5 Ways To Set Up Balanced Ventilation In Your Home Or Business

Ventilation is a crucial and frequently overlooked aspect of a building. Proper ventilation allows you to bring in the fresh outdoor air and flush out stale indoor air. A well-ventilated building improves air quality and lowers the temperatures. But, too much outside air could introduce foreign particles like dust and pollen and could increase humidity, leading to mold and other toxins.

The best strategy is to balance the ventilation in your home or business, letting in fresh air without compromising the integrity of your HVAC. This post will go over how to get rid of stale air and create a more balanced environment.

The importance of proper ventilation

If your home or business does not have good ventilation, you can experience many issues. These include damaged walls and floors, especially if they are wood or drywall, and mold buildup, which can be a health hazard. If you have pets in your home, you could have an increase of bad smells and pet hair or dander, which can cause allergies. If you set up balanced ventilation, your HVAC system can control the temperature of the air in your building without allowing these problems, and more, to happen.

Use an energy or heat ventilator

The most well-known types of ventilation systems are HRV or ERV. These systems are relatively simple, with two fans to vent indoor air and bring in fresh air. The air is filtered on both streams which pass through a heat/moisture exchanger, but never mix. This is a great system to ventilate a home or business, but it is also one of the most expensive. The biggest advantage is that you get a balanced heat exchange, so you don’t need to run the air conditioner as much in the summer.

Use a combination central-fan supply system and exhaust fans

Many properties come equipped with exhaust-only, whole-house ventilation systems. One simple way you can upgrade your ventilation is to install a central-fan-integrated system that complements the exhaust-only side. These systems integrate blowers in the HVAC system to bring in outdoor air when the system is operating and mix it in with the treated air indoors.

A big drawback of this system is energy use, unless you have a variable speed blower. Blowers take a lot of energy to run, and this system will often turn on when you may not need it. Also, using a 400-watt blower to bring in 50 cubic feet of outside air is too much for most homes. But, if you have a variable HVAC system, it will reduce energy use in your ventilation system.

Combine a supply fan with your exhaust fans

Another trick to balance your ventilation is to combine your exhaust fans with supply fans. There are a few different models that account for temperature and humidity to limit how much hot or humid air is brought into your home or business. However, most of these fans will still run at least 15 minutes every hour, so you will get fresh air no matter which one you choose.

Pair a ventilating dehumidifier with your exhaust fans

You can also pair a ventilating dehumidifier with the exhaust fans, which allows you to use the fan controls to supply ventilation through a dehumidifier. There are several models that allow you to do this by providing intake ports. One major issue with this approach is that the system brings in heat. Some models address this issue by splitting the dehumidifier system so that it can release heat as well.

Opening windows

Opening windows isn’t an option for some homes or businesses, especially in many of areas of Texas where temperatures fluctuate. But, opening windows is the cheapest and easiest way to let in fresh air. This is only feasible in areas with mild climates that don’t need an HVAC or ventilation system. If that’s you, great! But for most people, opening the windows is not a realistic solution to getting some fresh air.

Professional HVAC services in the Texas Panhandle

As you can see, there are many ways to bring in fresh air in a balanced way that doesn’t affect your building’s temperature too much. If you would like to explore these options for your home or business, contact Allen’s Tri-State Mechanical Inc. in Amarillo, Texas today. Our HVAC technicians can go over each ventilation method as it applies to your property and help you determine the best for your needs. We provide Commercial, Residential, and Industrial services throughout the Texas Panhandle. You can reach us at (806) 376-8345 or Contact Us by email to learn more. You can also stop by our office at 404 S. Hayden St. in Amarillo.