Ventless? Don't Even Think About It

What we've been saying the last few weeks is: energy and indoor air quality are equally important to your fiscal and physical health. If your house is not "net zero" for energy, if your energy budget is a large chunk of your income, if you'd like to join in the fun and enjoy some alternative energy, you're looking for low-cost ways to play.

Enter the ventless gas or gel-fuel fireplace. Costing hundreds not thousands of dollars, able to be attached to a wall or set up in the middle of a room, and capable of burning liquid petroleum gas as well as natural (city) gas, the ventless fireplace sells itself as a near-advent level blessing for us regular folks who want to go green.

Hold on, though. The fuel, whether natural gas, LP or fuel gel, is the same petroleum-based fuel you're burning in your basement boiler or furnace. Costs the same, burns at the same efficiency with the same gross environmental impact (carbon footprint, CO2 emissions, Sulfur derivatives, stuff like that). The good news is that the entire combustion process takes place in your living space, so no heat is lost up the chimney. Very efficient. The bad news is that the entire combustion process takes place in your living space and you breathe everything the fireplace emits. CO2, CO, sulfur derivatives, carbon particles, all that stuff.

And is that bad? Some experts say no. The best manufacturers include, as a safety device, an "oxygen depletion sensor" which shuts down the fireplace if the oxygen in the room drops to dangerous levels. Dangerous levels? DANGEROUS LEVELS? Advertised combustion efficiency varies from 92% to 99%. The rest of the unburned or partially burned fuel goes into your lungs (carbon, sulfur, carbon monoxide, etc.). Or on the floor, or on the leaves of your houseplants, or on your furniture.

Do you cook with natural gas or LP? Well, one argument maintains that many people use gas ranges and ovens and come to no harm. Fair enough. But even cooking with gas releases the same combustion gases into your home. And, building codes require that vent hoods be installed over cooking devices. For a reason. Cooking vapors and combustion by-products are harmful to indoor air quality and should be vented outdoors.

Vented gas fireplaces don't always require a conventional chimney. They cost 25% or so more than unvented fireplaces, require expert installation, and require a penetration through an outside wall for the vent. They operate at efficiencies of 75% or so, and generate both convective and radiant heat for the comfort of the living space. That's about the same efficiency as the central heating unit in the basement. So, no impressive savings, just a lovely flame effect and a snug feeling from the radiant warmth.

If you're impervious to combustion fumes, you're a better man(woman) than I. If you want to install a low cost alternative heating source in your home, the unvented gas fireplace will do. But please, don't neglect to purchase the oxygen-depletion safety feature. And crack a window, and don't go to bed and leave the fireplace burning. Take care of yourself. I can't afford to lose loyal readers.

My Plants Are Like Pets, Sort Of

The woman in the bushes may be looking for her kids, or dusting the furniture. She represents an extreme version of the doctrine that house plants make indoors living healthier. Do they really? Let's have a look.

Indoor plants process air in a complementary way to humans and animals. People inhale air and exhale carbon dioxide (the Osama bin Laden of gases these days) while keeping most of the oxygen for ourselves. Plants inhale (respire, actually) air and exhale oxygen, while keeping most of the carbon dioxide for themselves. That God, He's just too smart. I could have stayed up all night and not thought of mammal-plant symbiosis. In those early days of life, when oxygen was plentiful, who knew? And if you're into the Jurassic Park thing, let's just say someone's nose was really twitching to figure all that out.

Indoor plants also release moisture into the air, as well as fragrance, organic volatiles, pollen, mold and bugs. A little tiny bit of anything is ok, but the woman in our photo is swimming in plant by-products. Are they harmful to her?

NASA has done some fascinating work on plants as possible space travelers. Most of the astronauts and a few of the astronettes preferred to go into space with human companions, never mind all the leafy potted co-pilots. But the plants made a good showing, releasing helpful oxygen, scouring the air for carbon dioxide, and removing some key contaminants while suffering no harm themselves. Thanks, Woody. The presence of potted plants in workspaces has proven their ability to improve air quality and morale with practically no factor of diminishing returns. The more plants, the better the air.

It may be possible, as in the photo, to overdo indoor plants. If you're acutely sensitive to mold and fragrances, plants might irritate your nasal passages and even your lungs. If you're devoutly asthmatic, you might have to pass on the benefits of houseplants. But you can try, starting from a clean house and few or no allergic symptoms, and see what effect houseplants have on your home. You might not notice the extra oxygen. You might appreciate the extra moisture in the air. You probably won't find a lovely young woman among your plants, unless you supply her yourself. And the nearly naked guy swinging through your ficus? That's your imagination.

