Fresh Air's Professional r ecommendations for a variety of common issues Allergies Dust bunnies and cat dander causing a runny nose but the fresh outside air makes you sneeze? A ventilation unit with a High-Efficiency Particulate Air filter may be just the solution you've been searching for. Allergies are the worst If you’re the type of person who’s allergic to something you like, such as cats, a ventilation system can help you to reduce associated allergens in the air. Karen Johnson, wife of Fresh Air’s owner Kurt Johnson, is allergic to cats and with a system in their home running on the high setting 24/7, they’ve been able to have a cat for ten years now. As a participant at Lewistons' 2017 Business-to-Business Trade Show said to us, “But it’s the stuff outside that makes me the most sick.” As not all allergens start in the home, there’s an option for people with outdoor allergies too. It’s called a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. The Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) rating for a HEPA filter ranges from 17 to 20. The MERV rating scale was designed by The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). A link to ASHRAE can be found at the bottom of this page. The scale is fairly straightforward, filters marked as being 1-4 cover the simple, low end filters. 5 through 13 are medium range filters and 14 to 16 are considered high efficiency, just not quite HEPA. Quite simply, the higher the MERV rating, the smaller the particles it is able to filter out. ​ ​ So what makes these HEPA filters so special? Great question. To have earned a MERV rating of 17 or higher it must be able to filter out contaminants down to a size of 0.3 Microns, also called micrometers, which are very small. There are some filters that can take care of even smaller than a MERV 20 though, those are called Ultra-Low Particulate Air (ULPA) filters, though in most cases they’re not necessary. A MERV 17 is primarily what we sell when it comes to HEPA, above that and you’re getting more towards a hospital’s “clean room” level of filtration. While that’s not a bad thing, it’s usually more than what the average person needs. MERV 17 can filter out all bacteria, all combustion smoke, lead dust, mold spores, hair spray, cement dust, pollen dust mites and several others. MERV 18 adds carbon dust, MERV 19 adds viruses and MERV 20 can filter out unspecified, smaller fine particulates. For most of our customers a MERV 17 is actually more than what they need. For people with chronic allergies, asthma or other respiratory issues looking for a way to breathe easier, MERV 17 is the way to go. What else should I consider when looking into filtration options? Odors from outside are also a factor when selecting a filter. If you have neighbors who regularly smoke marijuana or tobacco outside, or often have camp or bonfires- preventing these particulates from entering your home is a healthy decision. Who wants to smell the fresh spray of a skunk or the strange and “exotic” foods your neighbor’s always trying? Well maybe some people do, but for me I’ll stick with a HEPA filter so none of that bothers me. As someone who is sensitive to smells, I find that filtering the air as much as reasonably possible is the best way to stave off headaches. You can read more about sensitivities in the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) section, which mostly recommends a HEPA filtration as well, but there are some helpful links if you think you may suffer from this condition.

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About Us The Company ​ Fresh Air is a small business started in 2006 which is owned and operated by Kurt Johnson. Since that time we have installed units in the homes of over 500 pleased customers. We install air exchange systems in both completed homes and those in the final stages of construction. We also do installations in new homes, modular homes, existing homes and small/light commercial work. ​ ​ Call Us for a free estimate (207) 786-9400 The Customers ​ Without our wonderful customers we don't have a business. Some have congestion and headaches. Some can't live in their new homes. Some of them bought a modular home and nobody explained their ventilation system to them. Some have condensation and mold and are worried for their families. Some just want fresh air; for themselves, for their elderly parents, for their children and grandchildren. Some have a parish, others a library or a small school or an RV repair warehouse. From all walks of life, we could all use a breath of fresh air. ​ ​ The Leader - Kurt Johnson ​ "Buying a family modular home in 2001 was my first exposure to an air exchange system. At that time, it was explained to me to be a most important part of a tight energy efficient home. It would remove excess moisture during the winter and most importantly, pollutants from everything we might have in the home. I thought that it made a lot of sense to have my family in a healthy indoor environment. A few years went by and I ended up selling those same homes and realized that most people who got those homes didn't understand their systems and how to use them. I also realized that there didn't seem to be a good understanding in the industry how to design, install and maintain these systems. In 2006, I decided that this was a good potential market for a professional business. So I went to Canada to get trained as a Residential Mechanical Designer and Installer and received my HRAI Certification, #8630." ​ Not ventilating a tight home is kind of