Top 10 Ventilation Terms to Know

If you want to keep your house comfortable, it’s important that it be well-ventilated. How much do you know about your ventilation system? You’ve probably heard a lot of the jargon, but what does it mean? Here’s a list of ventilation terms you should know.

10 Ventilation Terms to Know

1. Air handler. The blower and coils of your HVAC unit that process air to be circulated through your home.
2. Airflow volume. The amount of air being sent from the HVAC unit into your home at any given time.
3. Register. A covering for your vents, either on the floor or on a wall. A register typically includes a damper – a small dial that lets you increase or decrease airflow through the vent.
4. Grille. A similar vent covering to a register, but a grille has no damper and cannot be adjusted.
5. Supply duct. The ductwork that connects to your furnace or A/C and pumps conditioned air into your home.
6. Return duct. Typically larger than a supply duct, these take the air from a room and send it back to your furnace or A/C to be heated or cooled again.
7. Spot ventilation. An exhaust fan that removes air from a specific area of the house. They’re generally found in bathrooms, where they can remove the steamy air that builds up and can lead to mold or mildew, as well as above the stove in the kitchen, where they can eliminate smoke that accumulates while cooking.
8. Flue. The vent that removes the harmful carbon monoxide gas exhausted by your furnace and keeps it from circulating through your home.
9. Balanced ventilation. A balanced system vents polluted air outdoors, and brings the same amount of fresh, outdoor air into your home.
10. ERV. A type of balanced ventilation, Energy Recovery Ventilation takes the heat energy from the air being exhausted and uses it to heat or cool the air coming into the house, to save energy. It can also exchange moisture between the two airstreams, to keep humidity at a moderate level.

To learn more ventilation terms, contact us at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning. We proudly serve Lorain’s HVAC needs.