Clean Air is a Choice

If you called me in, showed me your house, and said (I do not recommend this) "Money is no object, I want clean, fresh air with my heat and cooling, I would do several things. I would insist that you read some of the earlier posts to ensure that you understand the importance of cleanliness and basic house tightness. I would ask what measures you've already taken in the battle for clean air and minimal allergies in your home. I would ask you if the three corgies and the angora cat are negotiable factors in your homelife, or do we have to deal with a constant flow of contaminants released from each pet. I would recommend that you get at least one more bid from a respected contractor to compare with mine, advising you to omit the phrase "money is no object." Then I would ask if your present heating/cooling system will be the basis for our campaign, or if a complete replacement is your preferred strategy. At that point, I'm ready to design your clean air solution.

Your existing system would get a thorough cleaning inside and out. I would inspect the ducts and possibly clean them. I would strip old duct insulation off, reseal joints and seams with a non-volatile sealer, and re-insulate with mirror-finish bubble-wrap insulation (no moisture, mouse or mold issues, as with fiberglass ductwrap). I would seal the seams of the blower unit with tape or sealer, and remove and clean your grilles and return registers. Already you're feeling better, I hope.

If you opt for a new system, I would install a boiler, preferrably direct vent gas, and air handlers with both heating and cooling coils. This system is meant to be in use nearly every day of the year, which is the only way to maintain clean, filtered air in your living space. Your ductwork would be mostly round steel, with short sections of vinyl flex duct for noise reduction near outlets. If your house requires a careful retrofit, I would install high-velocity ducting, like Unico or SpacePak, which would do minimum damage to the existing finishes and architecture.

I would omit the much-touted fresh air heat exchanger, since you've established that most of your remaining allergens are coming from outside (smog, pollen, pig farm upwind, the usual). You've done everything you can to clean and de-nasty your house, short of giving away your pets. Now it's time to finish the job with filtering.

I would install filters in your return grilles, pleated ones labeled "medium efficiency." Don't sniff at the word "medium." Does Mr. Maintenance want to change Hepas every two weeks? Or risk diminishing airflow, reducing the effectiveness of the whole system? Then I would place a four-inch Air Bear-style filter in your return plenum. Depending upon your sensitivity to mold, and your stubborn refusal to give up your beloved pets, I would install either a high-voltage electronic filter or a simple ultraviolet bulb to neutralize most of the tiny (viruses, organic vapors {dog flatulence, since you asked}, baby dust mites, spores) pollutants that get by the other filters. And I would advise you to be very careful about choosing the days on which you open up the house and air it out. Check the weather, wind, humidity and air quality with a good website or local weather station.

And there you go. I know you're wondering: how much to retrofit an existing system as described? Between five and eight thousand dollars. How much for a new system complete? Between twenty and fifty thousand dollars depending upon zones and equipment. Don't even think of putting this project on a credit card, even if you're desperate. State and federal incentives will help you defray the cost in tax credits, and lending institutions will consider you a worthy cause, especially if there's any equity at all in your house to secure the loan. Get a medical certification letter from your doctor and the tax incentives improve a bit more. Contact your local utility for programs that reward positive energy retrofits. Do your homework. The political climate has never been better for projects aimed at more efficient heating/cooling and improved home air quality. Don't tell them about the dogs. Or your stupid cigars.

Last note? My favorite song. Do first things first. Clean, declutter ( I made this word up), stop using fragrances, if you think that's a factor. Vacuum your cat. Fence a little spot outside for your dogs. Stop frying your favorite foods, at least in a smoky fashion. Vaccum your mattress, buy new pillows, throw out your old couch. Remedy as many as you can of the habits and conditions that got you here. And if you want some help mopping up the last twenty percent of the problem, call me. And promise me the dogs will stay outside while I work.

My Ionic Breeze And I

My generation has heard many promises from science and industry and, to be fair, a few of them have come true. TV dinners do save time in the kitchen, 100 channels do increase the fun of watching, and aluminum chlorhydrate rubbed on armpits does suppress natural body odors. Thanks. Really.

My favorite 20th century slogan, Better Living Through Chemistry, can't be fully explored here (certainly not without legal consequences), but on the topic of indoor air quality, here at the beginning of the pollen season, we have a few thoughts.

Indoor air purifiers, the devices that hum or whirr a bit and sometimes even filter out a little airborne stuff, have fallen on hard times lately. It appears that they don't always work very well, and when they work, harmful ozone levels can result, leaving air worse off than before treatment. Not all retail purifiers are harmful, and some are true to their promises, but there's a huge stink of Caveat Emptor hanging over the marketplace viz. room air purifiers.

