Whole-House Ventilation

Written by The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of EERE
Sat, Mar 06, 2010

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The decision to use whole-house ventilation is typically motivated by concerns that natural ventilation won't provide adequate air quality, even with source control by spot ventilation.

Whole-house ventilation systems provide controlled, uniform ventilation throughout a house. These systems use one or more fans and duct systems to exhaust stale air and/or supply fresh air to the house. There are four types of systems:

Exhaust ventilation systems - Force inside air out of a home.
Supply ventilation systems - Force outside air into the home.
Balanced ventilation systems - Force equal amounts quantities of air into and out of the home.
Energy recovery ventilation systems - Transfer heat from incoming or outgoing air to minimize energy loss.

Article source: The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). For the most up-to-date information please visit the EERE website.