| As I talked about in my last email, we build our homes super tight. While this is a great thing when it comes to energy efficiency and cost to heat and cool a home, it also can cause problems if not dealt with correctly. In old homes, the envelope (the part of the house that keeps the outside out), was not very air tight. The window were single-pane, and very leaky. Remember the thick frost buildup on the inside during extended cold snaps? The doors were wood, and the seals around them were nonexistent. You could feel the air blow through. This was not not good for energy efficiency, of course, but it did allow for fresh air to enter the house.
In our efficient homes, we also introduce fresh air. We do it in a controlled way, however, and we keep energy loss to a minimum in the process.The diagram above shows how it works. There’s a heat-exchanger core in the middle of the air exchanger we provide that allows up to 80% of the heat to be captured from the outgoing air by the incoming air. In other words, we provide fresh air without bringing cold air into your home!
Every home we build comes with an HRV- the unit that does the air exchanging- as well as part of the ducting for it. Some of the ducting must be installed after the home is delivered and set on a foundation or basement. This allows you to have fresh air in the house, and it keeps windows from sweating due to high humidity in your home. Perfect also for eliminating pet and cooking odors. |