We've spoken on the topic of cleaning (see previous post) and filtration (also see previous) and those things help lots. What if the outdoor air quality is poor, driving you to seek safety indoors? During summer months, air pollution (airborne industrial waste, airborne dust and sand, nucular fallout, etc.) reaches dangerous levels, and those of us with established allergies are not the only ones to suffer. Everyone feels it when the smog, pollen and humidity become oppressively concentrated. What to do?

If you've done all you can to make your home clean, dry, unlikely to host mold and dust allergens, you can address the outdoor pollutants that invade your home in several ways to create a safe haven of clean air. This post and those following will reveal a list of things we think are appropriate and cost-effective.

So, first on the list, choose a room of your house, one that can be separated from the other rooms, clean it remorselessly, using non-fragrant cleaning agents, dry it out using either a dehumidifier or an air conditioner, and install a non-ozone air purifier that features Hepa-level filtration and possibly an "ionic" function. Keep the pets out, maintain cleanliness regularly, and spend a few hours in this room each day. Television does not technically qualify as a polluting agent, since the moral and intellectual research hasn't been done yet. And, after a week of this experiment, how do you feel? If your symptoms improve generally, or if you feel better after spending the evening in your special space, you're on the right track. We'll be back next time with more from the list of "good air" strategies.

HEPA Me Out, Please! I'm Allergic!

At left is a Hepa furnace filter, plugged with... stuff. First, we thank God it's in the filter and not in our lungs and noses. Second, we can't help being curious about where this.... stuff came from. It came from our home. We made that stuff.

It's dust, laundry lint, pet dander and hair (see previous post), people hair and dander ( I myself rival a pack of Labradors as a dander producer), food particles, tracked-in shoe dirt, pollen from outside, pollen from house plants, stuffing from the old couch, peeled paint, mildew and mold, soot from the furnace and stove, smoke particles from Himself's beloved cigars, bacteria (viruses are often small enough to pass through filters), and the aroma of that Hawaiian pizza your son saved to finish off later. The stuff in the filter is, in a word, your lifestyle--- come back to haunt you.

I do not favor the sterile, antiseptic life valued by some. But I see everyone's filters, and I see what gets by the filter and plugs up the AC coil or the outlet grilles, and I know we're relying on filtration to do what my mother's generation accomplished by cleaning. Oh, dear, I hear the angry mob. Must go hide in the root cellar.

The presence of medium to high efficiency filtration in our air systems and vacuum cleaners is a big improvement over earlier standards that returned most airborne particles to the living space because the coarser filters didn't catch them. It's wonderful that we have Miele and Dyson
supervacs that filter down to viral-size particles and let nothing by. But those impressive filters do not make our homes clean by themselves. They don't eliminate sources of allergic irritation and infection that overpower furnace filters, room air purifiers and occasionally-used vacuum cleaners. The causes of poor indoor air quality, apart from poor outdoor air quality, are mostly the things we bring home ourselves.

You can't have pets without having a certain level of dander and dirt. You can't have garbage in the house for long without having odors, mold and bacteria. You can't use the clothes dryer indoors without having some escaped lint flying around. And you can't trust filtration devices to remove all of the pollutants in your home without carrying the battle to every corner of every teenager's bedroom with the traditional weapons of cleanliness (broom, dustpan, vacuum, etc.). As our homes get tighter, exchanging less air with the outdoors, we trap our allergens and pollutants indoors with us, along with the normal dirt of American living. Removing those negative air factors is mostly down to the tough chore of cleaning, aided by good filters.

My Dog's Fleas Make Me Wheeze and Sneeze

The photo shows a dust mite crawling through its own paradise of pet dander. "Dander" does not refer here to fits of temper or pique; it means skin particles, hair, saliva, sweat, pee, poo, flea carcasses and outdoor dirt. No, Dr. Evil, your hairless dog Mr. Bigglesworth is not exempt from dander. No pet except your python is truly blameless, and we're not counting old skins. Here's a Youtube link to a sketch on pet allergies.

The American Humane Society estimates that 15% of people are measurably allergic to dogs or cats. Of those allergic people, fully one third live with pets, refuse to give them up as allergies become more acute, and procure replacement pets when old friends pass away. Pet owners like their pets, even when pets make them wheezy, sniffly or even ill.

