If you want to cut back on the energy usage in your Colorado home, one of the most important things you can do is to make sure it’s properly sealed and insulated. It’s also important to ensure that you have whole-house ventilation.

Some people are under the impression that a tightly sealed home will inevitably have a number of problems, from poor air quality to high humidity and back-drafting. However, these things will only occur if the home isn’t properly ventilated.

Poor indoor air quality

The quality inside a tightly-sealed home can be very poor if the air isn’t being constantly refreshed. Fortunately, this problem’s easily addressed by installing equipment that will provide whole-house ventilation throughout your home. Of course, this air has to be drawn from an area you know has fresh air, rather than the roof or some other spot that might have leakage from inside the home.

Back-drafting

Back-drafting of combustion gases from things like gas-fueled water heaters can occur in your home and can be extremely dangerous. To address this issue, provide a separate supply of air to support this combustion process, as well as separate vents to remove the resulting combustion gases.

Humidity

The excessive humidity that can sometimes occur in very tight homes can encourage mold growth and other serious problems. However, if the cooling system has been properly sized, you’ve avoided the use of plastics in the walls and have installed whole-house ventilation, it shouldn’t be a problem.

There’s no reason why your home can’t be perfectly tight and still provide you and your family with complete comfort. Whole-house ventilation will ensure that you get all the energy benefits of an airtight home without any of the downsides.

For more information about whole-house ventilation, please feel free to contact the Rheem Pro Partner. Our staff of highly-trained and courteous professionals will be more than happy to help you.

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