Ventilation is our fourth blog in a series exploring retrofit. In this one we explore ventilation and what you can do to get it right in your home.
Draught-proofing and ventilation are 2 sides of the same coin – Seal Tight, Ventilate Right. They are important concepts when considering your retrofit.
Most homes in the UK are not sufficiently well ventilated for optimal health: poor indoor air quality causes a wide range of heath problems, some of them very serious. You can read recent research here. Getting the balance between humidity and ventilation can be tricky, but as a ruil of thumb, internal relative humidity should be between 40% and 60% – best for the building and best for the occupants.
The way we ventilate buildings has changed over the years:
- Old buildings – open fires, lots of draughts
- Typical homes – extract fans in bathrooms and kitchens with trickle vents in the windows
- Homes of the future – continuous, quiet, controlled ventilation, often with heat recovery for better comfort and energy efficiency
- If you don’t have a powered ventilation system, basic ways to keep relative humidity in the healthy range is to (a) ventilate well, maybe by opening the windows and (b) turn up the heating (cold air can’t hold much moisture and it tends to condense on cold surfaces)
If you draught-proof and insulate your home, you must increase controlled ventilation to compensate. It might be time to consider a whole house approach.
To find out more about ventilation, take a look at our free video
Eco-retrofit Webinar – #ventilation – YouTube
Other blogs in this series: