Ventilation in the apartment: the subtleties of the system and the rules of its organization

Ventilation systems in the apartments can be performed both with their own hands and with the help of professionals. However, the main task of this work is the formation and maintenance of a healthy indoor microclimate. It is quite difficult to do this, and you will have to take into account many nuances.

Ventilation systems in the apartment are divided into:

• natural;
• combined;
• mechanized types.

The action of the contours of the first kind is due to the natural processes, pushing the mass of air in the right direction. Since it is under different pressure in the room and on the street, it has an unequal temperature, atmospheric flows occur through any available opening.When the new portion passes through all the rooms, it leaves through the vents placed under the ceiling. In order for such a solution to solve the assigned tasks, it is necessary to absolutely avoid blocking the path for air jets. The described option reduces to a minimum the cost of installation and use, operates continuously (except for the summer months) and can be created by yourself.

But the passage of air flow through the wall is limited by weather factors. If the meteorological situation is unfavorable, instead of an outflow, there can be observed, for example, an increased supply of fresh portions of gas from the outside. In this case, first come those parts of the atmosphere that must be evacuated to the outside. Because the home environment ceases to be pleasant and comfortable, and sometimes even a health hazard.

To optimize costs, resort to combined ventilation. It involves the flow through the windows or special valves. The subsequent removal of the exhaust air is produced by an exhaust system.The choice of a particular method is best to entrust professionals. In case of problems, one should not try to install a more powerful system, but first establish whether there are any obstacles for air masses.

Since the exchange of air directly affects the quality of life, its exact parameters are specified in special regulatory documents. Their compilers widely used the fruits of many years of scientific and technical research. The main source with which any customers of ventilation systems should be familiar is the rule set 54.13330.2016 “Multi-residential residential buildings” - this is the further development of the 2003 standard. But it is important to understand that the calculations cannot be completed by simply summing up the figures for individual rooms. In the case of living rooms, air exchange is interpreted as the arrival of air outside and its discharge into the kitchen or sanitary unit.

As for the technical parts of the apartment, air exchange is defined here as a combination of the air coming from the living rooms and its removal outside the property. From this it follows that it is necessary to calculate the necessary quantities of the inflow and outgoing mass.The basis is usually taken the greatest value in order to be guaranteed to insure against surprises.

A decent level of air exchange calculation (with a minimum error) is possible only for an artificial variant. Standards provide that during natural circulation should be considered:

• excessive concentration of water vapor;
• lack of oxygen;
• excessive compared with the normal concentration of carbon dioxide.

Another requirement stipulated in the Russian regulatory framework will be to maintain the flow of outdoor air in the residential and kitchen area. To remove the air mass you need at least from kitchens, toilets and bathrooms, regardless of the area of ​​these rooms. It is strictly forbidden to penetrate the air that has been in the technical rooms to other rooms of the apartments. Standards also provide that the air must pass from one room to another, even when the doors are tightly pretended.It is necessary either to make holes, or to lift the canvas above the threshold, leaving a gap.

The inlet ventilation system must contain the latest generation fans. To cope with excessive heating or dampness in the rooms, you need to use air conditioning. Among them, split-systems are best suited, combining affordability, low noise and ease of installation. Split systems of the required size allow without special difficulties to ensure normal air circulation in the apartment of a small area. However, to cope with all the tasks they are unlikely to be able to.

In kitchens, it is recommended to use an additional autonomous hood, having previously determined its type. It is easiest and cheaper to install a suspension structure, but it requires regular replacement of carbon filters. If the increased power of such a device is relevant, it is necessary to choose an embedded option. An additional advantage of it is the long-term operation of the aluminum filter. This cleaner is simply washed and returned to the site.

It so happens that even the power of embedded models does not satisfy people.In this case, you need to choose the fireplace (sometimes called dome) hoods. They become great helpers in a large kitchen. As for manual airing, it can be safely described as the least effective way to solve the problem. This is not only a matter of human effort: air comes in from outside, which is rich in toxins and allergens, it becomes noisy in the room.

Heated ventilation is relevant in winter. But the need for it is also present in the fall and spring. In many regions of Russia, weather conditions and in the summer period can deteriorate to dangerous values. Heating the incoming air helps to get rid of the danger of cold drafts and respiratory diseases that they provoke.

Apartments with plastic windows from the exception in the last 15-20 years have become the rule. But PVC constructions, while keeping heat, at the same time interfere with the normal flow of air. To bring the atmosphere in homes back to normal, you need to use special technical solutions.They may be different, but in any case, such ventilation will work forcibly. As in other situations, it is useful to pay attention to the instructions of the SNiP.

