As wildfires rage across Canada, their smoke is causing a significant air quality issue across many states in the U.S. This smoke, filled with dangerous particulates, is not something you want in your home. Unfortunately, devices designed to improve indoor air quality, such as Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) and Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs), can pull this polluted air into your well-sealed and insulated home. No good deed goes unpunished.
ERVs and HRVs are designed to exchange stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air, helping to control humidity and remove pollutants. But when outdoor air is filled with smoke from wildfires, these devices need to be shut down. As I’ve pointed out many times, wood smoke especially is a nasty pollutant with serious health impacts.
That’s not just opinion. According to the EPA, wildfire smoke can irritate your lungs, cause inflammation, affect your immune system, and make you more prone to lung infections, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
So stop doomscrolling and hit the switch. Along with shutting down your ERVs and HRVs, here are some other actions you can take, if the smoke situation continues to get worse:
Mechanical ventilation in the form of ERVs or HRVs are important tools in keeping your indoor air clean and “diffusing” pollutants during normal times. But this summer’s Climate Change-enhanced wildfires are not normal. Their intensity in Canada has put millions of Americans at risk. You can turn them back on after the burning dies down. Good luck.
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