See the diagram below that lists the symptoms of poor indoor air quality that will help you determine if you need a Skuttle (PVC venting make-up air (fresh air from the outside) into your air ducts.)
Doors are hard to open
Are outward-opening doors hard to open? Do they slam shut? Are Inward-opening doors hard to close? If so, you need make-up air
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Drafts flow toward exhaust
Cold air flows in and rushes directly toward the exhaust, creating a serious draft problem. Make-up air eliminates drafts!
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Smoke in the Kitchen
If your kitchen exhaust system isn’t getting enough air to carry away smoke and food odors, it’s starved! Feed it make-up air.
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Frigid Walls & Windows
Starved exhaust systems suck icy outdoor air through cracks in walls and windows. The result: employees and customers suffer.
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Fickle FLAMES & Pilots
Do downdrafts blow pilots out or cause heater FLAMES to keep changing? They do if your exhaust system isn’t getting enough air.
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Leaky Walls & Roofs
Is rain “sucked” through cracks in walls and windows? Do mysterious leaks appear in roofs? Could be a negative pressure problem!
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A Forest of Chimneys
No chimney can work without air. A forest of chimneys is a sure sign they’re fighting each other for a supply of make-up air.
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Burned-out exhaust motors
Exhaust motors should last ten years. If yours have to fight for make-up air, you’ll have to replace them much more often.
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Stale locker rooms. Are your locker rooms stale and odorous? Ventilation is essential … but also impossible without make-up air!
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Employees out sick
Cold air infiltration makes work stations near doors and outer walls hard to heat. Absenteeism rises when temperature drops!
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Fumes and Odors
Odors can’t always be avoided, but a healthy exhaust system can get rid of them . . . providing it is fed an adequate supply of make-up air.
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Flies can’t stay out
Flies collect at doorways near warmth and food odors. They’re sucked inside by the “negative pressure” when doors are opened.
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Poor paint jobs
Uniform paint coverage requires a steady flow of clean air. Backdrafts and fluctuating air flow cause varied coverage and waste.
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Corrosion of steelwork
If structural steel or metal roofing is gradually being consumed by corrosive vapors, the exhaust isn’t working properly.
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Dust and Debris
Housekeeping is an endless problem! Dust and dirt are drawn in continuously through every opening when the exhaust is operating.
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Lazy outlet shutters
Outlet shutters stay half closed when they should be wide open, flutter with the slightest breeze or indoor air pressure change.
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