With proper air vents in place, you can improve home air quality and decrease energy use.
It’s important for air to move where it needs to move, so that conditioned air is moved throughout the home while polluted air is moved to the outside. Problems with poor ventilation and air sealing can lead to lower air quality.
Project Overview
Tools and Materials:
- Utility knife
- Caulk gun
- Gloves
- Lights
- Duct mastic, foil tape
- Foam/caulk/construction adhesive
- Fasteners—sheet metal screws, duct attachment straps, duct support strapping
Safety:
- Dust mask/respirator
- Gloves
- Safety glasses
- Kneepads
- Before you add any insulation, it’s important that you inspect the whole system, paying special attention to conduits and bypasses in the building envelope to make sure they are properly air sealed.
- Is all the air you want to leave your home making it outside as intended? Plumbing stacks, Radon vents, furnace flues, kitchen range hoods, and bath exhaust fans should all be vented outside with no more ducting than is needed. Bath fan ducting is notorious for using two to three times more ducting than is needed.
- As you are air sealing your home’s bypasses, gaps, cracks, holes, and chases, your home will be getting tighter and tighter, as it should be. At some point, your home will need a little designed fresh air. If your windows are sweating more in the winter or the home seems a little more humid or clammy, it might be time to look at mechanical ventilation designed to ASHRAE 62.2 standards.