In the COVID era, like in most of the countries, the lifestyle in America has changed a lot. Now, the attention is everywhere, (say from) on increased cleaning to heightened concern about airborne threats in the home. However, there are infinite sources that cause poor indoor air. Even if a home has ventilation systems such as range hoods, bath fans and whole home fresh air systems, if those are not properly used, the threat continues to be there.
In such circumstances, now builders and remodellers can provide homeowners with a system that monitors and optimizes the air in their homes. It is possible with Broan-NuTone’s new connected indoor air quality system, Overture.
Overture connects a home’s supply and exhaust ventilation to monitor the quality of air and turn on automatically when air quality levels are low. The system is fully integrated into a home’s supply and exhaust ventilation and can be installed in new construction or remodels without the need for an incremental hub, meaning it can be controlled from the cloud. Overture operates with new or existing products using specialized switches and sensors.
Full control over a home’s air quality is now in the hand of the home owner. Overture provides a fully customizable, automated indoor air quality system that delivers up to the minute reporting on the home’s indoor air quality and how the system is acting to maintain constant, fresh airflow. When it detects a rise in indoor air pollution caused by increased humidity, VOCs, smoke, carbon dioxide and small particles (sometimes referred to as PM2.5), the system will automatically turn on the nearest ventilation fan to eliminate the pollutant while simultaneously bringing in fresh, clean air from outside.
Being based on the latest technologies, the entire system is easily managable with an app, whereby the home dwellers can see live snapshots of their home’s indoor air quality, individual rooms’ air quality and historical data.
Drawing attention on the effectiveness of Overture, Edwin Bender, VP of Marketing, Broan-NuTone, said, “At Broan-NuTone, we are dedicated to helping consumers improve their indoor air quality – and Overture provides an easy way to monitor and maintain healthy air in the home.”
The process
Sensors detect when humidity and pollutants are present and automatically switch on the appropriate Broan-Nutone ventilation fan, rangehood, ERV/HRV, or supply fan. It automatically mitigates the issue through a balance of exhaust and fresh air.
Its importance
As per US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air, and during lockdown phase the people spend 90 per cent of their time inside. EPA has also found that the poor indoor air has short-term as well as long-term health effects ranging from irritated eyes and a stuffy nose to more severe issues such as respiratory diseases.
Also, as per Dodge Data and Analysis, consumers include impact on health an important criterion when they make building product purchases. In fact between 65 and 70 per cent consider it more important than comfort, performance, cost, aesthetic and durability.
In India too, where COVID has very badly affected the lifestyle of the citizens and where there is no dearth of over-crowded homes, systems like Overture are not only much needed solutions to maintain the indoor air quality but also essential to fight against the CORONA Virus.
