You cant see it in the air, but you can sense it. It will condense on a cold surface, a perfect breathing ground for mould to grow.

The air we Breathe

You have heard the saying “you are what you eat” well the same can be said for the air you breathe. You are consuming air to function, be it good clean air or poor dirty air. If you take in dirty air your body has to the filter and process all the bad elements before it can use it.  Would you drink a glass of dirty water with bits floating in it? No!  So why use dirty air. 

When you go outside you take in air that can be cleaner with less pollutants. The co2 level should be around 420 parts per million and and pollutants are well diluted. Now when you move inside the air in this confined space can become very polluted if no form of ventilation is provided. Because we are breathing out Co2, moisture and other elements, the house may have other contaminants itself, chemicals from furniture and fittings, dangerous particles from cooking, and the list goes on.

This is particularly important in apartments due to the number of dwellings together and the showering, washing, drying, cooking and the number of people together.

The fix is easy!   Open the windows and let fresh air blow through.  Yes we should, but this is not alway possible. Close the windows and the air very quickly becomes like that glass of water.

Apartments should have some form of ventilation, extractor fans in the utility, kitchen and bathrooms together with vents in the windows or walls to allow fresh air in.  This is a minimum and will not alway remove the bad air.

Below are some practical ways to improve the air in your home. 

Ok, so you find yourself in this situation. what can you do?

Well you can open windows, this will help somewhat , but unless the wind blows you will not get a pressure flow within the house to cause the air to change. You will get some pouring effect though the windows and some natural convection. But its not enough.

If you live in a relatively new home you will have grills on the walls. These suffer form the same effect at above and they are called “Hit and miss” vents.