When heating costs were low, houses were drafty and air came in from outside. Of course, drafts work both ways – the warmed air leaked out of the house in the winter and conditioned air escaped to cool the entire neighborhood. But we didn’t worry; our utility bills were affordable.
Then utility bills began to increase, slowly at first, than headed for the stratosphere. Necessity prompted the invention of ways to eliminate these drafts: tighter windows and doors, vapor barriers and better insulation.
These inventions worked well; no air was allowed to enter or escape. Our homes became energy tight; you might say we were all as snug as a bug in a rug. Necessity had indeed been an efficient inventor.
We lived in tightly sealed and well-insulated homes, with no annoying drafts. Then we realized something was missing: fresh air. Those drafts had worked as a ventilation system bringing in fresh air. Without fresh air, we discovered we were sharing our well-insulated homes with some rather unpleasant roommates, including pollen and pollutants; mold, mold spores and mildew; and fungi and bacteria.
Necessity moved into action again and invented a solution for this dilemma: heat-recovery ventilation systems.
This is a system to bring in fresh air for ventilation, while keeping energy loss at a minimum. In the winter, heated air is vented to the outside. At the same time, cold outside air is ushered inside. But as the cold air enters the house, it is heated by the warm air that is on its way outside. The reverse concept works in the summer. Heat-recovery ventilation systems are highly efficient at bringing fresh air into your home and saving on energy costs.
At Joe Behr Plumbing and Heating, we have served residents in the mid-Ohio area since 1965. We're happy to help you with all your ventilation needs.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heat recover ventilators and other HVAC topics, visit our website.
Joe Behr Plumbing and Heating, Inc. services the Mid-Ohio area.
