At Simply Air Conditioning London, customers concerned about home air ventilation system often contact us so we decided to produce an article to give an overview on the importance of proper home ventilation. We show how a home ventilation system can preserve your building and improve the quality of the air inside the home.

Why Air Ventilation is Needed

All houses need ventilation, which, means outdoor air is exchanged with indoor air to reduce pollutants, moisture and gases. Air pollution is more common than people think and contaminants in air such as formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, and radon gas are all responsible for health problems if proper ventilation is absent from a home. Inadequate ventilation causes a build up of pollutants and can allow unpleasant odours to build up and toxic vapours to stagnate. Moisture build up in the atmosphere causes black mould, which is an irritant and dangerous to health especially for asthmatics and allergy sufferers. Moisture needs to be removed from the internal air in a property to avoid dampness and risk to structural integrity.

The standards for ventilation rates in living areas should be at least 15 cubic feet per minute, per person. Usually, air flows into a building through holes, cracks, doors, and windows. These days, flinging open the widows to allow fresh air to circulate in the home is not as common as it used to be, no doubt because with energy costs being so high, people are reluctant for their expensive centrally heated air to escape from the home and who can blame them. Before central heating was commonplace, there is no doubt people were hardier and fresh air was considered to be important for health and for the home. Today’s homes therefore are at the mercy of infiltration

Unfortunately, infiltration rates are unpredictable and difficult to control. The rate of infiltration of unwelcome pollutants varies depending on wind factor, outside temperature and how well the house is sealed. In fact, the very things that were designed to make our homes efficient and heat retaining such as double-glazing also make ventilation insufficient in many cases. Equally, the less well sealed home is open to unwelcome infiltration of polluted air especially in cities or industrialised areas.

Ventilation Systems

A whole house ventilation system uses one or possibly more fans and duct systems to exchange old, stale air for fresh filtered air. Experts in the home energy field have a saying which is “seal tight, ventilate right”. The result of doing so can be much lower energy bills and greatly improved air quality.

Spot Ventilation

The use of cooker hoods and bathroom exhaust fans is known as “spot” ventilation and they can be a very important method in quickly removing moisture and smells right where it is generated. It can be a very important tool for improving air quality and keeping the home fresh. This type of ventilation should always be present in every home regardless.

Whole House Air Ventilation

Even if there is spot ventilation in obvious areas, the decision to install a whole house ventilation system should be considered, especially if the home is showing signs of dampness, mould, or allergy sufferers are resident. There are many different kinds of whole home ventilation systems and we can guide you on the best solution for your particular house meaning you will have a bespoke system tailored to your specific needs at an affordable price. Our engineers are fully accredited and are experts in this type of system installation. We will do a complete no obligation survey and give you a proper quotation that will include components, all labour, and a guaranteed installation time.

Depending on your individual house type, one of several different system types is installed. Air will be forced mechanically from the home to the outside classified as exhaust ventilation. Balanced ventilation is where equal amounts of airflow into or out of the home and supply ventilation constantly supplies fresh air into the home.

Modern houses tend to have more bathrooms or even wet rooms adding to the moisture issue. Rather than individual spot extraction of air from these rooms, it may be more economical to install a central extraction ventilation unit rather than have several in different rooms. A system of this type involves only one vent to be connected to the exterior of the building. The connection can be made through a wall or the roof. Only one electrical connection is required so there are energy savings to be made as well.

Do you want to know more about air ventilation system? Contact us now!