like a plastic bag on your head. The first thing you'll see is moisture building up; but it's not what you can see that's the biggest threat. COMPANY LEADER Kurt Johnson performs installation work alongside the Field Technicians Luke and John; in addition to educating the public on various dangers of poor indoor air quality. The Office Manager - Daniel Ranger ​ "I've always been hyper-sensitive to tastes and smells, and noticed how constricted I felt working in a call center but I didn't put it all together until the previous Office Manager, a friend of mine, and I were talking about how he wanted a more physical labor job. I put him in contact with my neighbor who helped him get hired at the Walmart Distribution center. In turn, he recommended me to Kurt for my experience in customer service, technical background, graphic design and those sensitivities. Now I've been here since March of 2017. ​ There's a lot of information in this job. How air works, what pollutants there are, not to mention the fact the general public has no idea what goes on in the air in their home. I certainly was oblivious before I started here! ​ I am glad that I am still able to help people like I did when I dispatched Roadside Assistance, but with a lot less stress. In addition, I like that I get to utilize the more creative parts of my brain. I got to build a new website (still definitely in the works) new ads, new brochures, helping with booths at the trade shows and explaining products to customers in detail." The Lead Field Technician ​ Mangok Akol The Maintenance Technician ​ Vacant ​

ERV70S/T 35-70 CFM | Flex Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERVH100S 50-100 CFM | Advanced Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERV140TE 55-140 CFM | High Efficiency Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERV250TE 50-241 CFM | High Efficiency Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERV100S 50-100 CFM | Sky Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERV110S/T 45-105 CFM | Flex Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERV180S 80-183 CFM | Advanced Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERV100SP 50-100 CFM | Sky Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERV120S/T 64-120 CFM | Flex Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet ERV200TE 50-210 CFM | High Efficiency Series Owner's Manual Specification Sheet

Moisture and Humidity The amount of water vapor in the air is called Absolute Humidity. A given area of air can hold different amounts of water vapor depending on the temperature of that air. The amount of moisture, relative to the temperature is measured as a percentage called Relative Humidity (Rh). ​ A range of 30% to 60% Rh is generally considered the most comfortable, dubbed the climatology 'Comfort Zone'. High humidity doesn't necessarily cause a threat to a given structure until you you either reach 100% Rh or hit something called dew point. When the air outside reaches 100% Rh, it starts dropping it as rain, snow, sleet, ice storms and fog. Dew Point is defined as " the atmospheric temperature (varying according to pressure and humidity) below which water droplets begin to condense and dew can form." In essence, Dew Point causes (dew and) frost on your car, lawn, plants and everything else you see in the morning. Reaching dew point isn't only outside, moisture can hit dew point on a surface that is cooler-enough than the air, such as the glass of lemonade waiting for you to finish mowing the lawn. Dew point can be hit on your windows, causing water to start pooling on your sill and begin mold growth. You may recall riding the school bus as a child and scraping frost off the inside windows? That was water vapor from all those exhaling children which hit dew point on the cold surface and then froze. The scary fact is that while many people wouldn't describe a school bus as being highly insulated, it still traps all that moisture. Now consider your highly insulated house; and you can imagine the amount of moisture you're putting into the air at home right now. That's without considering showers, cooking, watering pets and plants; and humidifiers. There's an article below on Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) and what the EPA has to say about it. ​ Dew point isn't the only concern- there's some amazing physics phenomena also in play here. One is the fact that moisture will always try to move from more, to less. While a moisture/vapor barrier works to prevent this; if there's no way for the moisture to get out it's likely to cause an issue. As a given area of air can only hold so much moisture (100% Rh) if you sit at 100% Rh, a small decrease in temperature will cause you to hit dew point. Giving the moisture a path to escape helps to keep the Rh within the comfort zone. ​ The difficulty with leaving holes in the walls for moisture to get out is heat loss. Ever since the 70s and the oil embargo, we've been on a binge of tighter houses and lowering heat loss. Unfortunately this tightening houses caused an unforeseen side effect: Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). Skip ahead to the section on Indoor Air Pollution for more on SBS. ​ ​ Indoor Air Pollution Have you ever held a job where- only when at work -it felt like you had a cold? Maybe even felt like the flu? Shortly after going home, or even just from your lunch-break it went away? You may have been experiencing a Building-Related-Illness (BRL) known as Sick Building Syndrome. With how tight our buildings are, even without