R.H. can be defined easiest by stating that it is the amount of moisture, as a percentage, that is currently in the air compared to what it could hold at a specific temperature. That is to say 20% RH @ 20C  is far less air bourne moisture than 20% RH at 30C. 

So, at what point does moisture collect on your windows in your house in the middle of the winter? Mmmm, that depends on the Dew Point.  Getting confused?

Let’s go at it like this; if your house is 24C and the outdoor temperature is -12C the glass in your windows could reach -6C, at that point the moisture in the air that is being held in suspension will condense against the cold glass as it cools. If a shower is turned on or food is being washed, boiled and prepared, then the moisture content of the air will increase (rise in RH) and more moisture will collect on the window. Soon the window becomes so wet that the condensation runs across the sill and down the wall to the floor. And the question becomes, How do you cope with it & control it?

With “Ventilation” ….. in any form, by any method available to you. The easiest way is to open a window about 1/2″ (1.26cm) as far away from an exhaust fan as possible and allow fresh cool air in. As the air warms it will expand and it’s RH will decrease allowing it to absorb more moisure as it makes its’ way across the house and out the exhaust fan to the outdoors.  And as new air comes in it carries out more moisture etc,etc and eventually your windows stop sweating and the RH in the entire house drops.

How much does this add to your fuel bill ?  30 x 1.08 x  77 x “fuel cost” (because nothing is free.) Can you minamize that expense? Yes.

With an HRV the calculated cost can be reduced as much as 80% or more.  And you can take that to the bank!

I penned the title of these articles “Dirty Little World” for two reasons.  With the advent of the electronics age the world is getting (should I say it!) more “little”.  Plus it’s a dirty place.  Back in the days when human kind was still running around in bear skins, eating berries, and roots,  and trying hard not to be eaten, there was an abundance of pollutants that have remained with us over the eons.  And all we do now is track them into our homes to mix with what we generate by ourselves.  But what in fact makes air quality good or poor? What makes air clean or dirty? What is Indoor Air Quality.?  To our ancestors in bear skins Air Quality was non-existent. Just being able to breathe made you one of the fortunate ones.  We graduated to caves, found fire, burnt whatever was available, began burning meat over the fire, and still didn’t care about pollution or plumbing, that was all part of “cave dwelling”. Then came the constructed dwelling place. But still no plumbing – I would imagine we didn’t care too much because it was the “norm”.  (And as one of my friends would say)  “ and here’s the Hook Baby”.  It was the “norm”.  So to-day with years of enlightenment, and learning how is it we still have a hard time defining Indoor Air Quality.   The U.S. Federal Standard  209E (1994) set out a “bench mark” Standard of 100,000 respirable particles per cubic foot.  So at 100,001 p/cu ft is your IAQ unacceptable? Or conversely at 99,999 is it clean?  If airborne particle matter is low but undetected contaminating gases are high is your air clean? So ( the Hook!) what is the norm?

In Encyclopedia language: Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a term referring to the air quality within or around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of the building occupants. (IAQ can be affected by microbial mold, bacteria, gases, radon, VOC’s, particles, or any mass or energy stressor that can induce adverse health conditions.)  Determining IAQ then involves the collection of air samples, monitoring of human exposure, and inside air flow studies.

So IAQ is more than just clean air/dirty air.?   It is perhaps, “the active study and correction of adverse human health factors with in, but not confined to, an occupied building or area of a building, vehicle or confined space.” To some that could be high levels of formaldehyde gas, to others air borne particulate matter smaller than 0.30 microns, and still to others something as simple as high humidity.  For me it would be elevated levels of Ozone and dust.  The “norm” is not always normal.  As long as the human body can deal with the stressors & contaminates, then is the IAQ acceptable?, but when airborne stachybotrys mold spores put  a person in hospital (or worse), is it poor?   I would like to offer you this thought.  IAQ is part of the more broad spectrum of A.Q. (Air Quality) and is or will be a branch of the HVAC Industry by it’s own right, and those who embrace the need and develop the skills  now will be sought after for consultation and remediation, and this will only increase as energy costs rise and building construction becomes “tighter”.

Radon is a difficult study. So here we are to-day with a colourless, odourless, naturally produced radioactive gas that if allowed to build high concentrations in our environments can cause lung cancer. And it’s not going away!

