We are finding that with the new energy efficiency codes and mechanical code requirements in today’s homes, that the question is raised – is it possible to build a home too tight?
We had an interesting situation occur recently happen in a new home we had built. The owners called us a few times to report a funny smell in the house. Well after a few visits to the house and a number of times troubleshooting we realized what the problem was – the house was too tight! In other words, when no windows were opened and doors were kept shut for a while, the air would get stale in the home because they didn’t need to run the heat or AC. The house was so well insulated and because we use a special foam air barrier, it was so tight, the air was becoming stale in the house. Solution – run the fan on the air handler for some time and voila – problem solved!
So – the question is, can we build a home too tight? Well, we decided that based on our designs and insulation properties we already install, we did not need to put in the foam air barrier in future houses. This along with other changes will help us build high quality homes for our customers.
