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Smelly house

peachmitt| Posted inGeneral Questionson

We had a country house built several years ago. Included was a Venmar hepa3100 air exchange unit. We had it running initially but I found that when it was running it brought the stinky air from the basement( which isn’t finished) into the rest of the house, a two story cottage. When I mentioned this to the contractor, he said it was normal for the unit to draw air from outside, and circulate from the basement on up. There are two vents, one in the basement on the ceiling and one on the second floor ceiling. There are also Two air vent holes in the floor at either extremity of the home on the main floor. We haven’t used the unit nor for several years but it’s something that’s always irked me and I find that the air in the basement is often stagnant. I’ve always suspected that the unit was installed incorrectly….thoughts?

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Replies

  1. Ethan Foley||#1

    If you attach some pictures of how the unit is setup, it might be easier for someone to help you identify the problem. Picture is worth a thousand words and all that :)
    Or you could read the installation manual found here:https://www.venmar.ca/DATA/DOCUMENT/35_5_en~v~installation-manual.pdf
    and see if it matches your setup.
    If the basement air remains "stinky" even with fresh air being pumped in there constantly, you have a source of odour that needs to be eliminated. Look for standing water, dried out p-traps, unsealed wall penetrations, dead rodents, moldy boxes or even structure, etc.

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