The antidote to stale, stuffy, or contaminated indoor air is fresh air ventilation, and opening windows is a time-honored and free way to pull in outdoor air. It works well when the weather is comfortable, you have a way to cross-ventilate your home, and there’s a breeze.
When the wind isn’t cooperating, you can still freshen the air with outdoor air. Attic fans pull fresh air in through open windows or exterior doors. A more affordable box or window fan can create enough of a “chimney” effect to complete an air exchange with just one or two other windows open. Even a kitchen or bathroom fan will pull in fresh air as long as a nearby window near is open.
For all the benefits that fresh air brings into your home, there are some problems associated with window ventilation that include:
- Pollen varies throughout the year and spring and fall levels are particularly high, and it’s not the splashy flowers that are generally the problem. It’s the inconspicuous flowers from trees, shrubs and grasses. Unless you pay attention to allergy reports, you may unwittingly pull in allergy-causing pollen by ventilating with open windows.
- It’s tempting to open the windows at night during the summer to enjoy cooler, fresh air. However, the humidity at night increases and opening the windows will increase the level indoors. When you turn the A/C on the next day, it will have to work harder to remove the humidity. Excess humidity also fosters mold and dust mite growth indoors.
- Unless you have adjustable window locks, it’s not always safe to open the windows, since it’s easy to remove the screen to enter a home.
Fortunately, there are ways to maintain fresh air indoors using some of the latest HVAC technology that include energy-saving balanced ventilators and heating and cooling systems that mix some fresh air as part of their running cycle.
Ventilation is key to keeping indoor air healthy and fresh. For more information about the options you have besides windows, contact Jackson & Sons, providing outstanding HVAC services for Eastern North Carolina homeowners.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Eastern North Carolina (including Wayne, Johnston, Greene, Lenoir, and Duplin Counties) about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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