon gas can enter a house
through a soil floor or through any crack or hole in or around the basement.
Since prevention is better than
cure it would be wise to prevent any Radon from concentrating within the house.
This can be done in two ways:
First, by sealing up any crack or
hole in the basement wall and covering any earth floor with plastic sheeting.
There are companies that specialize in Radon protection sealing.
The second is to increase the
ventilation in the house so that concentrations cannot build up. All houses
should have a complete air change every three to four hours. This level of air
change has been found to be the most economical balancing air quality with
heating costs.
Supplying adequate air is
very simple. A window opened in each room is a good, cheap method but not too
practical since it will allow cold air to enter. A better solution is a
US Plusaire®
correctly sized for the house. It will supply not only adequate ventilation air
but also combustion air to compensate for any of the combusting appliances that
burn up the oxygen in the house.
In the mid 1970's new houses were
constructed and were advertised as being energy efficient. This trend has grown
to the present. Now the houses are so energy efficient that some people boast of
$300 yearly fuel bills. Building an energy efficient home really meant using
better built windows and doors and sealing up the structure to stop the outside
air from leaking in and the inside air from leaking out.
Unfortunately what was not
apparent was that the older houses had air leaks which supplied combustion and
ventilation air. What was starting to happen was that the energy efficient
houses were becoming tighter and indoor air quality was deteriorating as a
result. The tighter the house the worse the condition. Combustion and
ventilation air is not able to infiltrate into the house and combustion devices
are being starved of air. There is no replacement air for the exhaust fans to
blow out which causes the house to depressurize. Depressurizing a house can lead
to a new set of problems including
carbon monoxide
poisoning. The problem is not confined
to new houses.
Anyone who has renovated with a
few tubes of caulking, new windows, doors or siding, has changed the air
infiltration rate. In every case the cost of heating would be less, but,
tightening up the structure, without considering the need for combustion or
ventilation air, can invite disaster.
Symptoms of a too tight house are
condensation on the windows, smoke escaping from the fireplace or wood stove,
mould or mildew growing in corners or cupboards, residual smoking or cooking
odors and a general stale smell especially in the mornings. Another common sign
is a high humidity level that cannot be corrected.
While these symptoms are
unpleasant and undesirable, symptomatic health problems can be far serious.
Constant headaches, dizziness, sleepiness, watery eyes, breathing difficulties
and in some cases death can be attributed to houses with poor air. Most
susceptible are the very young and the elderly. Asthma sufferers and people with
allergies are especially susceptible to poor quality air.
Since the tightness of the house
is causing the health problems then it follows that if the house is made less
tight then related health problems will also cease. The common thread linking
all of these symptoms together is the lack of ventilation, and this can be
verified quite easily by following some simple steps. Begin by opening a window
about 1", on each floor. Leave the windows open for 24 hours or until the house
symptoms are gone and then close the upper most window each day until the
symptoms reappear. This test requires very little effort and will only cost some
heat. Measure the amount of opening that is left and that is the amount of
opening that must be provided in the outside wall. This test will verify that
you have a lack of ventilation air.
The simplest form of adding
ventilation and combustion air is to keep the windows open but since the air
coming in would be freezing cold it is not too practical. What is required is a
device that brings in outside air, warms it, delivers it around the house and is
as cheap to operate as opening a window. A
US Plusaire®
correctly
sized for the
house is such a device.
House Pressure Testing:
We look for house pressure symptoms at the time of a chimney inspection, and
can usually tell if there is a negative pressure problem in the house.
However, we also offer digital house pressure testing, which is a more accurate
method of determining the extent of the problem. Testing must be done in cold
weather. Please contact us at 816-461-3665 if you are interested in this
service.
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