Radon is measured in Picocuries per litre (pCi/L) and presents no danger to life or tissue @ 0.35pCi/L. But when trapped in a building, levels as high as 20.0 pCi/L can occur and the constant  bombardment of healthy tissue by the alpha particles of radon can cause the cells to mutate into a cancerous state.

Radon occurs all over North America from the coal mines of the eastern U.S. to the Canadian Shield, from the coal producing Canadian Provinces to the areas of bed rock where uranium sits and decays. Radon usually dissipates harmlessly into the atmosphere but can also “migrate” below the earth’s surface and find its way into buildings via cracked foundations, open sump pits, foundation joints, poor seals, etc. Oddly enough — control of radon gas in an internal environment is simple. Ventilate. The most effective method is:

• to place a duct inlet below the foundation floor level of the building (seal the joint at the floor)
• Lead the duct to the atmosphere and
• have an inline fan (Fantech FR110) that is energized 24/7, thus creating a negative pressure below the floor level & drawing off the gas before it can penetrate the cracks & joints.

One other method is to install an HRV (Fantech SHR/VHR) at a slight positive pressure imbalance thus creating a positive pressure with-in the building & “holding the gas back” so it cannot enter. Either way, sealing of all the building joints below grade is most important. Testing for Radon is a simple method and there is tons of information on the internet at www.radondetect.ca. This could be a huge opportunity to boost sales in a tough economy.

Actually not! If you consider that the average work place is designed on “Exhaust Ventilation” (which is a ventilation system based on exhaust fans sucking out enough air to allow the influx of an equivalent amount of fresh oxygenated air to infiltrate the building — right!) then it’s not too far of a stretch to realize that a BRAIN with a build up of CARBON DIOXDE does not function as it should.

• Does not make decisions as it should,
• does not evaluate criteria as it should,
• does not reason as it should, and
• just basically wants to go to sleep instead of being used.

So after being subjected to poorly oxygenated air for 6 – 7 hours of the day, by 3 pm the brain starts getting groggy and can’t seem to “think” its way out of the stressful situations at work. (That’s me!) So why does the Ventilation Guide allow for “Exhaust Only Ventilation”? It worked back when it was designed because buildings were as loose as, “a clap board driving shed built for three horses and a couple of surreys.” To-day, even the “loose” buildings are tight enough to retard the progression of an exhaust only system. The stress just seems to overwhelm you around 2:30 – 3 o’clock in the afternoon. So why don’t we just open a window or “boot-up” the Economizer?

Eee—Gads, man, that costs money. But guess what! So does a bunch of stressed out, confused, dopey, tired CO2 laden brains. Not to mention (watch how this ties in!) the negative pressure in the building will aid in the increase of subsoil Radon entering the building structure from cracks, joints and fissures in the foundation floor & walls.

So I head outside & get a good dose of fresh air and feel refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day – and you know what? Those “stressful” little things just seem to fall into place, just as they should. So you head home at the end of the day, plant your seat and your feet, relax – eat a good meal, collapse in front of the tube, and begin to breathe the CO2 laden air that has plagued your house since four weeks before the advent of the New Year. And on we go.

The cost to reheat just 20 cfm of fresh air brought into your dwelling is equal to 20 x 70 (air temp difference) x 1.08 (correction factor to standard air density) x the cost of N.G. /per cubic foot.

• 20 cubic feet of fresh air @ 0 ° F would require 20 x 70 x 1.08 = 1540 BTU of heat to bring it to 70 °F

Since we are introducing a small amount of fresh air into a much larger amount of existing warm air, the actual load on a heating system or dwelling is almost negligible. A four inch (4”) intake pipe ducted into the farthest end of the return air (as far from the air handler as possible) will allow enough fresh air into the building to offset the buildup of gases (methane is also a big one). It can have a manual adjustment damper in it to control the incoming cold air during extreme cold weather. It will also help dry the interior air by lowering the RH.

So I’m asked, “Does this not go against everything you preach about HRVs and ventilation?” To some extent yes, BUT – it’s also a low cost practical solution to an age old problem. Fresh air for Health, Welfare & oxygen for that lump of grey matter stuck in the top of our heads. Breathe deep & keep it working to the max.

1. Steam/hot water
2. Chilled water.

There are five distinct classifications:

• Flow Generation: forced flow or gravity flow
• Temperature: low medium, high
• Pressurization: low, medium, high
• Piping arrangement
• Pumping Arrangement.

