What Is Make-Up Air?

Air make-up creates the air inside a room which has been removed by fans through the ventilation system. A new heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is a great way to improve indoor air quality. This type of system pulls in fresh, well-tempered air from the outside and replaces air that is too polluted to recirculate. To improve the indoor air quality of a building, a ventilating system should be installed to provide enough fresh air flow to the indoor environment. This is a great investment for a commercial building in order to improve the quality of air indoors.

 

What Problems Can Make-Up Air Solve?

Air units designed for standard make up are used in commercial buildings to provide tempered fresh air and to offset air that is exhausted from other mechanical means. Air is made up of many different gases. When we breathe air, the gas mixture we inhale is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other gases. If the air in a room is not renewed with fresh, uncontaminated air, the result is depressurization. If you want to keep your home or office warm during the winter months it’s important to seal up as many air holes as possible and install a good heating ventilation system. The main driver behind the need for make up air units is improving the indoor air quality. Improving air quality can be done in many different ways; whether it’s the removal of contaminants or providing a comfortable temperature, there are many ways to improve indoor air quality. A make up air solution is a much more effective method of industrial and commercial ventilation compared to traditional ventilation methods, and can even improve energy efficiency.

 

Differences Between Make-Up Air And Standard Ventilation

An air-source heat pump provides an indoor environment that’s comfortable year-round. It brings in fresh air from outdoors while warming or cooling it. A standard ventilation fan is putting out 100° F air when it’s outside at 100° F and 85% relative humidity. It will be bringing in 10° F when the outside air temperature is 10° F. With an air make up unit, that same 10° F air can be conditioned to 50° F. This means that the cooling system in your home wouldn’t need to work any harder than it does now.

 

Do I Need Make-Up Air?

There is not a single CFM rating for your range hood that indicates you need a make-up air kit. There are several different reasons why you may require make up air in your home (see here for more info on compressed air).

Your Range Hood Pulls 1200+ CFM

A high-powered range hood needs regular, powerful airflow to make sure your kitchen stays well-ventilated and the grease doesn’t collect and accumulate. A kitchen hood rated at 900 CFM or more will remove air more quickly than a lower CFM rating. Even if your hood is powerful, you may not need makeup air if it’s installed in a large kitchen or well ventilated space. However, if you live in a small space or the ventilation is not adequate, makeup is a good option for you. So the right question is: Why not?You need to check your filter, and you may find it is dirty or even blocked. If you leave this open too long, you may experience worsened indoor air quality or even shortness of breath.

You Live In A Small Kitchen.

If you are in a small space, you can run your range hood for a long time. However, if you run it for too long or if you have a powerful range hood, you could have issues. Simply put, the amount of air in your kitchen depends on the size of your kitchen. A small kitchen doesn’t have a lot of space. A large kitchen does. This may result in running your range hood for too long, which could cause it to overheat. Make sure that the area around your hood is ventilated before purchasing a unit and that it’s positioned to vent out of the exhaust, not the intake, for your cooktop. A 1600 CFM vent hood would be perfect for your 250 square foot kitchen. This is a large kitchen, so it’s probably best to have one make up air fan if you’re planning to install one. Compare someone who wants a 1600 CFM vent hood for their 70 square foot kitchen to someone who wants a 400 CFM range hood for a 100 square foot kitchen. This is going to pose some problems with ventilation. You need to replace the lost air somehow. In this case, you’ll need an industrial strength air compressor and even that may not be enough. If you want to achieve greater fuel savings, you may have to buy a lower CFM hood or run your hood only on the lower speeds. It’s important to be mindful of the CFM of your hood if you have a small kitchen in your home.

Your Kitchen Is Poorly Ventilated.

Without a lot of natural movement in your kitchen, an air circulation unit will dramatically improve your ventilation. It will bring fresh air into the room as your stove hood moves the greasy cooking exhaust out. Here’s how it works. The vent hood catches cooking exhaust and sends it outside your home. Finally, the make up air kit brings outside air into your home to replace the air that was removed. An innovative, easy-to-use tool to improve your indoor air quality.

Your Building Codes Require The Use Of Make-Up Air Systems.

You may be required to have a make up air unit installed in your house to protect you from carbon Most codes will require the CFM of your range hood to be met. For example, they might require you to have make-up air units for hoods over 600 CF

You Run Your Range Hood For Several Hours At A Time.

We’ve been told to replace the air in your home after a period of time. But this takes time. It doesn’t happen instantly. After running your air conditioner for extended periods of time, your home loses air constantly. So, you are not allowing enough time for it to be replaced. Even if you run your vent hood for several hours a day, even at a low CFM you might need makeup air. Running your range hood for extended periods of time at a high CFM isn’t advisable. No need to worry though, turning on your range hood for hours is often not needed. The highest CFM hoods are the best at filtering out contaminants, such as smoke and odor from your home.