A typical scheme of forced ventilation in apartments can be formed:

• natural gas supply and ventilation shafts;
• intake unit and exhaust fans;
• machine exhaust and natural influx;
• complex supply and exhaust circuit using a heat exchanger.

It is the last type of ventilation that is the easiest to calculate and adjust for full operation. It is fully controlled and eliminates almost 100% all deviations from the norm. Thanks to the heat exchanger, it is possible to make the heating of the incoming air more profitable. But it will have to pay more attention to the calculations of air exchange. Such devices do not take into account the presence of separate extracts over the gas and electric stoves, above the bathroom and the toilet.

Despite the cheapness of the inlet valves, their weakness is the impossibility of flexible adjustment of the amount of incoming air. In a large room will have to put several valves.The calculation of the need for inflow should be separate for any room. Without having understood this moment, it is impossible to find out what equipment is required to be delivered.

Ventilation in the studio has its own characteristics. As in other places, the cleaning solution is the ideal solution. To equip it with heaters is up to the owners of the apartment. If an extractor is placed in the studio, it must provide air renewal in the serviced volume 10-12 times in 60 minutes. This requirement allows you to define the minimum level of device capabilities, without which there is nothing to talk about.

In the rooms where there are gas appliances, the so-called ventilators must be installed. They open when the equipment is turned on, and allow for the pumping of oxygen. The cost of such devices is relatively small. It is categorically unacceptable situation when they first consult with the designers, and only then make a technical project.

Often you have to deal with the restoration of ventilation ducts in the apartments. Both central risers and isolated ventilation ducts are too complicated for self-reconstruction. Nonprofessional intervention threatens with serious engineering problems. If the channels are laid apart, you have to go to the roof of the house.

Without drawing up a project, it is possible to install breathers and other autonomous devices, as well as valves for inflow. It is required to design all channel constructions. Air losses during transportation are calculated in an integrated way. Indications of regulations for air exchange in living rooms are sometimes not large enough, but in sanitary rooms they are significantly overestimated. By and large, it is necessary to follow such standards only in public toilets and bathrooms.

Accurately and correctly determine the true need helps measuring carbon dioxide.That he will show what level of activity of ventilation will be optimal in a particular place. Apply throttle valves, including an iris variety of them, it makes no sense - it will only add noise. Adjust the flow is much more appropriate with the help of diaphragms. There is also no need for installation of soundproof enclosures.

Just making a project is not enough. We still have to correctly install the chosen equipment with our own hands. For this purpose, it is necessary to take into account the recommendations of the manufacturers. When installing a forced ventilation system can be made as a complex in the form of a single unit, and a composing structure. In the latter case, the system will improve the use of the heater and automatic components.

To determine the size of the duct can be given the hourly air flow rate of flow and the main structural material. The normal air velocity in the pipes is from 150 to 800 cm in 1 second. If the channel is made of black steel, its roughness dramatically increases the aerodynamic drag. At the installation itself, begin with finding out the height at which the pipe is fixed.

Fastening of the duct is performed on the wall. A pipe is entangled with a clamp, after which the accuracy of the positioning lines is evaluated. A hole is drilled in the ceiling, one of the ends of the clamp is fixed. In the second the same hole is mounted the second end, ensuring the horizontal location of the duct. Reinforced fixation of the pipe is 150-200 cm from the clamp. If the pipeline is prefabricated, it will need to be fixed at the beginning and end of all sections, and the sections themselves are screwed to each other.

Each forced horizontal section is equipped with fans. Experts should choose where to locate them, as well as determine the specific model. When installing the flow valves, they should be insulated without leaving gaps. The case is supplied with a device that absorbs noise. The outer part of the pipe is covered with a grill.

When the ventilation ducts in the apartment are mounted and configured, they are sure to check. Even if all the work was done by professionals, the verification of the result obtained is very important in order to understand what the money is paid for.Moreover, the test is required when ventilation was created independently. As soon as the grille is placed, a completely sheet of paper covering the lumen is applied to it.

It is enough to note that at least one corner comes off, or that the sheet is swaying, which will make it possible to say that high-quality ventilation is not ensured. A fire test of traction in the ventilation shaft is dangerous. Yes, the plastic grill is unlikely to catch fire. But dust or flammable gas can easily flare up. Then it remains to hope only that not the whole apartment will burn out before the arrival of emergency services. Do not clean the ventilation shafts by yourself.

Even experienced representatives of specialized operating organizations work in special suits, use sophisticated tools. After all, inside there are a lot of dust accumulations, mold fungi and other dangerous objects. Detection of a blockage will require a great deal of art, and its removal either fails or threatens with the breakdown of a mine box. Often poisonous and dangerous animals settle in the ventilation shafts.In addition, ventilating systems are the property of management organizations and are entirely their responsibility.

The fact that such ventilation in the apartment, see the following video.