Whole House Ventilation: Using Exhaust Ventilation Systems

Copyright (c) 2015 Matt Reardon

The decision to ventilate the whole house is generally inspired by health and comfort concerns. This is because sufficient air quality cannot be provided by natural ventilation or even by spot ventilation.

Ventilation systems serving the whole house offer uniform and controlled ventilation throughout the entire house. These types of ventilation systems employ one or several fans and a system of ducts in exhausting stale air and in supplying fresh air into your home or building.

Getting your entire house well ventilated is central to having an energy efficient system as well as for maintaining adequate indoor comfort and air quality. The system you choose for ventilating your house will be determined by your budget, your local climate and of course the availability of ventilation systems professionals where you live.

Different Types Of Ventilation Systems

Basically, there are 4 mechanical ventilation systems that can serve your whole house:

- Energy recovery
- Supply
- Balanced
- Exhaust

In this article, we look into the working of the exhaust whole house ventilation systems

Why Ventilate Anyway?

The ASHRAE Journal has established that it is necessary to have adequate mechanical ventilation if we are to achieve the globally accepted levels or rates of indoor ventilation. ASHRAE supports the international implementation of the ASHRAE Standards which are contained in the ASHRAE Handbook.

1. Good ventilation is extremely vital for your house to be energy-efficient. When your house is air sealed, harmful contaminants like formaldehyde, radon and several other volatile organic compounds may get trapped within your house. Ventilation rids your house of such causes of ill health in your family.

2. Ventilation not only helps in exhausting such harmful contaminants but also helps in the control of excessive indoor moisture. This is known to promote growth of mould growth and cause house structural damage.

How It Works:

- Home exhaust ventilation systems operate through having your home depressurized. The moist and used air gets exhausted while make-up fresh air infiltrates into your home through passive vents and other leaks within your building shell.

- They are relatively inexpensive and simple to install. Typically, the system comprises of one fan that is linked to single exhaust point that is centrally located in your house. A more efficient improved design would be to connect the single fan to a number of ducts coming from different rooms which are susceptible to more moisture like the bathroom or the kitchen.

- Additionally, you may get your system installer to include passive, adjustable vents through walls or windows in the other rooms rather than just depend on the formal leaks to bring in fresh air.

One area of concern is that together with bringing in fresh air, the exhaust system could also pull in some pollutants such as dust from your attic, radon and mould from your subfloor, flue gases and fumes from a nearby garage.

As you reflect on the most suitable ventilation system, you may want to consult Chapter 4 of the International Code Council which has tabulated the minimum ventilation rates for the ideal house. The Building Code of Australia also gives useful pointers towards mitigating any negative effects brought about by indoor ventilation.


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Matt Reardon of Mould Buster is very skilled in all aspects of home ventilation. He will assist you in selecting the best system for your house according to your budget and home ventilation requirements. Mould Buster is known for quality. You can also visit our website at http://mouldbuster.com.au/whole-house-ventilation/ for additional details.