For example “Piping arrangements” can be single, two pipe, three pipe, four pipe, or series loop. Then if you want to get technical, you can include Geothermal units as well. So that’s a pretty lengthy description for something we all pretty well knew anyway so why bore you all?

Because I want to be sure you know that in the CIPH, (Canadian Hydronics Council News) January 2011 newsletter there is a HUGE push coming (and a lot of money being spent as well) on Hydronics. Beautiful Heat Marketing Strategy has been given the nod to proceed with advertising , marketing & promotion of the health and energy benefits of Hydronic Heating. The program is being supported by:

• Armstrong
• Bell & Gossett
• Bradford-White
• Grundfos
• Honeywell
• IBC Technologies
• Laars
• Raypak
• Taco
• Tekmar
• Uponor
• Viessmann
• Watts Water Technologies
• Weil-Mclain

(bet you recognized a couple of those names)

CIPH states that although 2010 was a flat sales year in the Hydronics Industry, 2011 seems to be indicating a rebound in the housing market and the Council is preparing to spend $5,000,000 over the next three years to promote and support Hydronic Sales. CHC (Canadian Hydronics Council) has spring training programs set in Ontario for February, March and April. Mohawk College is now offering programs for Certified Hydronics Designers & Installers.

All of this tells me that there is going to be renewed interest, and questions flying about Boilers, HW Heating, Geothermal Heating, Radiant Systems, etc. If we’re going to answer those questions and close those sales, we better know what we’re talking about. Oh and by the way – NRCan wants to enforce higher boiler efficiencies on Commercial boilers and the concern is that it will affect the availability and stability of Canadian manufacturers. That’s a wait & see proposal at the m o m e n t , b u t i t demonstrates where the Industry is being lead.

However…On one of these occasions, I was in the middle of a conversation with a homeowner, who actually (almost) understood the principle of good air filtration, when a small hand grabbed my arm and this little voice said “can you talk to my Dad about our house”? I was hooked. She was the sweetest five year old on the block so I followed her over to where her dad was talking to one of the Contractors that I was there to support. As I jumped into the conversation, it turned out, that Dad & Mom were having some serious health issues in the house and couldn’t quite nail it down. The possible causes fell between either the dogs, cat, or their smoking habit.. You’d think! Let’s take a wild stab at it – ALL THREE!

I agreed to meet the contractor at the residence and bring along my trusty Laser Particle Counter. This instrument is capable of reading the number of particles in the air, as low as 0.03 microns and to the concentration of 2,999,9999 per cubic foot.

It was a normal looking two storey, three-bedroom house with a finished basement, which by the way, contained the oldest son’s bedroom. The scenario they painted was one I was familiar with:

• the son in the basement had no issues & slept like a baby.
• The main floor was clean but when the kids came home after school they seemed to develop runny noses & sneezing, and then
• at bedtime after being sequestered in their rooms for an hour or so the coughing and wheezing started.

It was typical of a dozen other places I’d been involved in. I took the particle counter to:

• the basement and picked up a reading of approx. 15,000 p/cu.ft (not too bad).
• The main floor reading varied from 35,000 to 60,000p/cu.ft , and
• the second floor skyrocketed to over 350,000 p/cu. ft.

Now – none of this is really uncommon & I’ll explain why. You see,

• small particles are 0.3 to 10.0 micron,
• medium are10.0 to 30.0 microns and
• large are 30.0 to 100.0 microns,

They don’t rate any particles lower than 0.3 or higher than 100.0 for residential.

• The heavier & some mid-range particles settle out and are carried downward to the lower level with the cool air as it settles towards the basement.
• The lighter to medium range particles settle out more slowly and therefore tend to collect centrally in the house . And then,
• the really fine, “lighter than air” particles are carried upwards as the warm air in the house rises up the staircase to the second floor.

And if you remember from earlier articles, the 3.0 micron and less sized particles are the most abundant in the spectrum. The E1 and smaller particles are fed by animal dander, dust mite debris, dead skin cells, carbon particles from smoke etc and are the allergenic particles because they are breathable.

The ANIMAL COLLECTION and CIGARETTE DEPOSITS were the obvious causes; so it became more about educating the homeowners than selling a contractor. However, we had the contractor install a HEPA filter in the attic space and take the dirty air inlet from the central second floor hallway and place “clean air inlets” in each bedroom. The animals were then sent outdoors and so was the cigarette smoking “daddy”.

