Winter Ventilation Tips Without Losing Heat
Do you know why so many people get sick in the winter? It’s not solely the blistering cold. It’s also the fact that we spend more time indoors, making it easier for bacteria and viruses to spread through the contaminated air. This means that keeping your home well-ventilated in the winter is important for your health — but how can you do that without losing heat (and thus, your hard-earned money)?
If you want to learn how to retain heat at home without compromising air quality, these winter ventilation tips will keep you warm and help you maintain clean and pure air in the house.
Read our blog, Why is Air Quality Worse in the Winter?
6 Winter Ventilation Tips (While Still Retaining Heat)
You don’t have to play host to all sorts of airborne particles just to stay warm and cozy this winter. Keep reading to learn how to ventilate your home while simultaneously conserving heat.
1. Turn on Your Ceiling Fans
Want to learn how to save on heat, better ventilate your house, and maintain the right temp this winter? Use your ceiling fans!
An important part of ventilation is keeping the air moving. Warm air rises and will just linger there if you let it. A ceiling fan helps to distribute heat better. This means that the warm air will circulate through your home more efficiently, keeping the air flowing and every room more comfortable.
Plus, your thermostat won’t have to work as hard, which means keeping a little more money in your pocket. Bonus!
Should you have a warmer day, consider cracking a window. Because the air circulation will be better since you’ve put your fans to work, it’ll help remove the stale air and bring in some of the fresh air from outside.
2. Replace Your Air Filters
Your air filters have a big job to do. As your HVAC system runs, the filters work hard to trap pollen, dust, and other allergens and particles so that they don’t end up in your home. So, if you don’t replace these filters as needed, they don’t work as efficiently, thus reducing ventilation and also having a harder time filtering out those nasty particles.
Plus, an HVAC system with clogged filters might suffer from a shorter lifespan. There’s a hefty bill you don’t want to deal with!
To maintain ideal ventilation so that your house stays comfortably heated, check your filters and replace them as needed. The schedule will depend on the type of environment you live in (for example, are you in the dusty desert?), whether or not there are pets and smokers in the home, and the type of filter you’re using.
When in doubt, ask your local HVAC professional for advice.
3. Use a HEPA 13 Air Purifier
A medical-grade HEPA 13 filter is the Cadillac of air purification. One of the easiest ways to determine if an air purifier is worth the investment is whether or not it’s using this type of filtration.
In addition, the HEPA filter should work alongside other layers of defense to offer you the best protection possible. For example, the Sans air purifier uses a pre-filter, medical-grade HEPA 13 filter, activated carbon, and UV-C light to tackle pollutants like dust, hair/fur, dander, mold spores, pathogens like viruses and bacteria, and so much more.
Using a purifier doesn’t only clean the air. Because it covers a large square footage, it also helps the air continue circulating around your home.
4. Make Sure All Vents Are Unobstructed
It’s easy to push a couch over a floor vent and not realize it, or shove a chair up against the wall right against the grate.
You can improve the ventilation in your house this winter while maintaining air circulation (and therefore, conserving heat) by simply ensuring that none of the vents are covered or blocked in any way.
5. Use a Humidifier
No, humidifiers are not meant to clean the air. However, they offer an indirect benefit when it comes to improving air ventilation during the winter months. You might notice that when you crank the heater up, your skin, eyes, hair, and sinuses become very dry. Your allergies or other respiratory symptoms could even worsen. This is because heating your home ultimately removes the moisture from it. What you might be left with is dry, stagnant air.
A humidifier will add some moisture back into your home, so your body doesn’t have as hard of a time staying hydrated.
Side note: If you live in a particularly moist climate, then you might want a dehumidifier instead. This technology removes moisture from your home. Excess moisture is risky because it can lead to mold, which can then lead to mold sickness.
Having the proper humidity level in your home is vital — somewhere between 30% and 60%.
Read our blog, Can You Use an Air Purifier and Humidifier Together?
6. Check Your Exhaust Fans
Exhaust fans remove stale air and odors from the inside and vent them to the outside of the home. This is why you’ll often find an exhaust fan over the stove and in bathrooms and laundry rooms — two places in the home where moisture is more prevalent and, thus, mold is likelier to grow.
Read our blog, Does Cooking Produce Air Pollution?
If you notice that any of yours are loud, slow to work, or don’t remove the old air (including moisture), then they might need to be cleaned or replaced.
Wintertime can be tough on the home and body, but thankfully, there are simple things you can do to keep the fresh air flowing, stay cozy, and keep that pesky yearly cold at bay:
- Put your ceiling fans to work.
- Replace your air filters.
- Use an air purifier with a medical-grade HEPA 13 filter.
- Don’t cover or block any of the vents in your home.
- Use a humidifier or dehumidifier.
- Ensure your exhaust fans are running optimally.