The Envirionmental Protection Agency says that pet dander is an acute trigger for asthma attacks. The American Lung Association lists pet dander among its major negative factors in indoor air quality and human health, adding that "there is no such thing as a hypo-allergenic pet."

Can you clean your way out of a pet allergy? The consensus is no. Pets release dander, hair, sweat, poo, pee, etc. at a rate that would overpower Mr. Clean in minutes. But, curiously, pet owners suffer all these things without (much) complaint in return for the companionship and comfort of their pets.

So as you tighten up your house, seal air leaks, root out moisture, mold and mildew, and clean up dust and dirt, you may be fighting only the easiest part of the battle for a healthy indoor environment. It's sadly possible that in strict terms of human health, a house with pets is better off with a few drafts and air leaks. Changes of air in your home are your best compromise with the health hazards that pet lovers can't, and usually won't, confront directly. We close with a (serious) Youtube clip telling you how to "lint-roll" your cat. Be sure to get it drunk first.

Control Your Humidity, Madam

So many factors complicate the entity called Indoor Air Quality, and I can't cover them all here, but we've been discussing moisture and humidity in your home. Let's start there.

The woman in the picture would look lots cuter if she weren't snorkling and snuffling into her handkerchief. What's bugging her?

Among other things, the air in her house may be either too dry or too moist. Either direction, outside the recommended healthy window of 30%-50%, leads to trouble. Air with less moisture dries out nasal passages and sinuses, making us more vulnerable to infections, and air with higher humidity is likely to be carrying mold spores, bacteria and dust mites, all of which can cause an allergic reaction and lead to infections.

Begin by buying an inexpensive indoor hygrometer, or humidity meter (the link is to a tobacco specialty merchant. Cigar smokers are keen on proper humidity {!!!???} ). Once you have a reading, you can begin to exert control. If humidity is much below 30%, you can easily use a table-top humidifier to increase the reading. If humidity is much above 50%, and with warmer weather it will get there, you can use air conditioners or dehumidifiers to control moisture in your home. Look for moisture sources that can be re-directed, such as shower steam, laundry vapors and leaky plumbing.

Rule of thumb: if water is condensing on your windows on cold days, your humidity is probably high. If you constantly feel dry and itchy about the nose (don't drive me to more detail here, please), your humidity is likely too low.

But first, foremost and without fail, cleanliness is your primary weapon. Mold spores, dust mites, any airborne contaminant can be vacuumed away, dusted, swiffed; choose your weapon, but cleaning always helps. Unless you have generously hairy pets or obvious mold colonies already in your home, in which case we have to talk. But later.

So clean, monitor your humidity, do the cheap things first, and only spring for expensive air quality gadgets (like central air conditioning and Hepa filters) once you've covered the basics. Maybe next time we'll have to deal with your golden retriever and your lovely cats.

Moisture, Mold, Mucus

The mold spores pictured may look no more harmless than a pizza made by a toddler, but they will make you ill. They like to grow in an environment that provides moisture and porous surfaces for supporting colonies. Wet sheet rock, sadly, is paradise for mold spores. So is damp carpet, insulation in which water is condensing because of infiltrated air, your pet's slightly soggy basket, and pretty much anything in your damp basement. Oh---- almost forgot----- YOUR LUNGS! Most important thing, of course.

Some merchants tout the benefits of ozone, chlorine, air fresheners, ammonia cleaners and herbal sachet, but the inconvenient truth is that almost nothing controls mold as long as it finds its basic needs in your home: moisture and absorbent surfaces. Reduce relative humidity below 55%, and mold can be washed, swept, scrubbed, vacuumed and soaped away. Lower can be better still, but other factors argue against ultra-dry environments.

If mildew spotting, musty smells and allergic symptoms make it obvious you have a mold problem, you can best restore a healthy environment to your home by rounding up the usual suspects: seal infiltration leaks where moisture condenses, run a (Energy Star, of course) dehumidifier in your living space while you root out and remedy the sources of moisture. Look for leaky drain traps, check under your washing machine and dishwasher, make sure the dampness in your basement is actually ground water seeping through concrete as opposed to leaky pipes or air infiltration causing condensation.

Mold is only the most obvious threat to indoor air quality in our homes, but it is the most vicious; you can put up with a lot of dust, pet dander and laundry lint without getting sick, but a bit of mold will make you miserable and puzzled as to why you feel so much better when you're not at home. Fight the big battles first. Deal shrewdly with mold, and you'll have given your family a nice present of better air. Even your pets will thank you, until we get to dander and you begin eyeing those little critters critically. Until then, pet the cat and deal with the moisture.