Filterless Air Cleaners Make No Sense: Airfree Lotus Air Purifier

Honestly, it's starting to piss us off that some of these marketing teams are combining their shocking lack of understanding of what they're selling, with an assumption that their customers won't be able to understand it either. Let's fix that right now, starting with this Airfree Lotus 'filterless air purifier'. Oh, and they make one specifically for baby rooms too, if this wasn't dumb enough already.

If you need cleaner air, use good filters, or dilute with outdoor air using something as simple and affordable as an AirCycler: https://www.aircycler.com/

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Attached Garage: Disaster Waiting to Happen?

FROM 'HOME DIAGNOSIS' Season 2 Ep6: People generally don't think about the performance of their garage, even when it's directly connected to living space with a door or a duct (or nothing at all like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI2--RdSq-k).

But we keep all kinds of toxic stuff in garages, and they're always at the bottom of the living space, so houses, townhomes, and multifamily buildings may suck air partly, or entirely, from the garage in cold weather. Here's a quick explanation of the what/why/where of garage air leakage that could pose a threat to the health of your family. See this entire episode: https://homediagnosis.tv/episode-206-windbreakers-air-sealing-and-insulation

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HVAC IAQ Mythbusting with Dr. Jeffrey Siegel: Building Performance Podcast #90

Today we talk with Dr. Jeffrey Siegel about research on residential HVAC, filters, UV lights, electronic air cleaners, mini-splits, humidifiers, and ventilation abroad. For anyone who's interested in HVAC even a little bit. You'll thank yourself if you stay tuned to the end! For more podcasts: http://BuildingPerformancePodcast.com

For those of you who prefer audio only:

Tiny House Building Science Basics

1. Tell us about the TinyLab:

Our #TinyLab is a 210 sq. ft. house on wheels we designed and built ourselves to be the best performing home most people have ever seen. It’s supremely airtight, quiet, and comfortable, while also being equipped with the best heating, cooling, and ventilation systems in the world. We’re showing Americans how home performance works with our non-profit Proof Is Possible Tour. There’s this mythology around houses that ‘they all have problems, that’s just how they are’; it’s just not true.

2. How did the TinyLab start?

Well, the dynamics of home performance are based in physics, which is tough to explain- our colleagues have been trying for decades. But these dynamics can have real consequences for your family- they can cause sickness or even death. We thought, ‘how can we show consumers home performance?’ The #TinyLab is what all homes could evolve to be, whether they’re big or small. It’s a critical time for this, since building codes in all 50 states are requiring performance testing.

3. What are the major findings between the relationship of health and homes?

Two major health problems anyone can find out themselves for starters: dampness and carbon monoxide (CO). The symptoms of CO poisoning are ‘flu-like’, but ask yourself how many times you’ve been to the doctor with ‘flu-like’ symptoms and ever been tested for CO poisoning (never, say most people). And though we know dampness causes mold, mildew, dust mites, etc, do we think about what causes dampness? It’s usually air leakage- air leakage is the single biggest problem in most homes.

4. How do you protect yourself from carbon monoxide poisoning?

The only way to be sure is to test. Whole-home performance testing can prove if your gas stove, water heater, furnace, or fireplace are exhausting properly and creating very little CO. We have a Defender ‘low-level’ monitor in the TinyLab. Your normal CO detector won’t always protect you. If it’s what’s called ‘UL-listed’ then it specifically will NOT protect children, pregnant women, ill or elderly people from low-level carbon monoxide poisoning. And it says so right in the manual. Crazy.

5. What are 5 tips you have for any homeowner/ renter reading this?

One: Your home is a system of interacting parts, so anyone who says one product can fix it is lying or naïve. Two: Proof is Possible- act on diagnostic proof before you undertake surgery on your home and before you pay your contractors for measured improvements. Three: airtightness is good- don’t let anyone tell you we should build crappy houses that can ‘breathe’ through the cracks. Four: ventilation is critical- take stale air out, bring fresh air in. Five: Our YouTube channel is called ‘Home Performance’- you can learn tips 6 through 1000 there.

6. What specific diagnostics are recommended for homes?

Great question! Blower door testing is most important- our TinyLab’s test proves that as first-time homebuilders, we achieved the most airtight standard in the world (that’s what makes it so quiet in here). Infrared thermal photos prove our insulation works. Pressure testing proves our home is not sucking air back in through exhaust fans or chimneys. Airflow testing proves our HVAC system’s working as designed. Air quality tests prove our family isn’t being poisoned. Proof is possible. Ask for it.

