A basement ceiling view of sealed metal ductwork with a mastic-sealed seam and a foil-taped joint running past a floor register boot, next to a clean gasketed filter slot on an air handler cabinet.

VentilationVE-004

Do Heat Pumps Need Different Ventilation?

How a heat pump works with your ductwork and fresh air: ducted versus ductless, filter and duct basics, and when ventilation changes.

20/09/2026

A clearer way to read a house

Air & Habitat

Air, Ventilation, Thermal Comfort

Air & Habitat is a new independent English editorial publication about home air, ventilation and thermal comfort. We publish reader questions and evidence-based explainers that help you plan, compare and maintain a healthier indoor environment.

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A residential attic with foil-wrapped flexible duct runs crossing wooden ceiling joists, one duct joint visibly separated with a small gap, insulation batts pushed aside, and a bare work light casting hard shadows across the framing.

VentilationVE-003

Duct Sealing: Why Leaky Ducts Waste Energy

Ducts in attics, crawlspaces, and garages leak heated or cooled air outdoors. Learn where leaks hide and how sealing can recover efficiency.

20/09/2026

A residential utility closet photographed in daylight, showing a compact ventilation unit mounted to the wall with two insulated flex ducts running upward, a clean air filter access panel, and a small handwritten maintenance label taped to the side of the housing.

VentilationVE-002

What Is a Whole-House Fresh Air System?

A whole-house fresh air system brings in a steady amount of outdoor air to dilute indoor contaminants. Here is how it works and how it gets tested.

20/09/2026

Close view of a residential bathroom ceiling exhaust fan grille with light dust on the slats, positioned above a mirror still beaded with condensation after a shower, soft daylight from a small window

Home AirHA-004

Bathroom Fans: When Is Moisture a Problem?

How to tell whether your bathroom exhaust fan is actually clearing humidity, why full baths need outdoor-vented exhaust, and simple ways to check airflow.

20/09/2026

A homeowner in a flannel shirt crouches in a bare attic with a flashlight, aiming the beam at a gap where a plumbing pipe passes through the top plate of a wall, loose insulation pushed aside, morning light coming through a gable vent behind her.

Home AirHA-003

Air Sealing Basics: Where Does Your Home Leak?

Air leaks move more than heat. Learn where homes leak, how sealing affects indoor air and pests, and how it fits duct and ventilation planning.

20/09/2026

A close-up photograph of a rectangular HVAC air filter with a visible printed MERV rating on its cardboard frame, resting on a workbench beside a roll of foil tape and a screwdriver, with a residential return air grille visible in the background.

Home AirHA-002

What Does a MERV Rating Actually Capture?

MERV ratings describe which particles a filter traps and which slip through. Learn what MERV 6 captures, why gaskets matter, and how to maintain filters.

20/09/2026

Close-up of a stainless steel range hood mounted above a gas cooktop in a bright home kitchen, with a pot of water steaming on the burner and a faint vapor plume rising toward the hood.

Home AirHA-001

Cooking Pollutants: Why Vent the Range Hood?

Cooking releases particulates, moisture, and combustion gases indoors. Learn why an outdoor-venting range hood matters and how it fits whole-home air.

20/09/2026

A residential utility room photograph showing two ventilation setups side by side on a wall, one with a single exhaust grille connected to a round duct and one with a compact flat heat recovery unit with two ducts entering the top, with a stud finder and a tape measure resting on a shelf below.

VentilationVE-001

Balanced Ventilation vs Exhaust Only: A Primer

Exhaust-only and balanced ventilation move the same amount of air but not the same way. Learn how pressure, makeup air and heat recovery differ.

19/09/2026

Home Air

Understand what is in your indoor air and how to reduce it without guesswork.

Home AirHA-004

Bathroom Fans: When Is Moisture a Problem?

How to tell whether your bathroom exhaust fan is actually clearing humidity, why full baths need outdoor-vented exhaust, and simple ways to check airflow.

20/09/2026

Home AirHA-003

Air Sealing Basics: Where Does Your Home Leak?

Air leaks move more than heat. Learn where homes leak, how sealing affects indoor air and pests, and how it fits duct and ventilation planning.

20/09/2026

Home AirHA-002

What Does a MERV Rating Actually Capture?

MERV ratings describe which particles a filter traps and which slip through. Learn what MERV 6 captures, why gaskets matter, and how to maintain filters.

20/09/2026

Ventilation

Learn how fresh air moves through a home and how to improve it practically.

VentilationVE-004

Do Heat Pumps Need Different Ventilation?

How a heat pump works with your ductwork and fresh air: ducted versus ductless, filter and duct basics, and when ventilation changes.

20/09/2026

VentilationVE-003

Duct Sealing: Why Leaky Ducts Waste Energy

Ducts in attics, crawlspaces, and garages leak heated or cooled air outdoors. Learn where leaks hide and how sealing can recover efficiency.

20/09/2026

VentilationVE-002

What Is a Whole-House Fresh Air System?

A whole-house fresh air system brings in a steady amount of outdoor air to dilute indoor contaminants. Here is how it works and how it gets tested.

20/09/2026

Thermal Comfort

Make sense of heating, cooling, humidity and the feeling of comfort.

A photograph of a clipboard on a kitchen table holding a printed room-by-room worksheet with blank fields, next to a laser distance measurer, a pencil and a folded floor plan sketch of a small house, photographed in soft daylight.

Thermal ComfortTC-006

Manual J: What Homeowners Should Understand

Manual J is the load calculation behind correct HVAC sizing. Learn why square-foot rules of thumb fail and what a real calculation accounts for.

18/09/2026

A photograph of a wall-mounted heat pump thermostat showing a steady temperature reading, with a small indoor heat pump head unit visible out of focus on the wall above a sofa, in a tidy living room with daylight.

Thermal ComfortTC-005

Why Heat Pumps Prefer a Steady Temperature

Deep thermostat setbacks save energy on furnaces but not on heat pumps. Learn why steady setpoints, and careful schedules, work better.

17/09/2026

A photograph of a residential mechanical closet showing a compact furnace cabinet beside a copper refrigerant line set running toward an outdoor heat pump, with a small labeled switchover control mounted on the wall and a notepad on a shelf.

Thermal ComfortTC-004

Dual Fuel Systems: Heat Pump Plus Furnace

A dual fuel system pairs a heat pump with a furnace and switches by temperature or cost. Learn what it is, when it fits, and what to ask.

16/09/2026

Elsewhere on the shelf

Entries kept by other desks, each read before it was shelved here.

House design still decides half the load before any equipment runs: a studio that draws houses for the sun shows what orientation and shading do before a compressor ever starts. a studio that draws houses for the sun
The house file matters beyond the sale: a residential desk that keeps house files treats a home as a record of systems, which is exactly how air sealing should be approached. a residential desk that keeps house files
Comfort is not only thermal: a lighting bench thinking in glow and watts reminds us that the feeling of a room is engineered from several invisible systems at once. a lighting bench thinking in glow and watts
On real sites the services come first: a works register drawn before the walls is the same lesson a duct sealing job teaches, access decides quality. a works register drawn before the walls
Precision work starts with what the hand holds: a bench of fine setting tools belongs to the same culture as a well-seated filter, where the gasket matters as much as the rating. a bench of fine setting tools