Understanding Natural Ventilation in a Home

by Isa Stralian

Two things to note

fresh air/oxygen is essential to ‘well being’
‘In the land of the blind the one eyed is king’

Ventilation is not about copious quantities of air being pushed about as one would expect in a mining tunnel.
Natural ventilation is about removing and replacing the right quantity and quality of air without mechanical assistance so as to maintain natural and healthy comfort levels.

Public perception

Insulation is touted by state governments as the answer to achieve the best comfort levels.
Homes began being built with a tight or sealed envelope and ventilation as an essential consideration was pushed to the side.
Insulation was to be the saviour of the era.

When the cost of cooling and heating started to rise the public began to focus on reducing the future cost of maintaining comfort levels.
A distorted narrative is borne with marketing companies promoting product advantages with the public unaware of the corresponding disadvantages.

Insulation

One example is insulation, in the day where R3 insulation on your ceilings was touted to be the product to use to combat summer heat.
R3, that is 3 hours being the resistance time before saturation.
What they didn’t tell you is that it takes 3 hours, or longer, for the insulation to shed it’s load.
This means that in the summer the house would stay warmer well into the evening even when it’s cooler outside.

Air conditioning

The present day level of ignorance regarding home air conditioning is phenomenal.
The average consumer is totally unaware that refrigerated air conditioning does not have a fresh air replacement cycle.
It just circulates the same volume ending up with higher CO2 levels and less oxygen.

Build

‘build up’ where upper level builds and extensions to acquire more living area.
The home owner underestimating the cost of maintaining comfort levels in the area.
Unbearably hot in summer and in need of air almost continuous conditioning with the associated running costs.
A builder builds according to client(s) requirements.
However if the client is unaware of the corresponding disadvantages of their choices, it is not the responsibility of the builder to be aware and or advise of such.

Poor Oversight

And the list goes on with government departments pushing builders to the edge with irrational building standards and accept no responsibility for negative outcomes.
Standards that increase the cost of the build with no proven advantage underscored by unsubstantiated opinion emanating from self serving industries and ignorant governments.

Every advantage has a corresponding disadvantage!