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+---
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+title: Air Quality
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+slug: air-quality
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+description: Today I learned how to measure and control indoor air quality.
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+<!--- authors:
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+ - name: David Windham
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+ title: Something Else
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+ url: https://davidawindham.com
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+ image_url: https://davidawindham.com/til/img/the_was.jpg -->
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+tags: [movies]
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+image: https://davidawindham.com/til/img/the_was.jpg
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+hide_table_of_contents: true
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+---
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+
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+Today I learned how to help control our indoor air quality by controlling the air up under the house.
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+
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+<!-- truncate -->
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+
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+I started sneezing about a month ago and It's happened to me a couple of times of the last several years. I've never had allergies that I'm aware of but it seems to be right about what I like to call 'mushroom season' because there are lots of [mushrooms](/notes/garden/mushroom)[^1] growing in the yard. We even had some new ones this year most likely from the chipped mulch from the trees that came down during [Helene](/notes/house/helene)[^2].
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+There is plenty of rain and the air is still warm so on about day two of tissues and sneezing I went **on a mission** to see if I could fix it. I also blamed it on the amount of dust and other particles in the house from the renovations - drywall sanding, paint, and so on. We've been swapping out the hvac air filters and running separate air filters as well. I decided the first thing to do was to get an air quality monitor to measure.
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+I added a Wyze air purifier that wouldn't need another ecosystem app[^3]. It's good - super quiet and super responsive with measurements. It's actually pretty fascinating to watch it spike up when a candle is lit or something is on the stove. We also did a little tidying behind the construction crew upstairs and flopped out the filters again. We recently re-insulated both attics and I wanted to inspect the duct work in the crawlspace[^4] as well.
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+
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+### Crawl Space
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+Let me just quickly say I'm not a fan of attics or crawl spaces - it doesn't make any sense having spaces in your home that aren't monitored or running your ducts or having equipment in unconditioned space. I'm a big fan of mechanical rooms or basements where you can easily access your pipes, ducts, blowers and water heaters.
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+We also recently added a gas tankless water heater in the crawlspace and I needed to familiarize myself with the operation for maintenance. For my own reference, it's a [Navien NPE-210A](/pdf/house-water-heater.pdf)[^5] and requires a yearly flush. I mapped out all of the duct work in the crawlspace.
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+And I added the coolest little thermal imaging camera[^6] so that I could check the duck work for leaks. It's amazing because it can see the temps behind walls so you can see electrical, leaks, ventilation, and drafts. the two upper red lines are hot water pipes and the lower blue line is the condenser for the air conditioning.
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+The duct work is in good shape and well wrapped with only minor temperature fluctuations at the joints. There were also some where the vents meet the flooring. The only other thing I noticed was the high humidity, which for this area is about par. The crawlspace is partially encapsulated and I say partially because it's lined 90%, but the outside vents are still able to open and are not capped. The old adage about opening your vents isn't really up for debate anymore[^7]. It's best to control the air in your crawlspace completely if you're able.
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+
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+The humidity in our area can be brutal and it's particularly bad in August. I bought a [Moiswell MP70](/pdf/house-dehumidifier.pdf)[^8] and set it up. It's got a built-in pump to push the water out from under the foundation. The first time I let it roll, it was almost 75% humidity under the house and I was able to drop it down to 60% in just under and hour. I just added a remote so that I can monitor and control the conditions in the crawlspace without actually having to crawl anywhere.
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+Now that I've got the humidity under control, here comes winter with the heat sucking every bit of the moisture out of the house. So I think I'm gonna add some [new gas fireplaces](/notes/house/fire)[^9] this year. I'll be using the direct vent versions because they don't affect the air quality.
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+<div><br/><br/></div>
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+---
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+
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+[^1]: notes / garden / [mushrooms](/notes/garden/mushroom)
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+[^2]: notes / house / [Hurrican Helene](/notes/house/helene)
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+[^3]: [Wyze Air Purifier](https://www.wyze.com/products/wyze-air-purifier) - Both Wyze and TP-Link Kasa can be enabled to work with Apple Home using [Starling](https://www.starlinghome.io) or [Wyze Bridge](https://github.com/IDisposable/docker-wyze-bridge)
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+[^4]: Crawl space - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawl_space
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+[^5]: Navien NPE-210A [manual](/pdf/house-water-heater.pdf)
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+[^6]: [Topdon TC002](https://www.topdon.us/collections/thermal-imagers/products/tc002) Thermal Imaging Camera
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+[^7]: This Old House - [_Should Crawl-Space Vents Be Open or Closed?_](https://www.thisoldhouse.com/heating-cooling/21173202/should-crawl-space-vents-be-open-or-closed)
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+[^8]: [Moiswell MP70](/pdf/house-dehumidifier.pdf) Dehumidifier
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+[^9]: notes / house / [fireplaces](/notes/house/fire)
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