Heating and ventilating incorrectly impairs the indoor climate and leads to heating bills mounting up. And that is by no means everything: When air and surface moisture is too high and room temperatures are too low, the risk of mould formation increases. Therefore, tips for correctly heating and ventilating your home have been compiled in the last part of our series – including our recommendations for professional comfort dehumidifiers in the TTK series from Trotec.
Ventilating correctly – this is how it works
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Ventilate bedrooms particularly thoroughly
Ideally, you should sleep with the window open or ajar at night, since the biggest air exchange occurs then. If it is too cold for you, particularly in winter, you should carry out intensive intermittent ventilation with the window wide open.
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Ventilate living rooms regularly
You should also ventilate the living room regularly to remove moisture. Particularly if there are plants or other sources of moisture, for example laundry or indoor fountains. Intermittent ventilation should be carried out at the latest when you see water drops on the window panes.
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Adhere to special rules in the kitchen and bathroom
A large amount of moisture accumulates in a short time in these rooms due to their intended purpose. It is best to remove the “moisture peaks” after showering, bathing and cooking immediately afterwards through thorough window ventilation. When doing this, you should close the bathroom or kitchen door, otherwise the moisture and odours will spread through the whole flat. Also, when in the bathroom after showering, think about wiping the water from the walls and floor.
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Ventilate the basement on summer nights
Do not ventilate the basement during the day in the summer months, but rather at night or during the early hours of the morning. In winter, the basement can be ventilated at any time of day. Why is this the case? Because the external walls of basements are also relatively cold in summer. As a result, air moisture settles on the cold basement wall and condenses when warm air enters the basement – ideal conditions for mould.
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Intermittently ventilate correctly
Correct intermittent ventilation works best when interior doors are open. This way, you increase air exchange. If possible, open the windows on the opposite façade too to generate particularly effective draught ventilation. It is better to keep doors leading to less heated rooms closed.
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Do not keep windows permanently ajar
During the day, you should close the windows in the bedroom that have been ajar overnight. It is best to turn down the heating at night in order to keep energy consumption under control.
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Remove building moisture with intensive ventilation
Building moisture enters the building both during construction and after renovations, for example through plaster and screed work. This moisture must be eliminated from the building by ventilating all rooms thoroughly – this normally takes 1 to 2 years in new buildings. Unfortunately, you will have to allow for higher heating costs during this period.
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Check the ventilation habits after renovation
Renovation may lead to a new, critical moisture situation in the flat. For example, when the windows are replaced, but the external wall is still not thermally insulated. In this instance, ventilation habits must be adjusted and ventilation should be carried out more often or for a longer period.
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Drying laundry in the flat
If possible, laundry should not be dried inside the flat. If this is unavoidable, for example because there are no drying areas or drying rooms, intensive ventilation must be carried out: For this period, position a window on tilt, keep the room door closed and do not turn off the heating.
Heat correctly – this is how it works
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Avoid temperature fluctuations when heating
The bigger the temperature differences inside of a flat, the greater the risk of moisture damage. All rooms, even ones that are either rarely or not used day-to-day, should therefore never be totally cooled down. Furthermore, the temperature should be lowered moderately – that means do not turn back the thermostats on radiators by more than one or two scale points.
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Do not set the heating too high
Radiators set to level 3 no longer heat up and the room temperature then lies generally between 20 and 21 degrees. On level 5, on the other hand, the radiator warms the room further – that increases the consumption of energy by approx. six percent for every extra degree. In living and dining rooms, a room temperature of 20 degrees is sufficient. In playrooms and studies, it should be maximum 22 degrees, whereas in bedrooms 16 to 18 degrees is sufficient.
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Reduce the night-time temperature by only two degrees
At night, the temperature should only drop by a maximum of two degrees. This also saves money because when you turn the heating down any more, the flat cools down and has to be reheated with a higher energy consumption during the day.
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Flat should not be colder than 16 degrees
The flat temperature should not fall below a base temperature of 16 degrees in any case, because otherwise the moisture in the air precipitates onto walls and objects – subsequently encouraging the formation of mould there.
Professional dehumidification – this is how it works
Use the easiest and most convenient option for reducing excessive humidity – the professional dehumidifiers from Trotec. Our company has the largest selection of dehumidifiers in the world – and among the TTK series comfort dehumidifiers, you are sure to find the right model to fit your needs.
- With a Trotec comfort dehumidifier, you can effectively prevent damages like mould and improve your personal feel-good atmosphere for the long run.
- Portable, quiet, practical and elegant – a TTK series comfort dehumidifier can simply be set up and activated, and your rooms are kept permanently dry.
- Thanks to their mobility and compact dimensions, our devices can also be used flexibly outside of living areas, for example for dehumidification in wine cellars, storage and laundry rooms, laboratories and workshops.
- Benefit from an exceptional price-performance ratio with every dehumidifier from the market-leading makers of Home Comfort products.
