7 tricks to improve indoor air quality

HRVs remove stale indoor air and replace it with fresh air from outside, distributing the cleaner air throughout the house. During the cold season, HRVs are able to recover 60 to 80% of the heat from the stale air and use the energy to preheat the incoming fresh air. The process is reversed during the cooling season to ensure indoor comfort year-round while saving you energy and money.

An HRV not only brings fresh air into your home, but it also helps to remove pollutants such as bacteria, moisture and moulds, and household chemicals from your indoor air. Most HRVs come equipped with HEPA filters which remove up to 99.97% of particles from the air that passes through them for even better air quality.

With an HRV, you'll no longer have to think about opening windows to aerate your home. During the summer, this will reduce dust and pollen infiltration, bringing relief to allergy sufferers. During the winter, it will reduce heat loss and save you on the costs of heating. Look for ENERGY STAR® certified HRVs among our ECO products to maximize your money and energy savings.

Ventilating your bathroom and kitchen on a regular basis will help prevent the buildup of moisture and pollutants from indoor activities like cooking and showering. Make sure that your bathroom fan, range hood, and dryer all expel air outside.

Save money while keeping your home well ventilated by choosing an ENERGY STAR® certified bathroom fan, which will use 50% less energy than the typical standard model.

Just about every step of a home renovation project, from painting and gluing to using cleaning products, requires proper ventilation. The products involved likely contain harmful chemicals that will seep into your indoor air if you do not aerate.

Good aeration is especially important when tackling a paint or varnish project or when installing carpeting using glue or adhesives. Make sure to use your ventilation fans and HRV when necessary.

Exhaust gasses from engines contain many VOCs and other pollutants that should not be allowed to enter your home. Don't let any vehicles, lawn mowers, or snow blowers run inside an attached garage or beside any exterior doors and windows.

Stay on top of furnace maintenance and keep wood-burning stoves and fireplaces clean. It is also a good idea to make your home and your vehicle a smoking-free zone.

Remember that you always need to have properly working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms installed to keep you and your family safe in the event of a fire or when the air is too toxic to breathe.