We all know that the single most essential element for human beings to receive is oxygen. The lack of oxygen in abundance will of course lead to death, but even a small amount of stale air can cause harm to your health, lead to a build-up of pollution or moisture, and have a large impact on you, your family, or your workforce in a number of different ways. Good ventilation is key to ensuring that this doesn’t happen, so here we will look at what exactly ventilation is, and why it is so important.
What does ventilation mean?
Ventilation is described as the provision of fresh air into a room or area, replacing the old stale air with new fresh air. Clean natural air is required to circulate often, as the air in a room can soon become depleted of the highest levels of oxygen. It can also become tainted with smoke, pollution and even bad smells.
Ventilation is needed to regulate temperature and humidity and is also a vital component in industries where machines need a constant supply of oxygen as they work. Such processes as combustion cannot happen without ventilation, and so many others cannot happen safely if your ventilation is not adequate.
The kind of ventilation you require may depend on the kind of building you are in, be it a home, office, or property full of machinery. It will also be affected by the number of people in the space, the kind of work being done, and many other factors. Ventilation means intentionally introducing outside air to an inside space to make sure that the air quality and freshness is up to the necessary standards, and can be achieved in a number of ways.
What is a ventilation example?
Ventilation can mean something as small as opening a window every now and then, or using a mechanical solution to pump air in and out of a building or many levels in between. It is recommended that you ventilate your house daily, even on the coldest days of the year. By opening a window for just five minutes in the winter, you can reduce the pollutants that you are breathing in all day and allow a fresh influx of oxygen. In the summer you can keep your windows open longer if you want and keep a steady flow going.
For other rooms in your home or property, you will often need to do more than open a window to properly ventilate the space. Bathrooms and kitchens, for example, require that you have a good mechanical extraction system to remove smoke, steam, and other contaminated air in good time.
Leaving your bathroom unventilated can lead to a build-up of moisture that can cause structural damage, mould, and bad smells. Leaving your kitchen full of smoke or grease from cooking can likewise cause harm to your building as well as your furnishings, and can be harmful to your health at the same time.
Proper ventilation of these areas, and all areas for that matter, is essential whether you are looking at your family home, a block of apartments or an industrial complex.
What are the different types of ventilation?
There are many different types of ventilation available, and each has a different meaning and method of introducing new air into a room or space. Here we will look at the main types and where they are best utilised:
1. Natural Ventilation
As hinted at above, natural ventilation is where you deliberately use openings like windows and doors to allow airflow into your room or building, making the most of natural occurrences like wind flow to force fresh air inside. This is obviously a cheap and simple solution, but does have its own drawbacks and won’t get the job done in certain areas.
For instance, in the hot weather opening a window may offer a fresh breeze, but in the cold, you can soon lose money on your energy bills by letting all the heat out. It is also not always sufficient to get rid of pollutants like smoke and high levels of moisture when compared to other systems.
2. Mechanical Ventilation
Mechanical systems use fans to get air in or out of rooms and buildings. The kind that you need will depend on the type of building you have, the climate, and many other factors. In general, you can get Supply-only systems, which draw outside air into the house, or Exhaust-only systems, which push indoor air out. You would use the latter in places like the bathroom, and the former to pull in fresh air for the whole building.
It is also possible to get a balanced system that does both at the same time. You can achieve the level of ventilation that you require, have a high amount of control over what is coming in and going out, and properly reduce the pollutants in the air.
On the downside, this is much more costly than natural ventilation, especially when it comes to installation costs. You can, however, have better control of your climate with a mechanical system.
3. Hybrid or Mixed-Mode Ventilation
You can combine mechanical and natural ventilation to create a hybrid system, where you try and get as much real airflow by natural means as you can, and use fans to top up the levels of air coming in and out when it is required.
There are also extra systems you can use for personal preference, or in areas that need an extra boost, to top up or control your current systems. Task-Ambient Conditioning, or TAC, allows you to alter the specifications to suit your requirements. Companies like Ventpro will allow you to have access to your own system if you choose to utilise their expertise. You can remotely access and change or maintain your system with ease.
Conclusion
To Sum Up:
- Ventilation is the introduction of fresh clean air into a room or space and is essential for any building regardless of the use it will be put to.
- Ventilation increases fresh oxygen and removes pollutants like smoke and moisture before they can cause damage to your health or the building.
- There are 3 main types of ventilation: natural, mechanical, and a hybrid of the two.
If you are looking to properly ventilate your home make sure to use a professional and experienced company to get the job done right. Fresh air is critical no matter where you are, so make sure your ventilation system is performing as it should be today.
