How to Get the Ventilation That You Need in Your House?

Ventilation is one of the basic requirements of a good house. As fresh air is a must to ensure the health of those who live in the house good ventilation is a must. In tropical climes it is not difficult to follow ventilation options when building a house. You can incorporate a lot of windows and they will provide the necessary ventilation with natural wind blowing. In countries where there are harsh winters it is not possible to have many windows in a house

INFILTRATION

We get some fresh air from natural infiltration. This is the amount of fresh air that comes into your house through leaks, and is sometimes shown as house air changes per hour (ACPH). An air-change rate of 0.5 ACPH means that half the house air is changed every hour, or that the amount of fresh air that enters the house every two hours equals the volume of the house. Exfiltration, or the amount of air that exits the house, always equals infiltration — if it didn’t, the house would either implode or explode.

Figure 1 — Infiltration and exfiltration of air in a house

DISTRIBUTION

The fresh air needs to be moved around the house, particularly to rooms with closed doors (such as bedrooms). This distribution usually requires fans and ducting systems. Imagine a two-storey house with all the fresh air infiltrating or being delivered into the basement where the clothes dryer is running. Without distribution, the fresh air would be removed from the house by the clothes dryer before it reached the occupants on the floors above. Only the basement would receive fresh air.

Figure 2 — Distribution of air throughout a house

CIRCULATION

Even if fresh air is introduced to a room, it will often need some help to be circulated to all parts of the room. Rooms with lots of furniture or stored items are susceptible to having under-ventilation in some parts of the room. Fans can help here, too

Figure 3 — Circulation of air in a house

Is Ventilation Necessary?

Ventilation and good air quality are sometimes under-appreciated. If your furnace breaks down in the winter and the house starts getting cold, you will notice that problem within a couple of hours at the most. Insufficient ventilation will generally not be noticed as quickly as it takes time for symptoms, such as stuffy air, to develop.

A good time to check your indoor air quality is when you enter your house, before you get accustomed to the indoor air. Does it have a distinctive odour? Is it fresh and neutral? People moving to a house with good ventilation from a house with bad ventilation will recognize that the indoor air quality in their previous residence was not as good as in their new home.

People need fresh air all the time, but the need for additional ventilation will change. In the middle of winter, when it is very cold or windy outside, the natural air-change rate of the house will be highest and you may not require additional mechanical ventilation.

Once the ventilation is ensured in those places where the air gets contaminated your house will be a better place to live.