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Dear UCSB ScienceLine,
I stumbled across the UCSB ScienceLine page here.

We know that there is air pressure on top of us all the time. But is the same amount of pressure on us inside a building as outside? Here are some pressures the Answers do not seem to address:
image here.

This graphic is from: Flow control in buildings

Question Date: 2021-09-08
Answer 1:

If the pressure inside of the building is greater than the pressure outside, then there will be wind blowing out of the building through the doors or windows. If the opposite is true, then there will be wind blowing inside instead.


Answer 2:

Thanks for the interesting diagram.

The air pressure is pretty much the same indoors and outdoors, because there's nothing sealing the indoors from the outdoors. See the link at the end for a scientific article about 26 multi- family buildings in Finland. Atmospheric air pressure is 101325 Pa [Pascals], so pressure differences of 5 Pa are quite small.

Wind effect:
That diagram shows that the wind is coming from the left side of the house and a bit of the wind is going through the house and out the right side of the house.

Combustion and ventilation:
This house is warmer than the outdoor air, because warm air from the house is going out windows on the upper 2 floors and is rising as it gets outdoors. The middle floor looks like it has a kitchen stove with a vent fan that is sending some air outdoors. The furnace in the basement is pulling air into it as it burns the fuel.

Stack effect:
What is Stack Effect? Stack (or chimney) effect occurs in tall buildings when the outdoor temperature is substantially colder than the inside temperature. Hot air rises, so the warmer, indoor air is buoyant and presses upward to exit the building through a variety of openings in the upper floors.

Scientific article.



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