Indoor Air Quality tagged posts

What is Balanced Ventilation?

September 24, 2019

The Benefits of Balanced Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality

The climate control experts at Bratcher Heating and AC know that the comfort of Illinois homes depends on more than temperature. Over time, you’ll find that dust, dander and other irritants can build up in the air of your home. Even more concerning, volatile organic compounds, like those found in cleaning and beauty supplies, can get into your air supply. For complete climate control, you need air quality solutions.

Efficiency Versus Air Quality

When homeowners design a new home, they often want it to be more efficient than older structures. With new building materials and techniques, modern homes are more air-tight than homes built a few decades ago. This allows heating and cooling systems to run more efficiently, lowering costs and the building’s carbon footprint. Unfortunately, this tight construction decreases the exchange of fresh and stale air. Without better ventilation, the air will become unhealthy.

Balanced Ventilation

A balanced ventilation system is one where the amount of fresh air entering the home is equal to the amount of stale air leaving the home. This means that the house maintains constant air pressure, which can enable climate systems to run normally. You have the benefits of efficient climate control matched with improved air quality. In most designs, fresh air vents into the living and sleeping areas of the home. Stale air is pushed out through the less-occupied areas.

Modern Ventilation Technology

One issue with any ventilation system is that it can decrease the home’s heating and cooling efficiency. The home’s heating system has already expended energy heating up the stale air that is leaving the house. This wastes your energy dollars. However, modern heat recovery ventilators can capture and transfer that heat to the fresh air entering the home. Energy recovery ventilators can do a similar task with the humidity of the air. You can have the energy efficiency you want with the ventilation you need.

At Bratcher Heating and AC, we can handle all of your heating, air conditioning, geothermal and indoor air quality needs. Our highly trained technicians can make certain that your Illinois home is comfortable in every season. Contact Bratcher Heating and AC today for a free consultation. We have offices in East Peoria, Normal and Champaign.

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Why Use a Home Humidifier?

July 16, 2018

If you’re looking for a way to make your home more comfortable, you should definitely take into consideration using a humidifier. From getting rid of dry skin to reducing the symptoms of sinusitis, there are more than a few reasons to have one in your house. Here at Bratcher, we understand how important it is that your home be as comfortable as possible and we are here to meet any and all of your heating and cooling needs.

For now, let’s explore the top reasons you need to have a humidifier in your home:

Speeds Up the Healing Process

Whether you’re suffering from asthma or allergies or even the common cold, a humidifier has the ability to lubricate your nasal passages, which is essential to expediting the healing process when you’re sick. If you have severe allergies, there are humidifiers that are made specifically to reduce your symptoms, so you’ll definitely want to look into purchasing one of them.

Reduce Symptoms of Sinusitis

Sometimes, when the air gets too dry, this can cause your nasal passages to not properly drain, thus causing them to become stuffed up. When humidity is added to the air, though, this will ensure your nose drains properly, which can greatly reduce symptoms associated with sinusitis and congestion.

Get Rid of Nosebleeds

If you suffer from nosebleeds, you know how aggravating they can be. One minute you’re sitting cuddled up the couch with your loved one watching a movie, and the next you’re having to dash off to to the bathroom with your hand under your nose to keep blood from getting all over everything. With a humidifier in the home, your nose is more likely to stay lubricated, which is essential in being able to get rid of nosebleeds.

Stay Beautiful

Do you ever wake up in the morning and notice that your hands and feet along with your lips feel dry? If so, this means the air in your home is very dry and you need to put humidity in the air. Thankfully, doing something as simple as using a humidifier can put moisture in the air and leave you waking up feeling supple and not so dry and flaky in the morning.

There’s never been a better time to make sure your home is as comfortable as it can be and it starts with monitoring whether or not you need to add a humidifier. While some homes will need to add moisture into the air, there are some that will actually need to remove it, making it necessary to use a dehumidifier. To learn which one you need to use, contact Bratcher today serving the Peoria, IL area.

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