26
votes
Accepted
How to get rid of CO₂ in a house with A/C in hot summer?
You want an high-efficiency heat exchanger.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_recovery_ventilation
Basically, you pipe in fresh air, but have it cooled before, while you heat out the air that is ...
- 2,065
19
votes
How to get rid of CO₂ in a house with A/C in hot summer?
That's a really high CO₂ level. You need to figure out what is causing it and fix that, it's not normal.
Gas fired appliances with leaky vents are the most likely suspects — hot water heater, dryer? (...
- 348
13
votes
Accepted
What are the downsides of a pressurized room?
In a properly configured home, the return air ducting is the exit path for airflow. There's no significant pressure buildup in any room regardless of door position.
In older homes without return ...
- 149k
13
votes
Why is my air conditioner causing rapid high CO2 levels?
One possibility is that you have:
a very well sealed home
a heat recovery ventilator (HRV)
the HRV is only on when the system is configured for heating and not when it is configured for cooling
In ...
9
votes
Moving into a home that had dogs, and I'm allergic... what should be on my to-do list?
If the previous owners are taking their furniture and a large area rug, that removes a large part of the problem. Any other rugs left that you are going to keep should be shampooed/cleaned by a ...
- 7,022
8
votes
Do dirty air filters trap more or less dust and dirt?
A new clean filter has pores or mesh of a certain size. As material accumulates on the face of the filter, pore size within the accumulated material tends to get smaller. In that sense, the size of ...
- 226k
7
votes
What are the downsides of a pressurized room?
A typical interior doorway has a gap of about 3mm along each side and the top, and often 5-10mm underneath. This gives an area of around 20,000 mm^2, or about the same area as 150mm (6") duct. ...
- 171
7
votes
Accepted
Can i use air filter that is one inch smaller
Filters only work if the air has to go through them. The filter has air resistance and a gap doesn't, so if you leave a 1" gap, a disproportionate amount of air will flow through the hole, effectively ...
- 6,198
7
votes
Artificially lowering CO2 concentration
Bunch of grow lights and a vat of algae (or some other plant, but it's hard to beat algae for efficiency at getting the job done, albeit while not being as multi-use as a plant you'd actually eat.)
...
- 226k
7
votes
Is this asbestos insulation in my attic?
That looks like standard cellulose insulation. It's not particularly hazardous.
We can't completely rule out asbestos from here. If the house is in the US and was constructed in the last 40 years, the ...
- 12.7k
7
votes
Moving into a home that had dogs, and I'm allergic... what should be on my to-do list?
You'll need to wash/clean the walls either my doing it yourself or hiring it out. The floors will need to be inspected for damage under the area rug where urine could have seeped into the cracks ...
- 86.3k
6
votes
Possibly Asbestos Contaminated Washer! What do I do?
I wouldn't worry so much about it. Wipe it down as best you can and then run a few empty cycles to flush the machine. The wastewater goes... well assuming you are in a relatively modern area with ...
- 36.7k
6
votes
Why is my air conditioner causing rapid high CO2 levels?
Since the AC only recirculate the air inside the home, the possible source could be outside. Neighbors barbecuing ? burning dry grass or wood, sewage tanks, increased car trafic... and many other ...
- 19.2k
6
votes
Moving into a home that had dogs, and I'm allergic... what should be on my to-do list?
If you are strongly allergic to dogs, it would be in your best interest to hire a professional cleaning service.
Let them know about your allergies and get estimates based on the square footage and ...
- 42.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Why do space heaters make the air smell like that?
When air contacts a sufficiently hot object, dust in the air burns, and in some cases, particles from the hot object are also ejected similar to how dry ice sublimates. Dust can also gather on the ...
5
votes
How to permanently get rid of old cigarette smell from previous resident?
I had a house I purchased that had previous residents that were very heavy smokers. Everything in the house was covered in a yellow brown film. Steps I had to take to remove the smell.
All hard ...
- 66.5k
5
votes
Accepted
What kind of sill cap/threshold is this?
You're missing parts there. No threshold has an open channel like that. At a minimum there would be a rubber strip across it. Most have a solid cap over that area with captive adjustment screws in it.
...
- 149k
4
votes
How to get rid of CO₂ in a house with A/C in hot summer?
What type of air condition are you using? Some only cool the air inside, while others use fresh air from outside. In a cafe or club there are norms about how much fresh air the air condition must put ...
- 41
4
votes
Tiny Fibres/Dust Everywhere
I have seen this issue in 2 cases homes that have hydronic or cable heating (no air flow).
I have seen this when the central air air filter is extremely dirty and has collapsed allowing dust to be ...
- 103k
4
votes
Poor air quality in a small room
Yes.
If the washroom exhaust vent pipe is accessible you can hook up a bathroom exhaust fan. However, they tend to be noisy and could be irritating to listen to for 8 hours.
Since you already have an ...
- 9,235
3
votes
How often and long should my fresh air intake run?
In our area, these systems are required to make sure that your house has sufficient fresh air to combat sick building syndrome. The amount of fresh air required is based on a lot of sophisticated ...
- 7,025
3
votes
Filter Air coming through window
You could Have an HVAC company install an electronic air cleaner with a charcoal pre or post filter in that window. This would remove most if not all of the smell, but would cost a significant amount. ...
- 12.5k
3
votes
Can houseplants actually improve air quality?
I would do both plants and an air filter. You can purchase a reasonable sized air filter for $89 on Amazon (Honeywell 17000-S QuietCare True HEPA Air Purifier, 200 sq ft) that does a pretty good job ...
- 31
3
votes
Ventilating a room with no forced air without opening windows?
Install a room to room transfer fan in the wall at the bottom of one side of your wall, and install an intake louver at the top of the other side of the wall in the same stud cavity. The reason for ...
- 4,849
3
votes
How can I darken a bedroom yet let air in as much as possible?
3 layers of pegboard (pierced hardboard), internal surfaces painted black, with the middle layer offset, and spacers between the layers. This should provide little or no straight path for light, but ...
- 2,673
3
votes
Accepted
Is it normal to smell sewer gas from a plumbing vent?
It is normal for sewage gas to escape from drain vents. That's why they usually vent through the roof, that and unclogging. The vents tie directly into the pipes that lead to the sewers. There are ...
- 86.3k
3
votes
What are the options for filtering fresh air entering a building (especially outdoor air with wildfire smoke)?
Electrostatic air filters are awesome I had a large set n my last house on the air handler intake. Even when we could not see the mountain across the street the air quality inside the house was ...
- 103k
3
votes
How does one clean these filters after 6 months?
You don't. You just remove the fan and build a new 4 filter base. You could remove the bottom and vacuum all the filters to remove some of the dirt but but just replacing would be better. Don't count ...
- 86.3k
3
votes
Does there exist a standard for furnace UV lights?
You are free to abuse your own equipment, but you are better off all-around NOT forcing misfit sockets to fit. It's not an accident they don't fit. A lot of engineering goes into preventing them from ...
3
votes
How can I ventilate an underground garage to make it safe to work from?
Keep the garage door open and get one or two ventilation fans to circulate the air. See picture below from Amazon.
- 86.3k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible