Home ventilation is critically important for your health and comfort. If your home is sealed up tightly, pollutants from fuel-burning appliances or tobacco, or from cleaning supplies or even organic material such as pet dander, can build up to dangerous levels. The range of deleterious health effects span from allergies and asthma to serious diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Even very short-term exposure to carbon monoxide from fuel-burning appliances can be lethal.
Another problem with a lack of ventilation is the build-up of humidity, which comes with its own plethora of ill effects such as mold growth (in itself a danger to health), as well as damage to your building’s materials and structure.
One of the critiques leveled against glass block windows is that they don’t allow for ventilation. While this isn’t actually true — we do sell glass block vents — in this article we delve into the question of ventilation, and how glass block vents contribute to a well-ventilated home.
Three Types of Ventilation in a Home
Proper ventilation involves the exchange of indoor and outdoor air in order to dilute and remove airborne pollutants, and regulate humidity and temperature. There are three types of ventilation that can be used in a home:
- Natural Ventilation is the uncontrolled exchange of air between indoors and outdoors and includes any leaks around windows or doors or cracks. Simply opening a window provides natural ventilation. Most older homes have significant natural ventilation (whether you open a window or not). However, newer homes, in the interest of saving energy, need to employ other ventilation methods as well.
- Spot Ventilation uses exhaust fans to remove pollutants and humidity. Examples include: bathroom fans, dryer exhaust and stove range hoods. Spot ventilation works alongside natural and other ventilation to maintain good indoor air quality.
- Whole House Ventilation uses mechanical ventilation —fans and a duct system — to remove stale air from indoors and to introduce fresh air from outside. These systems provide consistent ventilation throughout a house. Some of these systems are exhaust only (mechanical exhaust of air, while intake is through passive vents and natural ventilation), some are supply only (mechanical fans to bring air in, while exhaust is through spot and natural ventilation). These first two systems involve pressurizing or depressurizing your home. A balanced ventilation system introduces and exhausts equal amounts of outdoor and indoor air and keeps the pressure in the building fairly neutral. A heat exchange system is an example of a balanced whole house ventilation system.
Where Glass Block Vents are Necessary
It is important to look at home ventilation from a comprehensive perspective. What are the various sources and types of ventilation and which areas might require more ventilation? For example, the basement, kitchen or bathroom all need good air flow. Not all windows in a house need to provide ventilation.
People like glass block windows because of their security and their ability to provide privacy while transmitting light as well as their unique beauty. Depending on the location of the glass block window, most do not need to be vented. For example, there is no reason that glass block sidelights — placed alongside an entrance door, be vented. Strictly speaking, most rooms in a home equipped with whole house ventilation do not really need to be opened. In that case it comes down to personal preference.
There are some areas of a home where added ventilation is more critical, namely the basement, laundry room, kitchen and bathroom. Other areas to supply extra ventilation might include attics, greenhouses, garages or any other stuffy, airless parts.
Basement. Because they offer security and privacy, many people install glass block windows in their basements. This is one area where glass block vents are usually a good idea. Air flow is extremely important in basements because they tend to be humid which can lead to mold growth. We recommend venting all the easily accessible glass block windows in a basement. If that is not possible, try to vent in diverse spots to provide a cross flow of air.
Bathroom. The bathroom is another popular room for glass block windows, because they allow for both privacy and light. This is also an area that must have proper ventilation to keep excess humidity under control. If your bathroom is NOT mechanically vented, you definitely need to vent your glass block window.
Kitchen. Good ventilation is critical here also, because of the possibility of moisture build-up. Range hoods should take care of the carbon monoxide from the stove. Otherwise, vented glass block windows or a combination of glass block and ordinary windows that can be opened are a must.
Laundry Room. Good ventilation is critical in a laundry room because of moisture build-up. Furthermore, your dryer exhaust must be properly ventilated to the outside, which can be accomplished using a glass block dryer vent.
Types of Glass Block Vents
We carry both regular and Energy Smart glass block vents as well as regular and Energy Smart dryer vents to fit your needs and budget.
Glass block vents are vinyl units with a screen on the outside and a hopper window on the inside. They come in a variety of sizes, and replace a number of glass blocks in your window. Regular glass block vents offer:
- 100 percent pure virgin vinyl mainframe and sash
- Hollow chambers in the mainframe to increase energy efficiency
- Eight individual seals to secure glass panes
- Co-extruded weather strip bulb to ensure a positive seal
- Dual pane glass – available in clear, with obscure being the standard
- Polycarbonate sash lock at the top of each vent to ensure strength, durability and increased energy efficiency.
- Full bug screen to keep pests out
- Available frame widths include 3-inch standard and 4-inch snap-on adapters
Smart Energy Glass Block Vents save on energy by using:
- Dual-glazed, insulated glass
- Two pieces of single-strength glass with a 3/8-inch super spacer
- Spacers are sealed with factory applied high-tack adhesive
- The two pieces of glass are sealed to the sash with co-extruded flexible PVC weather-stripping. Four individual seals
Dryer vents replace glass blocks in your glass block window to allow your dryer to exhaust to the outside.
- Made from easy-to-maintain white vinyl. All materials are highly durable
- A number of sizing options
- Exterior louvers that stop air leakage
To Sum Up
Glass Block Vents provide good ventilation in areas of the house that most need air flow such as the basement, bathroom, kitchen or laundry areas. When assessing your ventilation needs, it is important to take a comprehensive view of your home’s ventilation systems to determine which rooms need extra natural ventilation. If you are already experiencing mold from poor ventilation, click here to learn how to effectively and safely mitigate the situation.
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