The most effective way to clear CO2 from my house appears to be to crack open a window and run the dryer (either heat drying a load, or even just blower/air fluff).
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The most effective way to clear CO2 from my house appears to be to crack open a window and run the dryer (either heat drying a load, or even just blower/air fluff).
(Pulls CO2 readings from 1000-1100 down to less than 540 while the dryer is running).
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@ai6yr Congrats to you for measuring. I surmise the dryer is pulling fresh air in through windows as it exhausts high CO2 air via ducts to exterior. 1000ppm is cognitive impairment warning level.
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David J. Atkinsonreplied to David J. Atkinson last edited by
@ai6yr Well, it seems obvious now that i reread your post. but my congrats still stand
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@meltedcheese Well, the actual challenge here is I really need to invest in an ERV to make this a more energy efficient fresh air exchange. My efforts at energy efficiency (which has been very good for dealing with heatwaves and keeping out wildfire smoke) means there is not as much fresh air leaking through random walls here. And, obviously, running the dryer (or the dryer blower) to clear CO2 from the house is a silly strategy.
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@ai6yr I understand. My HVAC guy just looked confused when I asked about regulating exterior air intakes. “Fresh air comes in when you open a door or window,” he said. Duh-uh. That’s that part i want to automate.
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@meltedcheese I think HVAC folks are still stuck in 1970 or so, technology wise...
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@ai6yr Truth. They cannot explain the products they sell. There is an opportunity here for a reframing of “HVAC”
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M.S. Bellows, Jr.replied to David J. Atkinson last edited by
@meltedcheese @ai6yr It amazes me that the standard furnace/AC combo doesn't include a "exhaust the inside air and bring in outside air" mode. We asked, and they said it didn't exist. Why not? What better use for a whole-house duct and fan system? It's nuts that we have to put box fans in our upstairs windows and open our downstairs windows when we simply want to cool the house down overnight in the summer.
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@msbellows @meltedcheese @ai6yr we just put in a “whole house fan” which while a separate system does pretty much this. We combined it with also putting in an attic fan (our house is a 2 story) which has a thermostat so runs when the attic air temp is over what it is set to. Combination (along with some additional insulation and plugging some things like our unused chimney) seems to be helping keep our house cooler without running the AC as often as we had been.