HVAC Airflow Diagnostics: Testing Carved Grilles for CFM, Velocity, Pressure Drop, and K-Factor

Our longtime friend and Patreon supporter Scott Marner (who manages QA for Illinois' Ameren home performance program) joined me to do some off-label, outside-the-box diagnostics on custom decorative HVAC grilles from Stellar Air Vents (https://stellarairdecorativeventcovers.com/). Just one more example of some non-engineers getting very sophisticated results from a cardboard box, some tape, and several thousand dollars of Retrotec and Testo HVAC testing equipment (https://www.trutechtools.com/). Scott was our FIRST EVER Patreon supporter- join him and become part of our work on this channel and the 'Home Diagnosis' TV series: http://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Staircase with Built-In Pantry and Powder Room, HVAC and RailFX Cable Railings

One of the central design elements in our high performance forever home (aside from the lighting, which is coming soon) is the staircase. We took the tiny house strategy of multifunctionality to a new level to challenge ourselves with, and hopefully to wow our visitors! Here I show the DIY install of the RailFX cable railings (http://railfx.net), the powder room underneath, and the amazing custom cabinetry my dad built into this 2x12 wall.

See more about this house at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead

Healthy Interior Finishes: Low Chemical Impact, Non-Reactive, Non-Toxic Materials for Homes

From flooring and cabinetry to drywall and paints, we made a ton of decisions on our new home that affect air quality and the health of our home for our growing family. We go very in-depth here about what exactly we chose, and why, and what the installation was like. For the deep indoor materials investigators, this whole thing is likely a treasure trove. For those of you looking for something specific, here are the highlights:
1:20 Flooring
10:14 Tile
11:19 Cabinetry
12:53 Countertops
15:19 Pecan Trim
19:29 Decorative Surfaces
20:51 Drywall
22:15 Paint
24:08 HomeChem Basics for Decision-Making

Learn more about this whole project at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead

Wild Kingdom Around Us 24/7: Microbiology of Homes with Rob Dunn

In one of my all-time favorite (and longest) interviews, we talk with Rob Dunn, a researcher and expert on ecology within homes and author of the amazing book 'Never Home Alone' (http://robdunnlab.com/). The conversation ranges from black mold in drywall to biofilm in plumbing to the extreme environments within our 'normal' American homes- and where we're headed.

You can help support the making of this podcast for as little as $5 a month at: http://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

How to Choose a Filter for Healthy Home HVAC: Capturing Particles vs. Chemicals

Explained using the three most available high quality filter types (MERV 11, 13 and 16), I offer a quick tour through the size range of the invisible stuff you don't want to breathe. The black carbon filter is an Aprilaire 413CBN (https://shop.aprilaire.com/collections/carbon-odor-reduction-air-filters).

Subscribe and join the Healthy Indoors community: http://HealthyIndoors.com

Watch our first-ever TV series about the Science of Homes: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Testing Our Home's ERV: Ventilation Airflow, Dewpoint Performance, and Grill Balancing

Using a Testo hotwire anemometer and hygrometer, Retrotec FlowBox, and CPS EasyHood, we commission this Fantech SER150 energy recovery ventilator and tune it to our high performance home's (and our family's) needs.

I get all my test tools from the awesome people at: https://TruTechTools.com

Learn more about this ventilation system: http://Fantech.net

Air Cleaning System for Healthy High Performance Homes

Our family's forever home has some super sophisticated systems (that sometimes require super wacky tweaks to other things in the house). Here you'll get a full tour of our fully-ducted Fantech SER150 energy recovery ventilator (ERV) and CM 3000 HEPA filter unit.

Learn more about these specific products at: http://Fantech.net

Podcast 87: Ventilation Codes and What We’re Missing with Joseph Hillenmeyer of Aprilaire

Anybody who has followed this channel knows that ventilation is important in homes- but how much, what kind, and what's enforced or recommended? This guy knows- Joseph Hillenmeyer at Aprilaire is deeply involved in the communities of builders, contractors, testers, and consumers who are impacted by the pieces of ventilation equipment. Here's where we are right now.

Learn more about Aprilaire ventilation systems at: http://Aprilaire.com

To help support our work educating on the science of homes, please become a member: http://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Ventilation, Diagnostics, and DET Verifier Training Break Down

Done with our first 4-day training at our Atlanta home- save a spot in the next one! This time we had people travel all the way from New York and Texas- remember, we’re 5 minutes from the busiest airport in the world, and this is a state-of-the-art training center. You’ll be happy you made the time for the trip!
https://BuildingPerformanceWorkshop.com/training

Central Vacuum System with HEPA Filter: Performance Testing for a Healthy Home

For our forever home, we chose the NuTone PurePower 650 central vacuum, which I piped, wired, and installed myself (not very difficult, though parts are hard to get ahold of in a hurry, if you run out).

Check out this system, and other Broan-NuTone machines: https://broan-nutone.com/

See the Testo 440 kit I'm using for the diagnostics: https://www.trutechtools.com/Testo-440

The HAVEN central duct system IAQ sensor I flashed to show the effectiveness of the HEPA filter: https://tzoa.com/

Dehumidifiers How/What/Why: Installation and Testing of Ultra-Aire 120H and MD33

Modern homes need dehumidifiers, separate from the air conditioner. We chose the highest performance units available, Ultra-Aire's 120H and MD33- here we'll give you a full tour of the planning, sizing, installation, and testing of these machines in our performance-tuned, self-built home.

See these two dehumidifiers we selected for our home:
120H - https://www.santa-fe-products.com/product/120h/
MD33 - https://www.santa-fe-products.com/product/ultra-aire-md33/

The Testo 440 kit I use in the video can be found at: https://www.trutechtools.com/Testo-440

See the first-ever TV series about the Science of Homes: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

How to Install a Fantech Kitchen Exhaust Hood Liner

As a preview of the full kitchen exhaust system demonstration, here's a how-to on the hood liner, silencer, and wiring alone. As a first-time installer, I had quite a learning curve, but Fantech's tech support knows my name by now- thanks to Daniel over there for being patient with me.

Learn the basics of how to select your kitchen exhaust in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y08HOnzafM8

Check out this system: https://www.fantech.net/our-solutions/kitchen/exhaust-air-system/