Advice about ventilation in the workplace and classroom says: “It is important to ventilate to minimize the risk of mold” – but is that the only truth?
It's important to air out, even if it's cold outside. In winter, there's a greater risk of moisture damage if you don't air out. That's true, but there's more to the story.
Proper ventilation in the workplace and classroom is essential – and here we are not just talking about creating drafts.
The recommendations are: Air out more than 2-3 times a day with a draft for 5-10 minutes, i.e. with at least two opposite openings - this will not affect the heating bill.
Why doesn't drafts affect the heating bill?
When a draft is created, the air is replaced and in winter it is colder air. The short interval means that only the air is cooled down – not the walls or the interior. If you only open a window ajar or have a draft for too long – you cool down the walls and the interior! This affects the heating bill, because extra energy has to be used to heat the walls and the interior again.
But the wrong way to ventilate doesn't just increase your heating bill - it also increases the risk of mold!
When can ventilation pose a risk of mold?
In winter, there is a big contrast between the temperature of the outdoor air and the indoor air. If you air out incorrectly – i.e. leave the air drafts for too long or leave the window ajar – condensation forms, which increases the risk of mold.
Therefore, we can conclude that you must remember to ventilate the room with a draft to avoid mold - but you must also remember to close the window in time.
Our experience at ÅBN is that it is firstly difficult to know when it is time to air out, and secondly to know when sufficient air has been aired out.
Fortunately, we have created a solution for this, which we call " SKYEN ". SKYEN is an intuitive plug-and-play solution that measures the indoor climate and lights up blue when the indoor climate is good, and changes to red when the indoor climate is bad.
Curious about more knowledge about indoor climate?
Would you like to read more about how to properly ventilate the office? You can read our blog post about ventilating the office here.
How do you handle sitting in a listed building without ventilation - and at the same time maintain a good indoor climate? This is a situation that we found ourselves in, and you can read how we dealt with it right here: the indoor climate in an office in a listed building.
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