WHY VENTILATE? BECAUSE AIR MATTERS! A Guide To The Importance Of Good Ventilation This is why we do what we do. We are passionate about providing good indoor air quality to everyone. Did you know? 50% of all illnesses are either caused or aggravated by poor indoor air quality. We inhale and exhale approximately 17,000 times a day. By sealing up our homes, we are breathing in a cocktail of contaminants and pollutants consisting of: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) created from the use of aerosols and formaldehydes found in furniture and carpets Carbon monoxide from smoking and combustion appliances Humidity created from cooking, showering, washing and ironing amounting to 16 pints a day in an average family home Mould spores found in household dust Odours from cooking and pets Allergens from house dust mites Carbon dioxide from household appliances and people Hazardous carcinogenic chemicals from indoor drying and fabric softener Because Air Matters The air in your home has a huge impact on your health. The average person spends 90% of their time indoors and 70% in their own home. We are exposed to this environment more than any other, so the air inside it is the air we breathe the most. That air needs to be fresh. But over time, housing has become more and more sealed off from the air outside – through insulation, double glazing, draught- proofing, blocked chimneys and a wealth of other energy-saving measures. These tactics may stop the heat escaping, but they also stop the air from flowing – leading to a stale, humid indoor environment which is filled with a host of contaminants. Rebreathing this air continuously is a recipe for poor health. Are Our Homes Making Us Ill? Indoor air can be up to 50% more polluted than outdoor air. Poor air quality is caused by several factors. First is humidity – the general build-up of moisture created by washing, bathing, cooking and breathing. Then there’s the cocktail of pollutants and contaminants generated by everyday life, like carbon dioxides from appliances, mould spores in household dust and volatile organic compounds in furniture and carpets. The effects of poor air quality on human health are VOCs numerous, Pet Dander including Carbon Monoxide headaches, Moisture fatigue and Mould Spores respiratory Dust Mites illnesses. Odours But they can Radon be graver still. The World Health Organisation has found that a concoction of cancer-causing substances pollutes the air we breathe, killing a staggering six million people each year. Condensation What is condensation and how can EnviroVent help? Typically, the first sign of a condensation problem is waking up to streaming windows, particularly during the winter. Given time, condensation leads to more serious signs – like patches on walls, peeling wallpaper and, eventually, the growth of black mould. Aside from looking and smelling bad, they can damage the fabric of a home and impact health. At EnviroVent, we’ve been working to resolve this exact problem for over 30 years. Our condensation control units lower moisture and reduce condensation on windows – rescuing stale, humid environments with a constant supply of healthy, fresh air. How does condensation form? Have you ever noticed the droplets of water that form on the outside of a canned drink when you take it out of the fridge? That’s condensation, and it’s caused by three things: temperature, air and water vapour. When a cold can is removed from the fridge, it meets room temperature air. The air cools as it touches the can, and its relative humidity increases, causing the water vapour it contains to turn into moisture. Air can’t hold this moisture, so instead it gathers in droplets on the can. This is what happens inside many homes when the temperature drops, especially at night when the heating is turned off. Just like air cooled by the can, the indoor air cools to the point at which it can no longer hold onto to the moisture we create in our homes. It migrates to the coldest surfaces – the windows and walls – where it appears as condensation, or as the more familiar sight of streaming windows. 4.3 Did you know? million According to the World Health Organisation, 4.3 million deaths worldwide were estimated to be caused by household air pollution. 7 Why Ventilate? Because Air Matters! x 900 Did you know? Indoor air may contain over 900 chemicals, particles and biological materials with potential health effects. Did you know? Asthma costs the UK economy around £900 million a year.
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