Air Quality – best approach?
Hey everyone,
I recently moved into a 1960s home (location Toronto/Canada), that has had air sealing done to it in the past. The blower door test came back at 4 ACH @ 50 Pascals, which the auditor said was “borderline” in need of mechanical ventilation.
I went and bought a AirThings monitor and have been monitoring one of the upstairs bedrooms (see attached image). We spend most of our time up there, since it’s where we sleep and where we have our home offices. The monitoring has shown that radon and co2 can spike pretty high. I have been opening windows and whenever possible to keep things under control. When it has been too hot or humid I turn on the bathroom fan on continuous mode instead of opening windows. I’m not sure how it’s going to go in the winter, perhaps stack effect will help or it could also pull in more radon.
I’ve thought about a radon mitigation system, or an ERV connected to my central forced-air heat pump system… Or I could just leave the bathroom fan running all the time. Not sure what will be the best approach.
Advice appreciated!
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Replies
Balanced ventilation is always better; it uses less energy in operation, doesn't depressurize your house and filters the incoming air nearly to HEPA level. But it's fairly expensive so the ROI is not always very good, and it's still unusual to see them in homes. Within a decade or two they'll be ubiquitous. For now, if you can afford it, go with a balanced system--preferably stand-alone but attached to your heating system is better than nothing.