I would have thought good ventilation would bring much colder air in from the outside thereby mitigating the benefits of good insulation. How do modern houses deal with this issue or is good ventilation much less important and I expect? (I’m in the UK so we don’t have blown air heating/cooling as standard here)
In: Engineering
Define “Good Ventilation”.
Using CO2 as a proxy for Indoor Air Quality, the goal is to have an indoor CO2 reading no more than 650 ppm above the outside reading. With OSA reading 420ppm, that’s 1070ppm for inside air. Depending on the air space and how many people are breathing, that doesn’t take many Air Changes per Hour (ACH) to meet that goal.
“a tight, well sealed newlyconstructed home usually achieves **.**6 air changes per hour or less. A reasonably tight, well constructed older home typically has an air change rate of about 1 per hour. A somewhat loose older home with no storm windows and caulk missing in spots has an air change rate of about 2. A fairly loose, drafty house with no caulk or weatherstripping and entrances used might have an air change rate as high as 4, and a very drafty, dilapidated house might have an air change rate of as high as 8.”
There’s a difference between what you want: “the cool clear air blowing across your face”, and what you need: “Given an average outdoor CO 2 concentration of 380 ppm, indoor CO2 levels should not exceed 1,035 ppm (380 ppm + 650 ppm = 1,030 ppm)”
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