ventilation services in and around Charlotte, NC
Dryer vent cleaning
Dryer ventilation can become compacted with lint, debris, and even birds! Being compacted makes the dryer turn off due to not being able to breathe fully which typically looks like a “not enough airflow” alarm. We have seen many customers have to replace dryer components due to overheating because the dryer vent was clogged. Having it cleaned once a year ensures better drying, safety, and dryer longevity. The price listed is for the first 10 feet of dryer vent.
Dryer vent consultation + job estimate
If you are moving into a home in Charlotte or near Charlotte that currently doesn't have a dryer ventilation or does but is in an undesirable location, this service is perfect for you. We are able to install dryer vents in a range of locations including attics, crawl spaces, and through foundation walls. We can even upgrade existing dryer vents to a better material to ensure optimal venting and safer operation.
Bath fan consultation + job estimate
Bath fans are one of the most important exhaust fans in a home. They ventilate hot, humid air to the outdoors to reduce moisture build up. This ultimately reduces the chance for bacterial growth and fungi to occur in bathrooms, on walls, and in attics. Without a properly working bath fan, or worse an absent bath fan, indoor air quality is reduced drastically throughout the entire home.
Range hood or microwave CONSULTATION + job estimate
Most microwaves have the ability to ventilate outdoors. However, the most common installation of these is installed in re-circulate mode which doesn’t filter out smells all that great. By simply having the model number of your microwave, we can provide and install the necessary manufacturer’s parts and ventilation pipe to upgrade your microwave to a fully ventilating microwave/range hood.
Fresh Air Intake CONSULTATION + job estimate
Fresh air intakes have been proven to increase indoor air quality. Homes are very tight and don't let a lot of air from the outdoors in. This structural dynamic is great for keeping homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter. However, its not great for promoting good indoor air quality. Stale air laden with dust, allergens. viruses, and other air particulates can float around for extended amounts of time entering our bodies. Fresh air intakes dilute these harmful particulates.
Balanced Fresh Air Intake/Stale Air Extraction CONSULTATION + job estimate
Balanced intakes with stale air extraction, also called ERV's, can give you the best of both worlds: bring fresh air into your home while exhausting stale air out of your home. ERV's or Energy recovery ventilators utilize standard ductwork material and an exchange core. At the core, fresh air is pulled in while stale air is exhausted. The fresh air mixes with your home's stale air to become conditioned and filters ensure no particulates are attaching to the fresh air.
Types of ventilation
- Exhaust-only mechanical ventilation. This is a relatively common strategy in which small exhaust fans, usually in bathrooms, operate either continuously or intermittently to exhaust stale air and moisture generated in those rooms. This strategy creates a modest negative pressure in the house, and that pulls in fresh air either through cracks and other air-leakage sites or through strategically placed intentional make-up air inlets. An advantage of this strategy is simplicity and low cost. A disadvantage is that the negative pressure can pull in radon and other soil gases that we don’t want in houses.
- Supply-only mechanical ventilation. As the name implies, a fan brings in fresh air, and stale air escapes through cracks and air-leakage sites in the house. The air supply may be delivered to one location, dispersed through ducts, or supplied to the ducted distribution system of a forced-air heating system for dispersal. A supply-only ventilation system pressurizes a house, which can be a good thing in keeping radon and other contaminants from entering the house, but it risks forcing moisture-laden air into wall and ceiling cavities where condensation and moisture problems can occur.
- Balanced ventilation. Much better ventilation is provided through a balanced system in which separate fans drive both inlet and exhaust airflow. This allows us to control where the fresh air comes from, where that fresh air is delivered, and from where exhaust air is drawn. Balanced ventilation systems can be either point-source or ducted. With ducted systems, it makes sense to deliver fresh air to spaces that are most lived in (living room, bedrooms, etc.) and exhaust indoor air from places where moisture or pollutants are generated (bathrooms, kitchen, hobby room).
- Balanced ventilation with heat recovery. If there are separate fans to introduce fresh air and exhaust indoor air, it makes a lot of sense to locate these fans together and include an air-to-air heat exchanger so that the outgoing house air will precondition the incoming outdoor air. This air-to-air heat exchanger—more commonly referred to today as a heat-recovery ventilator or HRV—is the way to go in colder climates. A slightly different version, known as an energy-recovery ventilator (ERV), is similar but transfers moisture as well as heat from one airstream to the other, keeping more of the desirable humidity in the house in the winter and reducing the amount of humidity introduced from outdoors in the summer.
(2014, February 5). 6 Ways to Ventilate Your Home (and Which is Best). Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/blog/6-ways-ventilate-your-home-and-which-best
