Who Knew? Fresh Air Stops Damp

[irc]

My old mum called it airing the house. Apparently it is the German art of luften.



.", I came across a post by Kirstie Allsopp on X, praising something called lüften for curing mould problems. In a post on X, presenter Kirstie Allsopp encouraged homeowners to open their windows as a way to tackle mould

Allsopp explained that this German tradition of opening all the windows in your house every day (no matter how cold it is), for five minutes, stops mould in its tracks. "

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/interiors/home/luften-...

[Silvanus]

I though the basics of this was known by anyone with the faintest amount of common sense. Then again I've seen the results of properties where ventilation was stoped in every way, other than the occasional opening of an entrance door.

[essayer]

Nobody wants huge energy bills either, so I understand why draughts get blocked up and vents remain closed.

Seems to be a wider issue with house construction that forces people to behave a certain way

[hidetheelephants]

It will end with there being a mandatory requirement for rental property having MHVR, the average tenant is apparently incapable of following simple instructions so it will be legislated for.

[Mabbs9]

essayer said:

Nobody wants huge energy bills either, so I understand why draughts get blocked up and vents remain closed.

Seems to be a wider issue with house construction that forces people to behave a certain way

I feel the wider issue is physics.

[remedy]

And some people still think PIVs do nothing

[Earthdweller]

No st Sherlock!

Grew up with open windows, now have a wife that opens windows all year round

Yesterday she was cleaning and had front and rear doors open and every window

We certainly aren't hermetically sealed here

[Square Leg]

Every window in my house has the trickle vent open permanently.

[robemcdonald]

[snuffy]

Silvanus said:

I though the basics of this was known by anyone with the faintest amount of common sense. Then again I've seen the results of properties where ventilation was stoped in every way, other than the occasional opening of an entrance door.

Indeed. Because the Government has told everyone to stop all air because "insulation".

[Hereward]

Silvanus said:

I though the basics of this was known by anyone with the faintest amount of common sense...

It is. The issue is that at least 50% of the population are utterly clueless.

[grumbledoak]

The legions of clueless are the reason we have trickle vents, which ruin the noise proofiing you would otherwise get from your double glazing.

Far better to open all the windows for a short period once a day, then close them again before the walls lose their stored heat.

Maybe the introduction of a German name will help stop the rot. But I doubt it. Powered PIV mandates next.

[Mastodon2]

Stoßlüften is a bit different to having a window open here or there. I do once or twice a day, open everything wide and really let the air out and bring fresh air in. Generally I'll always have the windows locked slightly open when I'm in the house, even in winter. Not very 'green' but boo hoo, I suppose.

Maybe I'm sensitive to stuffy conditions but when I go in people's house and they've got the heating on and all the windows completely shut it just seems so stuffy and stale. Even worse when they smoke or vape in said conditions.

[remedy]

I've got one of Rob's (above) PIVs.
No need to do any of that with scheduling to open windows. Just lovely fresh air constantly pumped into the house.

I love waking in the morning to fresh air, rather than nasty, stale, morning breath, sweaty air.

And it improves health.

[wombleh]

Square Leg said:

Every window in my house has the trickle vent open permanently.

Same in ours but that’s not enough to keep the humidity down here.

I thought this was called shock ventilation, open the windows long enough to let the damp out, but not so long that the building fabric cools much so stays warm inside. Very common in Germany, could do with it being a bit more common knowledge here.

[irc]

wombleh said:

Same in ours but that’s not enough to keep the humidity down here.

I thought this was called shock ventilation, open the windows long enough to let the damp out, but not so long that the building fabric cools much so stays warm inside. Very common in Germany, could do with it being a bit more common knowledge here.

It is what we do during the cold half of the year. Just common sense I would have thought. We have a humidity/thermometer on the bedroom wall so we can see when humidity has fallen. At least 30 minutes wide open every morning.

Who cares if you lose heat?

Likewise if we have clothes on an airer indoor we run a dehumidifier.

Just a pity energy costs are so high some people are frightened of anything they perceive might increase them and not aware of the drawbacks of a humid atmosphere.

[oyster]

snuffy said:

Silvanus said:

I though the basics of this was known by anyone with the faintest amount of common sense. Then again I've seen the results of properties where ventilation was stoped in every way, other than the occasional opening of an entrance door.

Indeed. Because the Government has told everyone to stop all air because "insulation".

The Government have told people not to air their homes?

Really?


amongst all the things I dislike this and the previous government for, I don't recall such a message.
Are you sure?

[cptsideways]

If anyone has stayed in a modern Premier Inn with the non opening windows you'll be familiar with the whiff/stench and annoying whirr of the piv motor in the room. Dreadful system, the rumbling fan will keep you awake all night & there's no getting away from that O'dePurple. At least you can turn the fan off at the isolater behind the ceiling tiles and suffer in silence.

[OutInTheShed]

irc said:

wombleh said:

Same in ours but that’s not enough to keep the humidity down here.

I thought this was called shock ventilation, open the windows long enough to let the damp out, but not so long that the building fabric cools much so stays warm inside. Very common in Germany, could do with it being a bit more common knowledge here.

It is what we do during the cold half of the year. Just common sense I would have thought. We have a humidity/thermometer on the bedroom wall so we can see when humidity has fallen. At least 30 minutes wide open every morning.

Who cares if you lose heat?

Likewise if we have clothes on an airer indoor we run a dehumidifier.

Just a pity energy costs are so high some people are frightened of anything they perceive might increase them and not aware of the drawbacks of a humid atmosphere.

Depends where you are in Germany, but where I lived, it was cold and dry outside.
Changing the air for cold fresh air would get rid of a lot more water vapour than it would in Devon.
I never noticed krauts being particularly frugal? How does their enrgy use per person look compared to UK? Nearly as wasteful as the canadians?

Here, it works well to open some windows in the morning, get rid of the humidity from showering etc, the house will often gain heat from the sun.
Changing the air once gets the air dry, but that's NBG if the issue is water that's absorbed into furnishings etc, or there's a continuing source of water.

Clickbait one-liner 'solutions' are of limited value, you need to understand the real issues of ventilation and/or dehumidification being needed, but costing significant money in energy and/or capital costs.

There's a lot to be said for eliminating sources of humidity, decent extraction over showers and cookers etc.

[b14]

oyster said:

The Government have told people not to air their homes?

Really?


amongst all the things I dislike this and the previous government for, I don't recall such a message.
Are you sure?

Agree - in fact, building regs currently require that, when you replace all your windows, they must come with trickle vents (unless you have MHVR)....