a Healthier Home
Is this new piece of ventilation kit the secret to a healthy urban home? David Hilton believes it is
Many homes suffer from poor air quality. As we make them more efficient, we also trap stale air and pollutants in the building. In the quest for a healthier indoor environment we then extract the stale air and bring ‘fresh’ air in from outside.
But just how fresh is this air? If you are near a road or other sources of air pollution, you may need a carbon filter on your ventilation system to ensure that the air is indeed fresh.
Until now, carbon filters have only been used with mechanical ventilation systems, which are ducted to and from each room in a new build property. Retrofitting these systems into existing dwellings is not only difficult and highly intrusive but also very dis-
ruptive. Over 45 years ago, Nuaire developed Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) to target the retrofit market. PIV is a relatively low cost unit that is centrally located in the loft area and has an air outlet usually in the hallway or landing ceiling.
Air is drawn from the loft area and gently blown into the house to create a slight positive pressure. The positive pressure then pushes the stale air and pollutants out of the property through natural passages in the fabric of the building.
Nuaire has now added a carbon filter to a PIV unit (called the Noxmaster), which means that any urban home with a loft can have a carbon filter ventilation system installed.
The carbon filter removes up to 99.5% of NOX and up to 75% of PM2.5. The manufacturer says that the carbon filter also removes other harmful gases produced by traffic emissions, including sulphur dioxide, hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), helping to clean up the indoor air and protect the long-term health of the occupants.
The carbon filter addition to the PIV unit now ensures that indoor air really is fresh and the home is healthy for those living in it.
“The carbon filter also removes other harmful gases produced by traffic emissions, helping to clean up the indoor air and protect the long-term health of the occupants”