Why Proper Ventilation Is Important in Your Home

Today's homes are built more airtight than they were back in the day. A well-insulated home with most every gap and crack sealed is prudent for minimizing energy loss and keeping your heating and air conditioning bill low. However, an airtight house can impact your indoor air quality and lead to a buildup of undesirable substances like mold and mildew.

The Importance of Proper Ventilation
Moisture is your home's enemy, and when your house has limited airflow and is sealed tight, moisture tends to condense within your home. Without proper ventilation moisture builds up on your insulation, on your roof, and in your attic, not to mention other areas of your home like your bathroom, garage, and even your crawl space. That's why it is as important to have proper whole house ventilation as it is to have adequate bathroom, attic, garage, and crawl space ventilation.

Additionally, an airtight home means that all particles floating around in your home are unable to escape. In other words, pet dander, mold spores, and dust mites linger only to circulate in your home. This can significantly impact your indoor air quality negatively.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), inadequate ventilation in a home can increase pollutant levels indoors because not enough outdoor air is brought into the home to dilute indoor particles. While some health effects due to indoor pollutants will show up quickly, others may take years to develop.

What You Can Do
Air cleaners are highly effective at particle removing, according to the EPA. But the EPA also indicates that lowering the concentrations in your home of indoor air pollutions through increased ventilation is another effective approach to remove contaminants in your home.

Poor indoor air quality in the home represents an environmental risk -- but it is one that can be curtailed with proper measures, like adequate ventilation.