Ventilation not only impacts the smell of your property.
It also affects your house’s value.
And, most importantly, your health.
What is ventilation in a house?
Ventilation is the process of replacing stale air inside a room or home with fresh air from outside.
Its purpose is to improve air quality inside a home. High-quality air has low levels of:
- Scents
- Odours
- Germs
- Pollutants.
Why is ventilation in a house important?
Without proper ventilation, air quality decreases and mould and condensation increase.
This can cause several short and long-term effects.
Temperature
Ventilation helps with temperature control.
This is especially noticeable in warm weather, where poor ventilation often leads to warmer (i.e., less comfortable) homes.
It can make sleeping particularly difficult, too.
Odours
No one likes a bad odour.
Poor ventilation often leads to a range of them, from mildly musty to sharply putrid.
These scents can seep into clothing, too. So, you could feel self-conscious about your presence outside of your home, too.
By contrast, a well-ventilated home often smells fresh and clean.
Property damage
Poor ventilation can lead to a range of effects on the surfaces and even the structure of a building.
For example, high moisture levels can damage paint and plaster. It can cause timber frames to swell and warp, and rust iron objects (frames, fittings, pipes, etc.)
It can also encourage pests, particularly flies (which thrive in damp) or even rats (which thrive in generally unhygienic environments).
Property value
The cumulative effect of the above two points (odours and property damage) is that the property’s value will decrease.
The property will be less appealing in viewings and surveys will make a note of it.
Health impact
This can impact the health of everyone living there. You may experience respiratory illnesses over long periods.
The damage caused by excess moisture may also reduce your property value overall.
This is partly because of problems it causes with the walls, ceilings, or roof.
But it may also give a nasty smell and appearance if it’s still present when your potential buyers look around.
Ways to improve ventilation in a house
Open windows and doors
This is the simplest and least expensive solution.
Opening windows and doors allows fresh air from outside to circulate through your house.
This reduces the buildup of humidity and pollutants. The same applies to keeping the doors open throughout your house. Air won’t get trapped in one room.
Install a ventilation system
On the other side of the pricing spectrum, you could pay for an entire-house ventilation system.
This is one of the most sophisticated solutions. If you don’t want to pay as much, you could also get this installed for just one room.
The system will ventilate your house while warming the incoming air.
This ensures that the air quality remains high and mould doesn’t build up without reducing the temperature.
Ensure vents aren’t blocked
Even if you’ve already got a ventilation system, it’s possible that the vents are blocked.
This may cause ventilation to be poor, even with the right systems in place. You should check this or pay an expert to do it.
It could be a simple fix within a few minutes.
Use air purifiers
The purpose of an air purifier is to remove pollutants from the air in your house.
This can be set up in each room or just one. Dust, bacteria, and viruses will all be trapped. The purified air is then circulated back into the room.
Construct your house with perforated building materials
You could use perforated building materials if you have one eye on ventilation while constructing a house.
This isn’t a solution if the property is already built. And most houses are built from brick or stone.
But otherwise, you can speak to the constructors about how these materials can benefit ventilation.
How can I check the quality of ventilation in my house?
You should keep an eye out for warning signs of poor ventilation.
This includes mould or condensation. Stuffiness or bad smells are other examples.
You could also hire an expert to visit you and measure this.
They may use a carbon dioxide monitor to measure CO2 levels.
They could also do a blower door test to assess overall air leakage.
