While today’s tightly sealed, airtight homes are great for energy efficiency, they become a challenge for ventilation. During a Vermont summer, proper ventilation is extremely important for reducing the humidity and moisture levels in your home, maintaining your indoor air quality, and stopping your home from feeling too hot and stuffy. Proper ventilation also helps keep you comfortable by aiding the cooling and heating efforts of your HVAC system.
Here are three summer ventilation tips that will help your home reap all of these benefits while you stay comfortable.
1. Ventilate naturally by opening windows and doors
As I mentioned in a previous article, you shouldn’t leave your windows and doors open during the day when your AC is running, because letting in the hot outside air reduced the operating efficiency of your air conditioner and puts undue stress on the system.
However, opening windows and doors on cool mornings and nights is a cost-effective way to ventilate your home. Ventilation by definition is the exchange of indoor and outdoor air, so allowing this to happen freely throughout your home is a great way to ventilate. Just be sure that you’re not running your AC while you do this, and ideally choose a time with cooler temperatures.
2. Be diligent about ventilation fans
If you have spot ventilation fans in your bathroom and/or kitchen, it’s important in the summer to use them frequently—they are there for a reason! Spot exhaust fans carry out moisture and contaminants (cooking residue, etc.) that are created when people are bathing or cooking, and not using the fans can lead to moisture or air quality problems. Spot ventilation can increase the effectiveness of your HVAC system as well as natural ventilation.
3. Don’t forget about attics and crawl spaces
The moisture levels in your attic and crawl spaces can affect your HVAC system’s ability to maintain your desired temperature and keep your comfortable. Properly ventilating these areas can help control the humidity and prevent moisture and structural rot. In the colder temperatures of Vermont winters, a ventilated attic can help prevent ice dams by creating a healthy airflow that reduces the amount of warm air that’s able to melt snow on the roof and create a runoff. So ventilating your attics and crawl spaces is a good habit to get into, even in the warmer months.
Good ventilation practices in conjunction with an efficient HVAC system can have significant benefits for your Vermont home this summer. You can stay comfortable while making sure that your home’s mechanical systems are running at peak efficiency.
Stay comfortable no matter the season. Upgrade your Vermont HVAC system.
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