With the majority of the sources removed, sleep cycles & general health improved almost over night, and when I returned two weeks later the owners commented on how fresh their house smelled and that the “cold and allergy” symptoms had completely disappeared. CASE CLOSED

One of the forerunners was the J*** L****** Building (name can’t be used). Employee absenteeism was so high with sickness and health complaints so rampant that after several air quality studies had been done, it was determined that the air tightness of the building coupled with formaldehyde off-gassing, high humidity & CO2 levels were the source of the problems. Solution! Remove all furnishings, carpet, vinyl flooring, etc. and replace them with new. Ventilate? NO. Sterilize? No. Remediate mould? NO. Replace all furnishings and carpets with new? Yes. Result! Six months later employee absenteeism was back to above average and complaints still existed.

What was occurring was the phenomenon known as “sick building syndrome”. When an airtight, energy efficient building experiences high humidity & temperature — furniture, carpet, vinyl flooring, etc. off gas formaldehyde. Because the building is “air tight” (and lacks proper ventilation) respiratory carbon dioxide, bacteria, virus’, photocopier generated ozone, cleaning solution vapours, methane, etc. are allowed to collect and mix with the formaldehyde. “Commercial ventilation” codes of the day required only that air be “supplied” for “adequate indoor air quality”, which was akin to trying to inflate a concrete balloon with a bicycle pump.

There was an article written in the May 1999 Good Housekeeping about episodes at St. Charles High School, just west of Chicago, Illinois that related the same type of events as I described earlier. Once pursued, it turned out that hundreds of U.S. schools suffered the same scenario.

One of our local London builders is suffering, as this is being written, with the job of replacing insulation & drywall in one of his buildings due to moisture and mould damage. As the mould spores accumulated, coupled with off gassing, add in “no ventilation”, tenants become ill, FINALLY A LIGHT BULB GOES ON, and the work is under way. Build it tight – don’t ventilate – watch it rot!

It is a common occurrence for some or many office workers to become very drowsy around mid afternoon. That lethargic, dragged, tired, groggy head feeling. Step outside for a couple of minutes and you feel refreshed & ready for the rest of the workday. Sound familiar? That’s CO2 poisoning. Carbon dioxide slowly robs the brain & body of oxygen – oxygenate the body & the feeling disappears quickly. S.B.S. doesn’t allow that because of the “stew” that has built up inside the building & or it’s occupants. There are documented cases of the same occurrences in residential dwellings that lead to serious illness because the exposure duration is so much greater in a residential case…sometimes 2 x greater.

An associate of mine (from my previous “life”) purchased a new home in the Kanata area of Ottawa and after a short occupation of the home, admitted her daughter to the hospital in anaphylactic shock. After returning to the home she watched her daughter’s health decline rapidly again, but this time left the house & did not return. Sold the home. And built a new one with all natural wood products, a high quality HRV, and no laminated products & NO CARPET. To-day they both live in the same home & are both very happy and healthy. These are not “stories”. They are recounts of real life events.

Be sure as winter approaches that you have an adequate supply of good quality filters & (if you do not have an HRV) have chosen a window in your home to be designated “ventilation port 1”. Leave it open about an inch & run that bath fan.

This common, little considered, “bio-aerosol” can cause fatigue, eye, skin, lung and nervous system symptoms in adult humans, and has been attributed to bleeding lungs in infants and children. It has even been attributed to being the cause of death in severe cases. Now don’t panic about your home, this is not the same mold you see on the tile & in the grout of your shower.

Black mold (as it is more commonly called) prefers the base materials of wood, sheet rock, paper, cotton, cardboard, non ceramic ceiling tile, and carpeting. It grows in the presence of “persistent” moisture, cool temperatures and low light. Under these circumstances it can flourish and spread. It is not so much the mold itself but the spores that become airborne, hence the term bio-aerosol.

Black mold that is left undisturbed is relatively harmless (if I may use that term), but as soon as removal is attempted and it is disturbed its spores are thrown off into the air in abnormal amounts. That’s were the trouble really begins.

There are documented cases of individuals who have attempted to “scrape” black mold off the damp surfaces were they had grown and those individuals suffered severe reactions and even death (as mentioned in a previous article). In Cleveland Ohio several years ago after severe flooding, several children died after a mold outbreak. Leaky roofs, foundation walls, window sashes etc. are common sites for black mold to take hold.

