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What do we mean by a home ventilation system? Why is home ventilation important, and how can you ventilate your home? Fear not, for all of these questions will be answered in the following guide.
It shouldn’t take you that long to read – and feel free to skip ahead to the sections that are the most important to you. If you already know the answers to the first couple of questions, you can move on to the tips on improving home ventilation section. Without further ado, let’s jump into this guide:
What is a home ventilation System?
The scientific explanation is that ventilation refers to the exchange of indoor and outdoor air. A simpler way of putting it is that we’re talking about how the air travels in and outside your home. A well-ventilated home means that the indoor air is constantly traveling outside and being replaced by fresh outdoor air.
Why is a home ventilation System important?
What’s the big idea here? Why do we need to care about keeping our homes ventilated? If your home isn’t ventilated, you end up with lots of stagnant indoor air floating around your property. This can cause a number of problems relating to your health, your home, and your bank balance.
Let’s take a look at what happens when you don’t ventilate your home properly:
Health issues
Arguably the biggest reason to advocate home ventilation is that it prevents a range of health issues. Airborne pollutants are present in the air, which is why we need to ventilate it outside and get some fresh air inside. It helps you get rid of dust spores and mold spores, which can trigger allergies and asthma.
There’s also the possibility of carbon monoxide being present inside your home if it isn’t well-ventilated. Again, ventilation allows more oxygen and clean air in, while removing the dirty air and improving your health.
Home issues
Similarly, ventilated homes end up in better condition than poorly ventilated ones. This is because ventilation also helps you remove hot and humid air from your property. If you constantly live in a home with all the windows shut, the humidity will increase. This can lead to dampness and mold, causing property damage that costs a fortune to fix.
Money issues
Yep, as we just mentioned, damage to your property from bad ventilation can be very costly. However, you also spend more money on energy bills when your home is badly ventilated. In the warmer months, you may keep your air conditioner on for longer to cool down your home. If it was properly ventilated, you’d get cool air in your property to reduce the internal temperature. Thus, you put less demand on your cooling system and use less energy, saving a lot of money.
How do you improve home ventilation?
This is the big question; how can you stop your home from being badly ventilated?
Thankfully, this is easier than you think. Most homes are already equipped with the tools you need, though some extra installations might be necessary. Here’s what you need to do:
Open your windows
Try to keep your windows open as often as possible to allow air to drift in and out of your home. This gets rid of any bad smells caused by stagnant air and lets pollutants ventilate out. You also get the lovely feeling of fresh air flowing throughout your property!
It helps if you have windows that can be opened as wide as possible, particularly during the warmer months of the year. Obtaining some energy-efficient sliding windows might be your best bet as they are the easiest to open as wide as you like. This allows you to control the ventilation in your home a lot better than other window options. Keep your windows open as much as you can when it’s warm, and always start the day with them open no matter the temperature.
It’s also important to open your bathroom and kitchen windows when washing or cooking, letting steam evaporate outside instead of condensing on your walls and causing mold.
Use an HVAC system
The V in HVAC stands for ventilation, so it makes sense to use this system to help you improve the airflow throughout your property. Depending on the system you have, there should be a setting that lets you turn the fan on and filter the air throughout the air ducts in your home.
One of the benefits of an HVAC system is that it has a filter that allows you to trap particles and clean the air in your property. It should help you create a home with air that’s easier to breathe and feels less dirty.
Turn on your extractor fans
Every single home should be equipped with special extractor fans in the bathrooms and kitchen area. The sole purpose of these fans is to improve the ventilation of these rooms. Why do they only exist here? Because these rooms are the ones that typically get full of hot and humid air. In a bathroom, you have hot water from the faucets or showers that create steam. You need a fan to work alongside your open windows, sucking this air and blowing it out of your home.
The same goes for kitchens; steam from cooking will make the air very humid and wet, which can lead to dampness and mold. Using an extractor fan will suck the air away, while an open window ensures you’re getting fresh air to replace it.
Just like that, you have improved the ventilation in your home. See, it’s really not that difficult a task to do at all. To be honest, most of you will already know the techniques above and understand how to ventilate your home. But, you’ve never understood why this is so necessary. Put simply, a well-ventilated home will improve your living situation drastically. Your house will be more comfortable, it will smell nicer, you’ll prevent health problems, avoid structural damage, and save a lot of money.
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