To learn more about your home’s performance, download the free ‘GeniusBooklet’ at:

https://buildingperformanceworkshop.com/geniusbooklet-how-your-home-works

To see the #TinyLab as it travels across the U.S. on the Proof Is Possible Tour, see the schedule at:

http://ProofIsPossible.com

Healthy Homes for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)

Tonight I interviewed Corinne Segura (https://www.mychemicalfreehouse.net/), one of my Mastermind students who helps people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (aka MCS, or Environmental Sensitivity), which she also suffers from herself. We discuss how home building and home improvements need to adapt to people with this condition, applied specifically to the TinyLab and our new 3,000 sq ft house that's almost finished.

Learn tons more at Corinne's blog: https://www.mychemicalfreehouse.net/2019/07/natural-wall-systems.html

Read more about making your indoors healthier at: http://HealthyIndoors.com

Check out my Mastermind Course: https://buildingperformanceworkshop.com/mastermind

Support our work on the Science of Homes: https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

See the 'Home Diagnosis' TV series: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Indoor Chemistry Test: Formaldehyde and VOCs during Construction

Modern homes are built more airtight than ever, and the engineered wood products that make such efficient use of our planet's materials also lean much more heavily on advances in adhesives, curing agents, moisture repellants, etc. Other building materials nowadays incorporate anti-microbial chemicals, anti-fungal and anti-termite compounds, and who knows what else (manufacturers DO NOT have to tell us what's in there, yet). The beyond-passive-house-airtight house we're building in Atlanta is an extreme example of all of this, and we'll happily be the guinea pigs to uncover the evolution of indoor chemistry from rough construction through ventilation activation, and move-in. Hayward Score has introduced us to a serious chemistry lab, Prism Analytical Technologies (http://pati-air.com) where we'll be sending the samples we take in this video. See what we're testing for, why, and how it's done.

Corbett gets serious details about indoor chemistry from Dr. Alice Delia, Laboratory Director at Prism Analytical Technologies (http://pati-air.com) about the test results from 6 samples of formaldehyde and Volatile Organic Compounds taken at the new build and the TinyLab.

Check out Healthy Indoors Magazine: http://HealthyIndoors.com

Become a member and be part of our work! http://patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Assess your home's health with Hayward Score: http://HaywardScore.com

Ductless vs. Ducted HVAC + Duct Cleaning

Have you ever wondered whether you should replace a home's HVAC system, or have the ducts cleaned? Spend a Healthy Indoors Minute exploring the complexity of invisible dynamics influencing any of these choices. Ductless minisplit heat pump compared with ducted split system heat pump, or furnace and A/C. Cleaning ductwork vs. cleaning house. No stone unturned in these 4 minutes of discussion. More at: http://HealthyIndoors.com

See the show at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Home Build Plan for Indoor Chemistry

Home Diagnosis hosts Grace and Corbett Lunsford discuss the simple approach to controlling indoor chemistry, and how exactly they plan to do that in their own family home.

Subscribe to Healthy Indoors Magazine at: http://HealthyIndoors.com

More on this house at: http://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead

Kitchen Exhaust Fan: #1 Tool to Heal Your HOMEChem

Grace and Corbett Lunsford demonstrate the best way to design and select your kitchen exhaust system, using the #TinyLab's own Broan ventilation components. The ACE130SS range hood (new model BCSEK1SS) paired with the 8" Make-Up Air Unit means perfect control over the indoor environment, the chemistry, and the health of their family.

More resources and tools at: http://Broan.com/learn

What We Know About HOMEChem

If you only learn one video's worth of HOMEChem, this is the one to watch. Hear principal investigators Delphine Farmer and Marina Vance, joined by Lea Hildebrandt Ruiz and Richard Corsi and the rest of the HOMEChem researchers, describe the complexity they uncovered in this seminal study.

More at: http://HomeDiagnosis.tv/homechem

Building Science is Evolving: Healthy Indoors Minute #2

Home Diagnosis co-host Corbett Lunsford illustrates the basics of control over indoor air quality and indoor chemistry in the second video collaboration with Healthy Indoors Magazine. Informed by all we're learning from the HOMEChem Experiment. Learn more at:

http://HomeDiagnosis.tv/homechem

The Nasty Side Effects of Chlorine Bleach in Homes

Chlorine is an ingredient in bleach, which many people use to clean surfaces, dishes, and clothing at home. Turns out, it's not as clean as we thought- learn how to control your HOMEChem by knowing what happens when chrlorine in bleach reacts with the stuff indoors, and what it might be doing to your family.

Featuring HOMEChem scientists Marina Vance, Delphine Farmer, and Richard Corsi.

More at: http://HomeDiagnosis.tv/homechem