Air out your home for 10 minutes a day – it's good for your health and comfort! But how can you do this without completely cooling down your home?
Damp, mould, unpleasant odours and pollutants: these are all things you'd rather avoid in your home. Fortunately, there's a simple solution. Air out for 10 minutes a day and the indoor air quality will improve significantly.
By airing:
- You eliminate pollutants (solvents, glue, etc.)
- You combat tobacco pollution
- You eliminate odours
- You remove CO2 (produced by breathing and combustion)
- You increase the oxygen content
- You reduce the humidity level
Dry air: an ally of heating
Dry air is easier and quicker to heat than humid air. By removing humidity (water vapour from the shower, kitchen, breathing) during these 10 minutes, you actually make your heating more efficient for the rest of the day.
Air out or ventilate?
Air out and ventilate are not the same thing. Air out means opening windows or doors wide. You do this temporarily, preferably daily or when necessary.
Ventilating involves continuously renewing the air. This is done 24 hours a day, for example via a ventilation system. Nowadays, windows are often equipped with adjustable ventilation grilles to control the air flow.
10 minutes is enough
5 to 10 minutes is more than enough to achieve healthy indoor air if you open the windows wide. This way, only the air cools down and the room returns to its initial temperature in a few minutes.
Do not leave a window open all day. This is not effective, as the walls also cool down. As a result, heating the room becomes more difficult and more expensive.
Turn off your radiators to save energy
Turn off your radiators just before airing out your home. If you leave the heating on, your radiators will detect the arrival of cold air and heat at full power to compensate. This heat will escape directly through the window, which is a pure waste of energy.
If you have underfloor heating: As this system has very high inertia, turning it off for 10 minutes will not change its consumption. You can leave it as it is.
Before 10:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.
The air outside is less polluted before 10:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. It is therefore best to ventilate your home at these times. If possible, avoid opening windows that face the street.
Do not worry about pollution. Studies have shown that the air in offices and homes is generally more polluted than the air outside.
Priority to the kitchen and bathroom
The kitchen and bathroom are the rooms that benefit most from good ventilation. These rooms are the most critical because they generate immediate and massive pollution:
- Humidity (water vapour): A shower or a pot of boiling water releases litres of water in the form of steam. Without rapid extraction, this moisture condenses on cold walls, causing mould and damage (peeling paint, blackened joints).
- Odours and pollutants: The kitchen releases suspended grease and combustion gases (if you cook with gas), while the bathroom requires air renewal for overall hygiene.
Next: bedrooms
Bedrooms come next, for 2 reasons:
- Night-time confinement: We spend around eight hours at a stretch in our bedrooms. When we sleep, we exhale CO2 and water vapour.
- Sleep quality: Excessive CO2 levels in a poorly ventilated bedroom cause headaches upon waking and a feeling of fatigue. This is also where pollutants such as VOCs (volatile organic compounds) from furniture or mattresses are often found.
In other rooms, air generally circulates well. It is therefore less important to ventilate them regularly, unless you have a humidity problem.