ᐅ Proper Ventilation Without Mechanical Ventilation Systems – Possibly Using a Hygrometer

Hi everyone,
Unfortunately, we don’t have a mechanical ventilation system or any other ventilation aids, and since we will be moving in soon, I would like to know the best way to ventilate properly, especially at the beginning.
The principle of fully opening windows for cross-ventilation and never leaving them on tilt is clear.
Would it be useful, for example, to have a hygrometer in each room to know the right time to ventilate?
I’ve also heard that heating should be turned off while ventilating, but how is that supposed to work with underfloor heating?

M4rvin schrieb:

Hi everyone,
Since we don’t have a mechanical ventilation system or any other ventilation aids, and we’re moving in soon, I’d like to know the best way to ventilate properly, especially at the beginning.
The principle of airing out by fully opening windows briefly (shock ventilation) or cross-ventilation, and never leaving windows slightly open, is clear.
Would it make sense, for example, to have a hygrometer in every room to know the right time to ventilate?
I have also heard that the heating should be turned off during ventilation, but how is that supposed to work with underfloor heating?

You’ve already understood everything correctly, except the part about turning off the heating. The heating stays on during ventilation because it’s too slow to react.

An interesting question would be when everyone else turns on their heating to save on heating costs.

Personally, I still have the heating off since the house remains comfortably warm except for the floor, which is probably due to the mechanical ventilation system and the many windows. How is it for you?

M4rvin schrieb:

Unfortunately, we don’t have any mechanical ventilation or other ventilation aids...

Don’t say “unfortunately.”
I completely agree with Zaba12. Follow the right strategy and keep the heating running. If needed, you should turn down the thermostats during the quick airing to prevent the heating from trying to heat up again and making it too warm a few hours later.

So far, we don’t have heating installed yet, we don’t even have electricity, and still need to paint, etc. (But even if we did, we wouldn’t turn the heating on yet.)

It’s more a question of whether to get “smart helpers” or if ventilating based on instinct might be enough.

This is not rocket science.
Place a hygrometer in the living area and then open the windows wide when the humidity approaches around 70%.
But be careful: If you experience the same as we did in our previous rental apartment (also a new build), you’ll go crazy.
We ventilated by fully opening windows between 6 and 10 times a day, and no later than 20 minutes after airing, the humidity was back up to 65%.
On consecutive rainy days, you don’t stand a chance of getting the humidity down to a reasonable level.
We wasted so much time ventilating that I could sing daily praises about our mechanical ventilation with heat recovery—I’m that happy with it.

We had planned a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, but it turned out it unfortunately didn’t fit in.

I’m already familiar with the intensive airing from our (new build) rental apartment; after airing, the humidity level immediately rises back to 80%.