The aggravating part of all molds is that if you dry the area out, and keep it dry, you think you may have the problem solved, but unless you completely remove or destroy the mold it will return with the introduction of moisture. The spores can remain dormant for even years and then return when coaxed with a little moisture. That’s why it’s so difficult to get rid of the mold in the shower and bath area.

The best home remedy for bath and shower mold is a bleach based cleaner. Wipe the area completely with a cloth and allow the bleach cleaner to sit on the surface for a period of time before wiping it clean. Then use your normal household cleaner to remove the bleach odour if you chose. If you discover mold in a damp area of your home:

• First, repair the area were the moisture is accumulating or leaking in
• Then get yourself some very high quality breathing apparatus and isolate the area were the mold has formed. And I mean ISOLATE!
• If there is access to the rest of the house, seal all entries so spores can not migrate as you work.
• Then proceed with the bleach application being careful not to disturb any of the mold beyond just wiping down with your bleach cloth, or spray.
• Then ABSOLUTELY remove ALL contaminated material, even if you have to remove more than necessary to be sure you have it all.
• Then, dispose of it in clear bags that are marked “contains mold infected material”.
• If there is structural material involved and it appears to be a big job….suck it up, and get it done – you’re playing with peoples lives.

I have a nephew (by marriage) who is in this exact situation right now. His lower basement has been leaking for a couple of years now and when I found out I read him the “mold riot act”. We have been through two very intense search and clean sessions already. He has the dubious job of removing most of the lower wallboard in the basement, part of his supporting wall, and a ton of damp contaminated insulation. But it has to be done. Do a routine check from time to time to make sure your environment is tight & dry. It should only take about an hour with a flashlight, and it could save a family member (or your own) life.

Example — 10 new people (added to the stew) eat 10x more food, drink 10x more fluid, consume 10x more oxygen, all of which originated from the molecules right here on Earth, so it’s actually one huge recycling machine because everything that’s of the Earth came from the Earth.

However, the Earth does gain approximately 180,000 kilos each year from space dust, comets and meteorites. Since the Earth’s mass is approx. 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Kg., the minor build up of 180,000 kilos is meaningless. By the way, since the Earth is in orbit around the sun, its actual measurable weight is ………zero.

So why am I boring you with all this nonsense? There is actually a point to all of this. It’s called ATMOSPHERIC DUST. The heating season will be on us shortly (it’s Canada, eh!) and from April until the first snow fall, we have had to contend with atmospheric dust particles. All those bits and pieces that have been falling on us all year dry out and blow around our world.

As we close up our homes and turn on the ventilation systems, the air-borne dust gets drawn into our homes, tracked in on little shoes, carried in on hairy companions, forced in through cracks and openings and brought in on our clothes. All of a sudden, it becomes a “Dirty Little World” right before our eyes.

• If we try to filter the air through an HRV (with a HEPA filter) before it’s drawn in, we will load/plug up the HEPA filter in less than 120 hours (5 days). You would have to use a HEPA filter because atmospheric particles are less than 10 microns in size.
• If we don’t filter it we have to deal with added dust & dirt.
• If we shut off the ventilators we have a build up of gaseous contaminates in the house.

Q.: So what do we do?

A.: Filter at the Furnace (air handler) point.

Use the HEPA to your best advantage on the return ducts AND insure that at least a MERV 8/10 filter blesses your HVAC system. As soon as the ground is white your problem will disappear & the world will be a “cleaner” place (for a short while).

ATMOSPHERIC DUST for the most part is not visible (remember the 10 micron threshold of visibility?). So we really don’t see it collecting; it just “appears” one afternoon out of nowhere. The unfortunate & frustrating part is there is little we can do about it — save allow it in and then filter it out.

Regardless of what the outside air has floating in suspension for us, it is still healthier than the indoor air we bottle ourselves up in for the winter. (Tell that to the families immediately due north of Sarnia’s petrochemical valley).

I was in Calgary years ago visiting friends when I commented on the unique shade of gray they chose for their carpets. The return comment was “ the carpet’s not gray – it’s white”. Apparently in the west, the volcanic dust stains everything & can’t be kept out of the house. Makes Ontario look pretty clean, eh!

So just keep in mind FILTER @ THE FURNACE! By the way, a 40% one inch pleated filter is just as efficient as a 40% four inch pleated filter, the difference is the four inch filter has more surface area & will hold more “stuff”, but it won’t filter out particles better than a one inch filter.