7 Reasons ‘Ventilation’ MUST be on Your Home Maintenance Checklist

Being a homeowner is an accomplishment you can be proud of, but hopefully you know the many responsibilities you now have. Maintaining and even improving the property now falls on your shoulders and it’s best to get your yearly maintenance checklist together.

What many homeowners don’t consider are preventive maintenance, of which improving roof ventilation is a very smart goal to set. Not sure what we’re on about. We discuss the ‘why’ and the ‘how’.

Home Ventilation—Why is it Important?

These reasons clearly show why managing ventilation is as important as checking your gutters and keeping an eye out for pests.

Fresh Air

The first reason may seem obvious, but many homeowners don’t realise how stale the air is inside their homes. In order to have oxygen-rich, fresh air inside, you need to expel the stale air and ensure an influx of air from outside.

Modern homes are well-sealed. That’s good news for insulation, keeping you safe and keeping pests out. But there’s a downside too. There’s little chance for air to escape or get in, unless you intentionally create a way for the air-exchange. And that’s where a ventilation system becomes essential!

Comfortable Room Temperatures

In any home there is the chance of the hot, stale air resulting in rooms feeling stuffy, hot and uncomfortable to be in. Room ventilation is an effective option to better manage this, so you can feel more comfortable inside your home.

This is especially valuable in hot climates as you’ll find across Australia. With the sun beating down on your roof and walls, it adds to the possibility of the interior temperatures becoming fairly high. A ventilation system will draw out the hotter air and allow some fresh, cool air in.

Prevent Structural Damage

The benefits of ventilation affect far more than your personal comfort however! For one thing, it’s essential in order to ensure the structures on your property don’t deteriorate over time.

Along with air inside a home being stale and hot, there can also be a high moisture ratio. Areas of your home can even be damp, which carries the risk of mould starting to grow.

Just think about the moisture the following creates on a daily basis:

• Hot showers that create steam
• Steam from cooking in the kitchen
• Condensation on windows and walls, especially during colder months

And over time, all this moisture can start damaging a home’s basic structure.

Installing a ventilation system, and maintaining it, is one way to efficiently manage the moisture levels in your home. It can expel moist air, and therefore lower the moisture levels inside.

Maintain Healthy Living Environment

In addition, high moisture levels and damp walls along with high temperatures can quickly result in mould and mildew. These are known to impact people’s health, such as causing allergic reactions. You can prevent this by initiating good ventilation that helps dry out the air.

Less Need of Air Conditioning System

Of course, there are various ways of managing the interior atmosphere of your home. Some people will invest in dehumidifiers and an air conditioning system can also help a hot room feel more comfortable. However, these require electricity to work.

When you have a ventilation system in place, there’s much less need for an HVAC, or even none at all. Thanks to proper room ventilation, this equipment will definitely not have to work as hard to manage interior temperatures, so you’ll save money on utility costs.

Save Money

Installing a ventilation system may require some capital investment, but as mentioned, you’ll be saving in other areas. This is how a quality ventilation system pays for itself!

Enjoy the Smell

Lastly, moisture inside can even lead to a musty odour, especially in bathrooms or laundry rooms. A ventilation system provides, cleaner, better-smelling air. That’s how you can create a more welcoming home, where everyone can take a deep breath and enjoy!

How to Improve Ventilation in Your Home

So, it’s clear that you need to manage the flow of air on your residential property. Obvious ways to do this is to open a window and even switch on a fan. But you don’t want to do that during cold winter days. Also, opening up windows could cause other problems, such as letting in pesky flies and other insects.

This is why home ventilation becomes a maintenance issue you should prioritise. Thanks to innovation in the industry, you can now obtain efficient home ventilation systems that will initiate and handle the flow of air on your behalf.

Some examples of what’s available on today’s market:

• Whole house fans that pull cool air from the outdoors into the interior, while pushing the hotter, stale air outside using vents and cavities in the roof.
• Ventilation systems installed in your roof, with a fan that runs quiet but efficiently helps with ventilation. Systems help to remove both heat and moisture from inside your home.
• Solar ventilation systems that won’t use power from the grid to help manage your interior atmosphere—all powered by the sun!

When obtaining yours from a reputable supplier and installer, the system will work for a long time. But, do maintain yours to ensure optimal functionality.

Final Thoughts

Home maintenance and improvement doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Simply schedule reminders to check your roof, gutters and now also your ventilation system so you know they stay in good shape.

Neglecting tasks like these can clearly have a detrimental effect on your household or your property, so use the information above to be a smarter, responsible homeowner from now on.