See Water
If at first glance you think I misspelled the title of this blog and it should read “Sea Water” you are incorrect. This is about water in the form of water vapor or condensation that you often see on windows and where ever damp cold air comes in contact with a warm surface. When you “see” water condensing or water dripping from someplace it shouldn’t be you need to find out why.
One of the most common places in a home to find water in the form of condensation in on single pane windows or on walls or surfaces that are inside barriers for outside walls. Condensation forms when the dew point is relatively high…say 60 to 70 degrees and there is a lot of humidity in the air. Since warm air holds moisture better than cold air the condensation issue is usually found in the summer months. Although it can also be an issue in the fall or spring of the year.
One of the challenges with tight homes and office buildings is the limited amount of fresh, outside air that is introduced into the indoor environment. While constantly circulating the air with the HVAC fan systems does keep the air moving, it does little to keep the air from getting stagnant or reduce the indoor levels of CO2. Introducing outside air, even small amounts over time, can be significantly help the occupied areas. However, if the outside air is hot or cool and humid, then the condensation issue can be a problem again.
Some of the newer variable speed drive, high efficiency HVAC systems incorporate a de-humidification function that allows the cooling coils in the air handler to get really cold during the AC cycle prior to turning on the air handler fan. This allows for more removal of the moisture that may be introduced as outside, fresh air through the HVAC unit.
One of the main reasons for minimizing the amount of “indoor” moisture is to reduce or eliminate the potential for mold growth. There are two main “needs” for mold to grow. Water and a food source. Take away either one and you will significantly reduce the chances of mold growing in the indoor environment. So when you see water in the form of condensation on the windows in your home or office you can be fairly sure that there is moisture forming in other parts of the indoor structure. And….where there is water there is mold.
Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based fan powered air filtration systems since 1985. These units can be attached to and HVAC system or used as stand-alone units in residential, commercial, institutional or industrial applications. For over 25 years PAS has used their units to introduce small amounts of outside air that is first past through the HEPA units then into the HVAC units. Since the PAS units are mixing small amounts of outside air (usually 50 to 80 CFM ) with large amounts of warm, unfiltered return air ( usually 300 to 800 CFM) there is little chance for moisture to occur.
This process has been used thousands of times since we first introduced the systems and has been very effective at not only cleaning all the air in the homes up to 48 times a day, but provide for some fresh air without the potential for adding moisture or inviting mold growth indoors.
For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com. Or call us at: 800-869-8025.