symptoms, it's easy to see how this can be a problem. ​ I'll ask this a different way, if a person stood before you and put a clear plastic bag over their head; how long would it be before that caused you to be concerned? Would it be immediate? Maybe after moisture started showing up as dew point was reached inside? Would it be after they started showing signs of oxygen deprivation? Or when they fell over? How long will it be before your own home, and the figurative- almost literal -plastic bag that it is causes you to be concerned? For most the answer is dependent on visibility. Radon isn't scary to most because it's invisible- but mold is alarming. Carbon Monoxide's not very frightening; while seeing smoke in your house is, and smoke is Carbon Monoxide. Most people start seeking solutions to 'wet windows', sometimes getting new windows installed thinking that will solve their problem. Very few people seek solutions to future issues which all fall under the same concept: Healthy houses need to breathe. ​ Just as your body needs clean air in- bad air out, so does a building. When buildings are kept too tight they risk building up high levels of moisture, cooking and bathroom odors, gasses from plastics and cleaners, dust and dander, and other air pollutants. The EPA says that the air inside our home can be 2-to-5 times more polluted than the air outside. If you're curious to know more about the quality of the air in your home, we offer Air Sample Testing . ​ Air and Temperature In the articles above I briefly mentioned a physics phenomenon in which moisture tries to move from more to less. The same can be said about heat. Oh sure, we can add new types of insulation, increases the R-value and we can slow that transfer down significantly; but we can never stop it. Heat will always move through, the only factor is the time it takes to get through. I also mentioned above what the EPA has to say about indoor air pollution. ---- ​ The approach to homes today is kind of like this: Using the example from before, the example individual hair a plastic bag over their head. In this example, I glossed over 'Natural Ventilation' which, for argument sake, we'll poke a few holes in the plastic bags. From their perspective, keeping the bag warm is too costly, all the warmth escapes through the holes! To decrease heat loss, they add a second bag. Hmm, now the moisture's starting to build up but it's still too cold. Add another bag, and another, one more perhaps? There; now it's sealed up so tight, nothing can escape. ​ You might be thinking; "Well fine! Then how do I lower my heating bill, keep my house warm and get the pollutants out?" Well, there's a device called a Recovery Ventilator. They come in a couple of variants we'll go over a couple paragraphs down. A recovery ventilator is designed to take your polluted air and exhaust it outside, while taking the fresh air of outside and put it inside. Admittedly , not everywhere has good outdoor air, but Maine's is pretty clean. Here's an automatically updated report on the quality of Maine's outdoor air according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Before we continue on recovery ventilator's it's worth noting some people have allergies to things outside, and find relief when going inside, therefore they may think it's better inside. That's another example of that plastic bag we talked about. So moving forward, for individuals with allergies like that be aware that a High-Efficiency Particle Air (HEPA) filter can be added to a system to reduce these allergens before they get inside. ERVs and HRVs So depending on your climate, the ventilator you need may change. There's a lot of discussion on the matter, and it all boils down to this: a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) exhausts everything that goes into it after the basic filter, and an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) exhausts all the air, but retains a portion of the moisture, also after a basic filter. (A point to note is the basic filter is there for large particles, e.g. things that could get into the Core and block airflow; it is not there to filter small particles or 'clean' the air. Some units contain spaces for optional filters, otherwise more advanced filters can be installed in-line. For more details, give us a call 207-786-9400) You might be thinking "but you said moisture can cause damage and mold!" and this hasn't changed. In our state, the outside air can get very, very dry when it's cold. As a result, HRVs here can make the air uncomfortable which usually results in occupants turning the unit off which certainly doesn't help the quality of the air. ​ So why does this help? ​ A recovery ventilator works on a pretty simple concept: continuous dilution. Another example, your house before a ventilator is kind of like a glass of murky water. Adding your ventilator pours say 1/4 glass of clean water into that, spilling some of the mix out. It's still murky, but give it time, add another 1/4 glass, and another. Eventually you'll see that the murkiness is gone. ​ The other side of the coin however is a question: at what rate are your pollutants introduced? If you drop a spoonful of mud in every time you pour fresh water in, you're not going to get anywhere. These pollutants like those mentioned in a previous article are cleaning products, hair products, building materials and more. That's where knowing rates of pollution and sizing the unit correctly for the space comes into play. I.e. increase the clean water in the previous example.