Air Flow Pathways in a Leaky Bathroom Wall
Last week I spent a lot of hours in my bathroom. I was sick. Really. I was sick and tired of having an outdated bathroom that was beginning to fall apart. So when my wife hit the road last Monday…
indoor air quality
Adventures in Hotel Bathroom Ventilation
I always look at the bathroom ventilation when I'm staying in hotels. Last month I was at the Air Barrier Association conference in Baltimore and took the photo above. Can you tell anything about what might be happening by looking…
What Is Home Performance? Part 1
Maybe you're a homeowner investigating how to make your home more comfortable. Maybe you're contractor (HVAC, insulation, remodeling...) looking to grow. Or maybe you're an artist looking for the latest trends in performance art. However you got here, I'll see…
An Unexpected Benefit of Encapsulating a Crawl Space
My friend Perry had lived in a nearly hundred year old house for six or seven years when we encapsulated his crawl space in 2005. It was a typical old country house. Originally built on piers, someone had filled in…
How to Get the Best Possible New Tract Home
Let's say you've bought a lot in a new development and are having a tract home built. You want the home to be as energy efficient, comfortable, and green as possible. Your builder offers only a few options, like high-efficiency…
Can You Cool Your Home with Crawl Space Air?
I know it's not air conditioning season, but this story is too good to wait until summer rolls around. My friends at E3 Innovate in Nashville — you may remember them for finding the home ventilated with dead possum odors —…
Unvented Gas Appliance Industry Falls Flat at ASHRAE Meeting
Unvented combustion appliances were added to the scope of ASHRAE's residential ventilation and IAQ standard (Std. 62.2) recently. The committee has begun their deliberations on the issue, and at ASHRAE's winter meeting in Orlando this month, the unvented gas appliance…
What Is the Best Indoor Relative Humidity in Winter?
It's been a little crackly around here lately. We're having a cold spell in Atlanta, with high temperatures right around the freezing point. As a result, the indoor relative humidity has dropped and we're getting some static electricity. Even better,…
Another Way to Prevent Your Garage from Making You Sick
If you have an attached garage where you live, the odds are high that your indoor air quality is worse than a home without an attached garage. Just take a look at the photo below to see some of the…
Accidental Dehumidification – A Preventable Mess
"Oops! The house just had an accident. Whose turn is it to clean it up?" Yep. We're entering the season of accidental dehumidification. If you've got windows that start collecting water, like the one shown above, you're a victim of…