Air your home – Five useful tips for the winter season (Focus online)

Ventilation is always good, but in winter it is even more important because fresh air also prevents the growth of mold. However, you have to learn to ventilate your house properly since you may end up doing some wrong things with it.

In winter, it is particularly important your apartment or your house be properly ventilated for fresh air absorbs more moisture than any heat in the room – and ventilation protects against mildew.

Those who have no ventilation system which automatically controls the process can follow the following recommendations:

- You should air your apartment or house at least twice a day; you should be opening the windows even three times a day in your kitchen, bathroom and bedroom where more moisture is generated or collected overnight.

- Open the windows completely: if you keep the windows tilted for a long time, the rooms and maybe even the walls will cool down – this causes higher heating costs. In addition, the air which is exchanged only through a tilted window is not sufficient. Therefore it is recommended to open opposite windows completely. The association Fenster+Fassade recommends, if possible, to ventilate through various floors – and to open the skylight. Then the warm air would move upward by the natural chimney effect and eventually leave your home.

- At least five minutes: the association Fenster+Fassade lays down the following rule of thumb: if outside the temperature has gone down below zero, the windows should remain open for five minutes. At temperatures of up to ten degrees, the windows should remain open for approximately 10 minutes. If it gets even warmer during the heating season, then the windows should stay open for about 15 minutes and this procedure should be repeated a few times per day.

- Pay attention to humidity: if humidity exceeds 60 percent in your living room, this means that the room should be aired. You can easily measure this value by using a so-called hygrometer, which is available at any do-it-yourself store.

- Heated living spaces evenly: if temperature in the room does not go below 20 degrees, you can easily get rid of humidity by simply ventilating it. Warm air can indeed absorb and take out humidity easier than cold air does.