Keep Warm Air Trapped

The air around us contains a mixture of hot and cold gases. Warmer air is less dense than cooler air, so it rises naturally. However, when a layer of warmer air settles on top of cooler air and prevents the air’s natural movement, a condition called a thermal inversion develops.

Strategic Spray Foam Insulation, LLC normal atmospheric conditions, air temperature decreases with altitude. This process is known as the environmental lapse rate, and it allows pollutants near the ground to rise and disperse into the atmosphere. But during a thermal inversion, the situation reverses. Cooler air sinks beneath a layer of warmer air, forming a lid that blocks vertical mixing and inhibits the formation of smog.

Temperature inversions occur under conditions such as clear skies, calm winds, and long nights. The Earth’s surface loses heat at night, which causes the air immediately above it to cool. But warmer air at higher altitudes stays in place due to factors like calm winds, which reduce the rapid cooling of the Earth’s surface.

In addition, the warm air tends to pool near the ground because it has more moisture in it, a process known as moisture loading. This moisture makes it more difficult for the air to disperse, and it may form fog.

The best way to get rid of a thermal inversion is to use wind or convection currents to mix the trapped air. In fact, using a fan with a reversible switch will stir up the air and cause it to move. The turbulence will disperse the trapped warm and cold air, so some hot air will escape from the window while the colder air will enter.

Strategic Spray Foam Insulation, LLC
813 W King St, Boone, NC 28607
(919) 842-5925