Your Home Needs Fresh Air

How To Prevent A Hazard

Why Your Home
Needs Fresh Air
Did you know that if you caulk, weatherstrip,
add storm windows, insulate and seal your
home to reduce heat loss, you must balance
these changes by taking steps to ensure
adequate fresh air supply and ventilation?
Fresh air and ventilation are vital both for
your own health and to help ensure that
your natural gas and other fuel-burning
equipment operate safely.
Sources Of Indoor
Air Pollution
Many different products and sources
in your home contribute to indoor air
pollution: for example, household cleaners,
solvents, glues, varnishes, some types of
carpet, particleboard and other materials,
tobacco smoke and ground source radon
gas. Constant fresh air changes are needed
to flush out these pollutants and maintain
a healthy indoor environment.
Your Natural Gas
Equipment Needs Air
Your natural gas heating system and any
other fuel-burning equipment in your home
(such as a gas water heater or wood-burning
fireplace) also require large volumes of air to
burn fuel safely and maintain a proper draft
up the chimney or flue so that exhausts will
rise safely to the outdoors.
Systems that remove air from your home
can interfere with the safe operation of your
natural gas heating equipment: for example,
exhaust fans, central vacuum systems, clothes
dryers and wood-burning fireplaces.
If there isn’t enough air available,
your normally safe natural gas heating
system and other fuel-burning appliances
could malfunction and produce deadly
carbon monoxide.
Adequate Air Supply
How much air your home needs will vary,
depending on construction, the equipment
you use, and so forth. We can’t give you
a rule-of-thumb for this complex topic,
but modern building codes for new homes
require that 1/3 of total household air be
replaced by fresh air every hour!
That’s why newer homes built to tighter
standards now come equipped with a
ventilation system called an air-to-air heat
exchanger or heat recovery ventilator
(HRV). This type of system provides a
continuous fresh air supply and vents stale
air outdoors automatically, without drafts
and heat loss.
Signs That Your Home
Needs More Air
During the winter or when your home
is closed up, do you notice the following
symptoms of inadequate fresh air supply?
• A stale, stuffy atmosphere
• Lingering odours
• Moisture build-up
• Backdrafts and soot from a woodburning
fireplace
• Warm air coming back down a furnace
chimney or flue when the furnace is on
• A pilot light that keeps going out
If you notice the signs of inadequate air
supply, let more fresh air into your home.
Open a window near your heating system
about an inch so it can draw in enough air for
safe operation. Then consult a building or
heating contractor about your home’s air
requirements and a permanent solution.
How To Provide Air
For Your Equipment
Many types of fuel-burning equipment
need to draw in their air supply from the
surrounding area within the home. Do not
close off your fuel-burning equipment area
or confine your equipment.
If your equipment is already in a confined
area, steps must be taken to supply
additional air.
Louvers:
In some cases, installing louvers near the
top and bottom of a furnace room door or
wall may be sufficient if air supply within
the home is adequate.
Fresh air duct:
You may need to have a fresh air duct
installed near your heating system if your
home has been weatherized, or if you use
a wood-burning fireplace, central vacuum
system or other equipment that competes
with your heating system for air.
Wood-burning fireplace:
If you use a wood-burning fireplace that
does not already have its own air supply
duct, open a window near the fireplace
so that it doesn't compete with your heating
system for air.
Consult A Licensed
Heating Contractor
A licensed heating contractor can evaluate
your situation and install a fresh air duct
if it’s needed. Heating contractors may
advertise in your local newspaper, at Home
Shows or in the Yellow Pages of your
telephone directory.
Direct-Vent Equipment
This type of equipment does not use
household air or a conventional chimney.
The direct-vent is a sealed pipe system
that can be installed through an outside
wall to bring fresh outdoor air directly
into the sealed combustion chamber
of the equipment and expel exhausts
directly outdoors.
For More Information
Please read our brochure Carbon Monoxide.
To request a brochure, call your local
Enbridge office.
Or write to:
Enbridge Gas Distribution
PO Box 650
Scarborough, ON
M1K 5E3
Or visit our website at:
www.enbridge.com/gas
FM 093.01 (REV. 12/02)
www.enbridge.com/gas
Safe, reliable
distribution of natural gas
Enbridge Gas Distribution

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