4 Effective Ways to Ventilate Your Home

Ventilation is key to a healthy home. By keeping the air moving you can reduce the likelihood of airborne bacteria and viruses spreading. It will also decrease the chances of damp creating mould in your home.

Mould is a particular concern as is spores can get into your lungs and cause an allergic reaction. In addition, the damp can get into the walls and cause a variety of issues. These include rotting wood and even weakening the structure of your home.

In short, moisture is your enemy and ventilation will move warm moist air out of your home, replacing it with cooler dry air.

There are 4 effective ways to ventilate your home.

1. Powered Underfloor ventilation System

It’s fair to say that a power underfloor ventilation system is the best option for your home. It involves fitting two vent points into your underfloor space. One of these vent points has a one-way flap fitted. It will only allow air to move out or into the space under your floor. The decision as to which will depend on the other vent.

In this vent you have a fan that either pushes air into the underfloor space, allowing it to escape from the other vent. Or, it pulls the air out of the space and it enters from the other vent.

In both cases airflow is maintained, allowing damp air to be removed and helping the structure of your home to stay dry.

2. Whole-House Ventilation System

This is a good option if the underfloor ventilation is not enough. It’s generally the case in older homes, especially those that no longer have damp proof courses. The whole house system works similarly to the powered underfloor ventilation. It sucks in fresh air and pushes moist air out. The difference is the pump is much larger and the air is moved through the house in pipes; It effectively releases fresh air into every room and sucks the moist air out.

Most of these systems also incorporate heat exchangers to allow you to control the temperature of your home.

3. Airflow

To reduce damp you need airflow and, in some houses, this can be achieved without the need for powered fans, etc. The key to assessing viability is to look at the current air movement. If it naturally moves from one side of the house to the other then you can add vents under the rooms that will allow this air to move under the house and out the other side. You will be dependent on the weather but it can be as effective as the powered underfloor ventilation system.

4. Fans

Finally, the easiest option and potentially the least effective as well as expensive is to plug fans in. You’ll want to position it near the window so it can direct air into or out of the home. This approach may have a limited effect as it will depend on the weather conditions and how damp the air is outside. It can also be a noisy solution. But, it is budget-friendly in terms of set-up costs.