What is Makeup Air?
Welcome to our new blog - The Yard. As a fifth-generation family business, I grew up hearing my dad and grandfather refer to Lawrenceville Fuel as the fuel yard, or “the yard.” Since I began working here about four years ago, I’ve realized that there’s a lot that the average homeowner doesn’t know about their home. While I don’t recommend watching YouTube videos and doing your own repair work, it’s good to know brush up on the basics and learn a few principles that will help keep your home safe, comfortable, and energy efficient. As a new homeowner myself, in the middle of my own home renovation, I’m going to document our experiences and share a few of the lessons we are learning firsthand. Enjoy!
What is Makeup Air?
After tearing out moldy wood paneling in our basement, and dirty old carpet all over the house, we began our kitchen renovation. We worked with Tracy Martin of Blue Lotus Designs in Pennington to plan a new layout, cabinets, counter tops, and flooring. When it was time to pick out appliances, Tracy gave me all the appliance dimensions that I would need, and I took a trip to local staple, Mrs. G’s.
I love shopping at Mrs. G’s. It’s so easy. The sales people are knowledgeable and it’s another small family-owned business. I picked out a double-door stainless steel fridge, matching electric stove, and a dishwasher. Then it was time for the range hood. I found one that I liked, and the salesman asked me if I knew about makeup air. And well, honestly, I had head of it, but that was about it. A little research, and a couple of math equations later, here’s what I learned:
What is makeup air? A makeup air unit pulls air into a space from outdoors and conditions it to the indoor temperature to replace the air that’s pulled out by kitchen exhaust equipment.
When do you need a makeup air unit? Here’s where that math equation comes in…
Total BTU’s of all appliances: ___
Total BTU’s divided by 1,000 multiplied by 50 cubic feet = cubic feet of combustion air needed
Now, measure the length, width, and height of the room and multiply all three together to see how many cubic feet you have available. If the total needed is greater than what you have available, you need a makeup air unit.
Where is a makeup air unit installed? Typically, in the duct work of your home. In a forced-air heating system, the outdoor air can be brought into an air handler on the return side, then distributed through the duct work. Some range hood manufacturers even provide interlocked makeup air damper kits. In our case, we have enough cubic feet and old drafty doors and windows to provide the makeup air that we need.
Why do you need makeup air? A lot of reasons, including…
1.) Better airflow and fewer odors
2.) To avoid negative air pressure, which can cause drafts
3.) To avoid HVAC problems. When chimneys are not drafting properly you can experience issues like pilot lights extinguishing and damage to heat exchangers
4.) Poorly preforming kitchen exhaust hoods. Without makeup air, your exhaust hood can’t do its job as well
5.) Excess kitchen grease
6.) Poor air quality
7.) Poor heating and cooling conditions, which lead to higher energy bills.
How do you fix the problem? There are lot of home renovation projects you can do yourself, but this probably shouldn’t be one of them- I recommend bringing in a professional to evaluate your options.
Who you gonna call? Still have questions? Need help with your installation? Give us a call, we can help.