The corona crisis has a major impact on our daily lives. We try to stay at home as much as possible to limit the crisis. We work from home as much as possible and most children are also at home a lot. We spend a large part of the day at home with the whole family (including pets). What impact does that have on the air quality in our house? How do we ensure a healthy and pleasant indoor climate?
Why do we need good ventilation?
In a house where several people are inside at the same time, it is important to ventilate the house well, otherwise we all live in each other's exhaled air. In these times when we are plagued by the coronavirus, it is extra important to ensure a healthy indoor climate. Namely, the coronavirus can be spread by air. Virus particles can enter the air through coughing or sneezing. These virus particles can then be transmitted by air to other persons in the family. It is therefore very important to ensure a well-ventilated home.
With Mechanical ventilation
Do you have a mechanical ventilation system in your house? Mechanical ventilation exhausts polluted air. It is therefore smart to set your ventilation system to a higher setting during these times than you are normally used to, especially if you are indoors with the whole family. If you go outside for a walk, you can lower the setting, but make sure you never turn off the system.
Provide 24/7 ventilation of the home. When coughing or sneezing, small virus particles can get into the air. This can descend on surfaces, such as the kitchen top, the dining table or the sofa, or remain floating in the air. It is important that these virus particles are extracted as quickly as possible. Now that we are more at home, the system must be turned up to ensure a fresh and healthy indoor climate. In addition, with mechanical ventilation it is also important to ensure an adequate supply of fresh outside air. You can do this by opening the windows more often or at least keeping the window grilles open at all times. Note: opening the windows does not apply to the toilet! With a mechanical ventilation system, the windows in the toilets must be closed to extract air from the room. This prevents other rooms in the house from being contaminated by the wrong direction of the air flow.
A heat recovery unit
Do you have a heat recovery unit at home? A heat recovery unit is a fan in which polluted air is extracted and clean air is supplied, using heat recovery. So little heat is lost when extracting the polluted air and that saves energy costs.
It is also important for a heat recovery unit to set the ventilation system to a higher setting. This way your home is continuously well ventilated at a high speed. Contaminated air, including possible virus particles, is quickly sucked up and exchanged for fresh outdoor air.
With a heat recovery unit it is not necessary to open additional windows, because the system already provides clean fresh air. On the other hand, it does not hurt, of course, especially when the weather is great. In short, now that we spend more time in our house, it is extra important to ensure a good indoor climate.
What can I do myself?
Set your ventilation system to a higher setting!
It comes down to:
• Maximize the fresh air supply
• Minimize air recirculation
• Check whether the use of filters and other air-cleaning devices makes sense