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Found 63 results for the keyword(s) ‘Air Quality’

• Article

  Why do furnace filters have a warranty if you are supposed to change them every month?

  Good question -- but all filters are not created equal. Some are disposable and others are cleanable. Pleated disposable filters last longer (maybe 3 months) than the cheapest of the fibreglass filters (one month). In fact the 3M Filtrete filter, the top of the 3M series of filters, is rated a...
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  Just how do you install a central vac through old walls?

  Most portable vacuum cleaners have fairly poor filters. Sure most of the real "dirt" gets caught in the bag, but much of the very fine stuff just blows out the back end. A central vac has the same problem, but because it is placed in one place, it can have a much stronger motor to allow it to d...
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  CAN I GET ENOUGH OXYGEN IN A TIGHTLY SEALED HOUSE?

  In a house of any size it is easy to get sufficient oxygen for breathing. If a combustion furnace is not operating you could live for days on the oxygen in your house with no fresh air at all. What we often mistake for a lack of oxygen is a concentration of pollutants. Carbon dioxide (CO2) for...
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  AIR QUALITY

  Grandpa had winter air quality problems in his house -- it was always too dry and an occasional back draft would fill the room with smoke. Other than that, pollution or the absence of air didn't pose a problem. Why? His drafty old house worked like a fresh running stream -- it continually ...
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  WHICH DEHUMIDIFIER IS BEST?

  The only type of dehumidifier that is any good at all during the winter is a fresh air ventilation system. Mechanical and chemical dehumidifiers are not only expensive and bothersome, but they cannot generally reduce the relative humidity to less than 50 per cent -- not low enough to keep frost ...
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  ARE BALANCED AIRCHANGE SYSTEMS WORTHWHILE?

  A balanced air-change system is a fan operated system that forces out stale air through exhaust ducts and forces in an equal amount of fresh air through controlled intake ducts. The difference between this and a central exhaust system is that the input air is under active control and balance...
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  WON'T A COLD-AIR INLET MAKE MY HOUSEHOLD AIR TOO DRY?

  Yes -- if the cold-air input is uncontrolled. In fact, uncontrolled cold-air drafts are the reason for dryness in older houses. Damper control of the cold-air intake (not the hot-air exhaust) will allow you to maintain whatever level of humidity you want.If your furnace combustion air is provid...
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  CONFLICT: A MAJOR PUBLICATION SAYS NOT TO RUN AN OUTSIDE FRESH-AIR INTAKE INTO THE COLD-AIR RETURN ON THE FURNACE DUCTING.

  "Energy Efficient Housing -- A Prairie Approach" is the only book I know of which advises against this practice (check out the graphic, keyword "ventilation", title "WHAT IS A CONTROLLED COLD-AIR INLET?"), so I asked the Saskatoon Research Council why. They are not against the practice in genera...
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  WHAT IS A CONTROLLED COLD-AIR INLET?

  Stale, humid air must be exhausted from the house, both to allow for fresh air and to maintain a high neutral plane. For this reason we need a planned-hole-high-in-the-house, but the air going out must come into the house from somewhere. If you carefully seal all the leaks in the house to m...
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  Overview: To HRV-ERV or not to HRV-ERV

  I am always amazed at house construction where so often things are half built or more while people are running around beginning to think about "extras" that should never be though of as "extras" but as part of the essential system. So time for one of my lectures -- (you asked for it).Heating is o...