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Creating a healthy indoor climate

We spend most of our life indoors, which is about 80%. However, having a healthy indoor climate at work and home is not self-evident, while it does contribute to productivity and absenteeism.

The effects of poor ventilation

In this article, we explain the effects of poor ventilation, and we will help you create a healthy indoor climate yourself. Poor ventilation at home or work can lead to major consequences. The place where you spend most of your time, can get ‘sick’. You may have to deal with moisture problems and fungi on the walls and ceilings.

As mentioned, we spend about 80% of our time indoors. This means that we inhale and exhale most of the day indoors. By doing so, the healthy oxygenated air present inside will be replaced with polluted air. On top of that, the humidity increases after, for example, taking a shower.

So, when it is not properly ventilated, the moisture will get the chance to spread quickly. The humid air does not get discharged. Hence, you will often come across mould spots in the bathroom.

In addition to the mould and moisture problems you will also have an increased risk of CO poisoning with poor ventilation. Poor ventilation in combination with a poorly performing heating system may be the cause of this. Thus, ensure that you measure your air quality well and install a CO detector.

The importance of proper ventilation

We can all imagine that ventilating well is important, but why exactly? If a workplace does not get sufficiently ventilated, you can experience the following: concentration problems, respiratory problems, asthma, headaches, and irritation to the eyes/skin. Furthermore, absenteeism is remarkably higher as well.

For example, as an owner of an office building, it is therefore crucial to ensure proper ventilation. Especially since this contributes to employee productivity and the absenteeism will be remarkably lower as well. For that reason, investing in appropriate ventilation is a real investment because people will be able to perform better.

What is a healthy indoor climate?

A healthy indoor climate is different for everyone. Factors such as temperature, air humidity, and fresh air, define the indoor environment. Some people are always hot and preferably work in a colder space. However, other people would preferably work in a warmer environment. Therefore, the ideal indoor climate is hard to describe, but overall is the most comfortable indoor climate between 18 and 24 degrees and an air humidity rate between 50 and 60%.

A space where physical labour is provided, the gym for instance, naturally requires a different indoor climate than a home.

How do I maintain a healthy indoor climate?

There are many ways to take care of a healthy indoor climate, but we highlight some that work well.

Check the ventilation
Is the ventilation system on and does it actually work as well? That is very important. A continuous flow of fresh air has, as mentioned, many advantages. If you have doubts about whether the ventilation works well? You are always able to check this with an air quality meter.

Maintain the ventilation system
If you have a ventilation system, it is of the essence to maintain this properly. In this way, you prevent air pollution. Our advice is to let this professionally be maintained periodically. A mechanic will look during the maintenance to see if the system still functions in the right way and will adjust everything well again.

Clean vents
A ventilation system makes sure that the outside air is clean when it gets blown into the inner space. The polluted air will then be ducted outside again. While ventilating, dust particles stay behind in the vents. These particles attract viruses, fungi, and bacteria. When the air gets transported through the channels, these particles will then be scattered through the house again. Hence, we advise cleaning the events every 6 years.

Install the appropriate filters
A directive to choose the appropriate filter, has been developed by Eurovent. For different spaces Eurovent has a guideline for the minimum efficiency a filter needs to reach. In other words, what percentage of the particular matter does the filter need to capture. Depending on the outdoor air quality and the desired indoor climate, a decision can therein be made. In the blog ‘Air filter selection’,  the guideline from Eurovent is fully elaborated.

Written by Marleen
Customer Sales Support at TOPS Luchtfilters

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