Fresh air is good. We all know this because we were told this since we were children. But it’s harder to get fresh air into a house today than it used to be. Modern homes are built “tight” to increase energy efficiency: less heat gained in hot weather, less heat lost in cold weather. But this tightness traps air indoors and keeps out a fresh breeze that can sweep away the stale, sometimes muggy indoor air.
If you want fresh air in your house, what can you do? Opening the windows is the obvious way—but right now it’s winter. You don’t want to let the chill outdoor temperatures into the house, which will force the heater to work longer to warm the rooms up again.
So are you simply stuck during the winter with a closed-up house? No, there’s a workaround. Actually, an installation. It’s called an energy recovery ventilator and it can make a huge difference for your indoor air quality and energy savings.
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