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Stephanie Dejoode
U.S. EPA studies report unintentional carbon monoxide exposure accounts for an estimated 15,000 emergency department visits and 500 unintentional deaths in the United States each year.
What to inspect in your attic: As you should know, there are several devices in your home that requires venting, including water heaters, stoves, vent-a-hoods, wall heaters, clothes dryers and bathroom vents. Catagoricly these have different function as well as outcome associated with it, if it is not functioning properly. The following 4 pictures show what good vent pipes should look like. The bad ones are all together at the end.
Carbon monoxide is produced by common household appliances. When not properly ventilated, carbon monoxide emitted by these appliances can build up. Red blood cells in the body pick up CO quicker than they pick up oxygen. If there is a lot of CO in the air, the body may replace oxygen in blood with CO. This blocks oxygen from getting into the body, which can damage tissues and result in death.
For the most part, properly installed ridged system can be superior, but if not, they stink. One of the biggest problems with ridged duct systems are: They are ridged! Just like the biggest problem with flexible ducts are; they are flexible! As with any house construction there are lots of obstructions that have to be dealt with. The flexible ducts are great for these applications as they can be easily routed around structural beams. However, all turns and bends should be gradual and smooth. No kinks or sharp turns.
Its not uncommon to find a 50 year old house that has had new HVAC units installed multiple times but the ducting is still 50 years old. Granted, when an HVAC unit fails to work, the problem is the units not the ducting. As the homeowner it is easy to just have the units replaced and leave the ducting as is since the new ducting can be as expensive as the unit itself. Unfortunately you can easily be giving up some of the efficiency gained by replacing the units. To learn more about Improving the Efficiency of Your Duct System, I have attached a link to a paper written for the US Department of Energy by Brookhaven National Laboratory. After reading the article and you realize it is time to replace the ducting, look to schedule the work in off-peak months. You will probably get a little better deal and a lot better job.
Proper attic insulation can make a drastic impact on your utility bills. Any home over 5 years old should have the attic insulation evaluated as settling insulation and higher summer temperatures can degrade its ability to protect your home from the summer heat.
As mentioned in earlier articles, HVAC ductwork has not received the attention it deserves. Take a look at my HVAC Duct article to evaluate and inspect your existing duct work. If you have determined that it is in need of attention you have three choices, 1) do nothing, 2) have them replaced or 3) re-insulate them.
Duct Replacement: Be prepared, HVAC contractors typically want to sell new systems. Here is the SW part of the US, their big season is the summer, having this done during the cooler months may be a better choice. Duct replacement is not as profitable as system replacements, but keeping their technicians busy can be better than not working them at all.
Duct Re-insulation (for rigid ductwork): This is a great DIY project if you consider yourself cheap labor and you dont mind working in the attic. Consider this a mult-weekend project. Before you start, ask yourself these questions.
Attic Insulation is best applied as blown in loose fill when you need to add more to an existing home. The product will reach into every nook and cranny, is easy to apply (with the proper equipment), and has instant results. The best way to determine the amount of insulation needed is to refer to this US. DOE site as it will provide the recommended R-Value down to the zip code.
What is the difference between the attic insulation products and why is one better than the other? If you spend any time looking at the comparisons of the products you will find advantages and disadvantages in all the of them. Its very easy to get caught up in the data, in fact some make a point in overpowering the consumer with too much data. The following chart reflects the most popular products and comparable characteristics that most consumers can understand and recognize value in them. This comparison is for blown-in type insulation only, and these products are typically the most popular.
Fiberglass: Fiberglass insulation has been shown to reduce its effectiveness during both high and low temperature ranges (due to convection heat loss), potentially reducing its effectiveness by up to 50%. Even though fiberglass chards can easily irritate the skin, once installed, little risk to the homeowner has been proven. However, the US Gov. has recognized fiberglass as a carcinogen, the levels have been shown to be too low to impact the homeowner.
The blown-in insulation business is fairly competitive and you may find (as I did) that hiring a professional is about as cheap as doing it your self. HomeownerBOB recommends the professional route. The difference in the choices are fairly close, cost may be the most important factor, on the other hand it might be the environmental impact. Either way, make the decision, you will be happy with the results.
According to mold industry standards, I am required to have a crawlspace fan installed when there is mold in a crawlspace, unless for some strange reason the client wants the crawlspace clearance tested. Which cleaning a crawlspace to pass an air test is very labor intensive and expensive. All vents have to be closed so the fan creates a slight negative pressure and pulls conditioned air from the level up above.
I was talking to a waterproofing company and they claimed crawlspace fans cause what they called a reverse stack effect. A crawlspace fan only completely changes out the air in a crawlspace about every 15 minutes. I do not see how this could cause smells coming from the attic like they claim, unless possibly the attic is not properly vented.
Yes I think it could cause Air from attic getting into the home .
Fan generates positive pressure in Crawl space and negative pressure in home .
Small holes from Crawl into Wall cavities like electric wires Plumbing vents and pipes.
Air gets to attic negative air in home pulls air from attic Via attic entrance or wire holes ect and you have smell if it is in attic .
The difference does not have to be much for this to happen .
According to mold industry standards, I am required to have a crawlspace fan installed when there is mold in a crawlspace, unless for some strange reason the client wants the crawlspace clearance tested. Which cleaning a crawlspace to pass an air test is very labor intensive and expensive. All vents have to be closed so the fan creates a slight negative pressure and pulls air from the level up above.
I was talking to a waterproofing company and they claimed crawlspace fans cause what they called a reverse stack effect. A crawlspace fan only completely changes out the air in a crawlspace about every 15 minutes. I do not see how this could cause smells coming from the attic like they claim, unless possibly the attic is not properly vented.
I agree and when I say to people in your life time we will no longer be venting attics .
Many tell me how wrong I am and do not know what I am talking about .
Stay tuned its starting to happen now .
If there is a negative pressure in home the air will go to the least presure . Many things can cause lower pressure in home like Dryer, bath fan fire place with a fire, Power water heaters, Genair stove fan, window in home open on down wind side of home .
Think of a laundry room directly over the crawlspace with penetrations in the wall that would connect to the crawlspace (electrical receptacles, plumbing for pipes and stacks, etc). Operating the dryer, itself, would create enough negative pressure to fill the entire room with crawlspace air under these conditions.
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