Believe it or not, everything that is new doesn't necessarily have to smell good. That includes new homes. The air inside a new home in Denver is 10 times worse than the worst 'bad air' day in that city due to off-gassing from varnishes, carpet glues, etc.

Certain Denver homebuilders are incorporating a fresh air return that is pre-mixed with the air intake before it goes in to the heater to improve the air quality inside.

Learn how.

(Photo courtesy of California Em, Flickr.)

Your Denver home builder will never tell you that your new house is going to initially smell bad. These smells are caused by products used in construction which continue to give off fumes and gasses much later after being installed.

Though, some of these fumes and gasses are not toxic some of your younger family members, or those with respiratory problems, may have a reaction to them without you knowing what is causing their health problem(s).

(Photo courtesy of Moncrief Heating and Air Conditioning, Flickr.)

All three of these functions when performed from a central piece of equipment are referred to as "forced air systems" for air (whether hot or cold) is forced to travel through ducts throughout the building.

Ventilation "is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality - i.e., to control temperature or remove moisture, odors, smoke, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide, and to replenish oxygen. Ventilation is used to remove unpleasant smells and excessive moisture, introduce outside air, to keep interior building air circulating, and to prevent stagnation of the interior air." (www.wikipedia.org)

"A cold-air return is a vent which sucks cold air into a furnace so that it can be heated and brought back to a room through a furnace register. Cold-air returns are seen in many types of furnace systems, although there are alternatives, such as drawing air from the outside, or drawing air from the area around the furnace. Depending on the design, each room in a house may have a cold-air return, or returns may be strategically located at various points around the house.In addition to being used in heating systems, cold-air returns can also be used in cooling systems." (www.wisegeek.com)

Heating and cooling units both use chemicals which allow them to perform their designated jobs. The air conditioners in your Denver new home use a chemical coolant called R-22. "The R-22 coolant used in most central air conditioning systems manufactured in the past is a HCFC (hydrochloroflurocarbon) that causes chlorine emissions, and chlorine gas is one of the manmade emissions which damage the ozone. This coolant is slated to be replaced by R410a - a new, chlorine-free and non-ozone damaging coolant in all air conditioners sold starting in 2010." (www.chasroberts.com) Heating units use either gas or oil, which are also ozone damaging and give off fumes.

(Photo courtesy of wizmo, Flickr.)

Also referred to as "positive input ventilation" or "mechanical/forced ventilation", this is how some new home builders in Denver are getting rid of those new house smells.

Basically, the concept works like this: Firstly, they (the builders) must ensure that air distribution throughout the property is even. "To maximize the effect of mechanical ventilation incorporating heat recovery.it is important that balanced ventilation is achieved to ensure that air migrates throughout the property." (www.vent-axia.de)

The inside air is either diluted or replaced with fresh air which has been piped in from the outside via the "fresh air duct", and is then heated and distributed throughout the home. "An air-to-air heat exchanger mechanically ventilates and dehumidifies homes in colder climates. During the winter it transfers heat from the air being exhausted, to the fresh, outside air entering the home. Fifty to eighty percent of the heat normally lost in exhausted air is returned to the house." (www.blueflame.org)