Home ventilation is a great way to keep your air quality high because pollutants tend to concentrate within the walled-off environment of your home. As Phoenix heats up this summer, you can also use ventilation to keep you cool. Here are three kinds of ventilation that you can use to cool off when the temperatures are high.
Natural Ventilation
During cooler times of day, you can introduce cool air to your home simply by opening a couple of windows. Take advantage of the fact that warm air rises. Opening windows in higher levels of your home or in attic spaces and making sure there’s a clear path between those windows and open lower-level windows will create an inside breeze that chases warm air out and draws cool air in.
Ceiling Fans
Air moving over your skin cools you in a process known as the wind chill effect, and if you use a ceiling fan, blades moving in a counterclockwise direction will actually improve the impact of your air conditioner. With the ceiling fan on, you can raise the temperature on your thermostat, lowering energy bills. Just be aware that this doesn’t actually lower the air temperature of your room, although it will cool you. Turn off the fans when there’s no one to enjoy them.
Whole-House Fans
Especially when paired with an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) to make sure you’re not drawing in hot air when it’s hot outside, a whole-house fan can give you the air movement and ventilation you need to keep cool. Make sure that your attic is also properly ventilated. As heat from the sun builds up in your attic, it will radiate down into your living areas, so expelling hot attic air is important to keep your home cool.
Wolff Mechanical proudly serves homeowners in the Phoenix area. If you have any questions about your home ventilation, give us a call and let us improve your home!
Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Phoenix Valley area of Arizona about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
