Ventilation means that you draw in fresh, clean air 24 hours a day and/or remove bad air from your home without having to open the windows.
Ventilation therefore continuously ensures healthy air in the home, which is indispensable in a well-insulated home in 2022.
Especially since the outbreak of COVID-19, it quickly became clear that a well-ventilated space drastically reduces the transmission of respiratory infections. Even if you are perfectly healthy, you need good ventilation to stay healthy.
But which ventilation is actually good for your home? And what does this do to your health and living comfort?
What is ventilation?
Older homes ventilate to a great extent, because outside air constantly enters the home through holes and cracks. However, this natural ventilation is not ideal. Due to poor insulation, an old home is often difficult to heat and more sensitive to moisture, which causes mold problems. Old homes often smell musty.
This odor is caused by the presence of wood rot or dust, such as dust mites, or by the presence of mold.
Why is good ventilation important?
Good or healthy ventilation ensures that your home has a low humidity. This is often a challenge, when you consider that a family emits an average of 3,700 to 4,300 liters of moisture per year. The moisture content in your home increases when you shower or cook.
Also by breathing out you release moisture to the space, especially because you do this continuously. And this moisture contains nitrogen, bacteria and other unwanted substances that pollute the interior and feed mold.
With ventilation you continuously get fresh clean air in your home, the indoor climate always stays dry and you continuously remove polluted air. This type of indoor climate is healthy and feels comfortable.
What complaints do you have with poor ventilation?
In both old and new homes, you run a high risk of developing health problems if you do not have mechanical ventilation. In an old home, a lot of dust comes in and you get allergic reactions, for example.
These homes are poorly insulated and often have underlying moisture problems, which means the climate is more humid and there are more bacteria and fungi that you then inhale.
In modern, well-insulated homes, the indoor climate is free of dust, but the polluted indoor air cannot simply escape – unless you open the windows regularly. If you do not open the windows sufficiently, the polluted air remains inside and you get headaches, sleep problems or other health complaints due to a saturated indoor climate.
The worse the ventilation and the better the insulation, the greater the health problems.
For example, humid and warm ambient temperatures are an excellent habitat for silverfish: these are crawling insects that thrive in bathrooms. In humid and cold places, such as bedrooms, mold often develops. These release toxic spores into the air that then end up in the lungs.
These spores or ‘mycotoxins’ are harmful in the long term, as they can cause respiratory diseases.
What is the difference between ventilation and airing?
Ventilation means that you are constantly drawing fresh air into the home and removing polluted air. The indoor air is therefore always moving and therefore no odours, dust particles or harmful substances remain in the home.
Ventilating the home, on the other hand, is very limited in time.
You only ventilate the interior space when you open a window. If you close the window again, you will no longer get fresh outside air. It is good to ventilate your home regularly, for example at times when you have a lot of moisture in the house.
This is the case, for example, when you have cooked or taken a shower.
Even if there are many people in your home, it is best to open a window. If you are doing major cleaning or painting, it is even recommended to open the windows both before and during work. This will immediately remove harmful substances.
However, during cold winter days it is not pleasant or energy efficient to leave your windows open for a long time. Then you suddenly get very cold inside and you use a lot of energy to keep the indoor temperature at the right level.
Did you know that mechanical ventilation also ensures that you use less energy?
A dry space heats up faster than a damp space. Ventilation helps to make your home healthy, but is usually insufficient to keep the home perfectly healthy without excessive energy loss. For that you need a mechanical ventilation system.
How does a mechanical ventilation system work?
A mechanical ventilation system is the healthiest solution to ventilate your home.
This ventilation system works with an automated motor, which ensures that the indoor air is always sufficiently and promptly replaced by a supply of clean outside air.
With mechanical ventilation there is always a supply of clean air and an exhaust of polluted air.
The extent to which mechanical ventilation systems differ from each other depends on the extent to which the supply or exhaust is partly or fully mechanical.
| Types of mechanical ventilation systems | |
| Ventilation system B | |
| Ventilation system C(+) | Natural air supply Mechanical air extraction |
| Ventilation system D |
In the table above you can see that a mechanical ventilation system often uses natural air supply or exhaust. This is the case, for example, if you have window grilles installed.
For example, higher placed window grilles ensure that the polluted air goes outside. This is because warm air always rises. The lower placed window grilles therefore let in clean outside air.
If you want a mechanical supply or exhaust, you need central mechanical ventilation systems. These work silently and are continuously in operation with valves in every room.
These round valves are connected to ventilation ducts that distribute the air throughout the home.
These round valves are connected to ventilation ducts that distribute the air throughout the home.
The Aquavent in your area is happy to help you with advice and assistance.
Simon Dejaeghere
Onze specialist Simon is een ervaren expert op het gebied van opstijgend vocht. Dankzij zijn diepgaande kennis en jarenlange praktijkervaring kan hij problemen snel herkennen, de juiste diagnose stellen en effectieve oplossingen adviseren. Simon begeleidt klanten van de eerste inspectie tot en met de uiteindelijke behandeling.
