01.20.09

Home Ventilation

Posted in baths, cabinetry, kitchens at 12:48 pm by Administrator

In many cities we have developed a system to monitor outdoor air quality. You may be familiar with Green, Yellow and Red air quality ratings in your city. We moved from one such city to a city of around 8,000. It puzzled me when we sat around the television watching the news with natives and they commented about how much better it was in their community without the “poor air quality” of the city. However, as we traveled home the heavy carbon smell of wood burning stoves filled the air and a haze could be seen over the valley. We become accustomed and partial to our environment.

Indoor air quality is something we have learned a good deal about in recent years. We have improved the homes envelope, double pained windows, window wraps, house wraps, improved insulation. This has made heating and cooling costs more efficient. However, now we have to consider the need for fresh air and be aware of the off gases that building materials may have. It is a crazy world of cause and effect.

The thing that I really have a hard time getting my head around is our reluctance to provide proper ventilation in the kitchen or bath. These areas have air issues somewhat independent of the homes envelope.

I talked with a man today that owns an upscale home in St. George. He relayed the experience of the first time they cooked steaks inside. The steaks created smoke as they do, and the range hood was not vented to the outside, as is often the case. I suspect that nearly everyone can identify with this experience. You turn on an ineffective range hood fan, then open windows or doors and possibly clear the room. Then leave the windows open and turn off the annoying noisy fan as soon as possible. Then after the event is over, we go back to our lives and forget the whole thing…until you get really hungry for another steak, and heaven forbid it is to cold to fire up the outside grill.

A similar event occurs in the bathroom. A foul odor or a steamy shower creates an environment that requires you to turn on the noisy ineffective fart fan, and then you can’t wait to turn it off because it is more annoying than the wet and or smelly air. And oh the embarrassment when we are the guest in someone else’s home. Yet we insist on meeting some minimum code or conscience requirement to install a fan.

Many ladies have learned to avoid the fan altogether by lighting a perfumed candle. Men just strike a match or have a smoke. All is well with our air. Why are we opposed to insisting on efficient ventilation? You can spend three or four times more on a quite and effective ventilation system and still not break the bank. A designer paint or glazed cabinet finish will cost more than the ventilation upgrades. When we consider kitchen and bath design we need to look beyond tile, cabinets and counters. Health and lasting value lies in details that support the outward appearance, like ventilation.

Illustration by FanTech

Kitchen and bath ventilation is a detail not to be overlooked, a detail not to be left to a contractor’s default. This is 2009 and there are better solutions to kitchen, bath and home ventilation. I have heard contractors yell at suppliers for having to spend more than forty or fifty dollars on a bath fan, because that is the cheapest fan available at a big box retailer. If that is the bottom line, let the good old times roll, you know the clear the room drill. After all, wood burning stoves have no odor if that is what everyone is smoking.

Another blog post on ventilation that I recommend is from:
meadowviewconstruction.blogspot.com

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