*As mentioned in the previous Zack hammonds indoor air quality articles, no indoor air quality components are mutually exclusive. If you want to really harness the power given to you by modern air purification technology, you have to consider them all.
Ventilators (ERV and HRV)
Have you ever stunk up the house with food or old garbage? Been worried about CO2 buildup, or other airborne pollutants like cleaning products that get recycled through your HVAC system? What's the answer? Open the windows right? But let's say it is 100 degrees outside with crazy high humidity - in other words, a normal Atlanta summer - opening windows isn't the best for the utility bill. If it is freezing outside, you again don't want warm air funneling out an open window. The answer? A ventilator. Ventilators takes the stale air from inside your home, and exchange it with fresh air from outside. During the exchange, the cooled air that is passing out is used to cool the air coming in....the energy is exchanged. Not flawless, but very energy efficient. With a ventilator, you can bring fresh air inside during the middle of a hot Atlanta summer without killing your air conditioning bill. The same is true for the Winter season.
There are two types of ventilators: Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV) and Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERV). The latter exchanges humidity as well as heating and cooling energy. So if you are using a whole home humidifier in the winter, an ERV is the better way to go, to adjust the dry air coming in.
Ventilators sit downstream of your HVAC system. Assuming you have all four indoor air quality (IAQ) product types installed, when air is pulled from your home and heated or cooled, it is first taken through the Advanced Air Cleaner to filter microscopic particles like dust, pollen, toxins and viruses. The next IAQ product the air goes through, or by, is the UV Lamp. Remember, the UV Lamp isn't doing anything to the air. It is killing mold that grows in the damp indoor evaporator or fan coil. After the UV Lamp, the air is humidified or dehumidified, and then we hit the Ventilator. See the image below:
As always, thank you for reading the Zack Hammonds blog! If you need a local HVAC specialist in the Atlanta, GA area, we are your best choice. To read more about us please visit: Atlanta Air Conditioning. We'll see you soon for Part IV of Indoor Air Quality!
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