Fresh Air Ventilation System
Goals
- Provide an appropriate amount of controlled fresh air for the occupants of the home.
- Use the ventilation system to maintain a slight positive pressure on the house.
How It's Done:
How many times have you heard it said that you shouldn't build a house too tight because "houses need to breathe"? Well, build it tight and vent it right. Since I've never seen a house die from asphyxiation, but have seen houses fail due to moisture build up, that leads me to believe that people need to breathe, houses need to be able to dry out. A fresh air ventilation system will help with both. There are two types of fresh air systems that can be installed in the North Texas climate. One is a Supply Only system, the other is a Balanced system combining supply and exhaust.
We opted for a simple supply only system. This type of system does everything it needs to do and installed, costs only about $200. This is about 1/5th the installed cost of an ERV.
The system has four basic components:
- An outside cap and manual damper
- A piece of ductwork that ties in to the return side of the HVAC system
- A motorized damper located right before the return plenum.
- A fan control circuit
Additional Advantages to the Supply Only ventilation system
- Constant remixing of the air by the ventilation system results in very even temperature levels throughout the house.
- This system creates a slight positive pressure on the house.
- The positive pressure to the house means that air will only be escaping through remaining leaks, not entering.
- This means less dust, humidity, pollen, mold spores, and other pollutants will enter the home.
