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Improving Home Ventilation: More Important that You Think

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A ventilation contractor is a valuable resource when it comes to improving the air quality and energy efficiency of your home. Poor home ventilation leads to a multitude of problems, including increased heating and cooling costs, moisture, mold and mildew buildup, and high levels of allergens and pollutants. By hiring a ventilation contractor to examine and improve your home's ventilation, you'll be making an investment in both your health and lower energy costs in the future.

What Does A Ventilation Contractor Do?
A ventilation contractor does everything from making sure your attic is properly ventilated to analyzing the air quality in your home. Here's a short list of common ventilation repairs and projects, and the benefits you'll reap by having them performed.

Attic Ventilation— Proper attic ventilation in the form of ridge, soffit, and gable vents is critical for many reasons. It reduces moisture buildup in the attic, which can cause mold and mildew problems, prevents ice dams on roofs, and increases the energy efficiency of a home, especially in the summer months when attics tend to trap in hot air.

HVAC— Proper ventilation, cleaning, and insulation of your furnace, air conditioner and ductwork makes for more efficient operation and less airborne pollutants in your home. A good ventilation expert or HVAC technician will examine and identify your HVAC system (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) and identify how it can be improved to save you money on energy costs and to reduce the presence of dust, allergens and potentially harmful gases in your home.

Whole House Fans—A whole house fan operates by pulling in outside air through your windows and blowing it up into your attic, providing cheap and efficient cooling of your entire home in the spring, fall and on cool summer nights. Having one installed can make a huge difference when it comes to improving your home cooling costs since they greatly reduce the need to run your A/C.

HRVs— A Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) is a unit installed onto your existing ductwork that replaces stale air inside your home with fresh air from outside, all without causing significant heat loss in the winter or heat gain in the summer. HRVs are an excellent investment for sufferers of allergies or asthma, or those just looking to breathe cleaner and live healthier.

Bathroom and Kitchen Ventilation—The two most common places for mold, mildew, and unwanted odors to develop are your kitchen and bathroom. A ventilation contractor can install kitchen vents and bathroom fans to clear out unwanted moisture and nasty odors, making your home a more pleasant and healthy place to live in the process. As mentioned before, these are just a few of the services a ventilation contractor can provide. Contact a ventilation contractor today to take advantage of these services and more. Your health and your pocketbook will thank you in the long run.

Matt Goering, formerly a carpenter and house painter, is a freelance writer for the home improvement industry who has published over 600 articles.

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