Is Poor Ventilation Contributing to High Heating Bills

Is Poor Ventilation Contributing to High Heating Bills

By Ruth MacEachern

Product Manager

Even with small reductions in energy bills on the horizon, it has never been more expensive to heat your home, but did you know that as well as creating a healthier indoor environment, better ventilation can help to improve the energy efficiency of your home and contribute to lower heating costs?

The effects of poor ventilation on heating bills

Whether you use central heating or individual heaters in the different rooms of your home, they will usually be set to increase the temperature to a specific warmth and then shut down. When air isn’t circulating around your property, the temperature in some rooms will increase faster than others, but the heating will continue to operate until the area around the thermostat reaches the target temperature.

In most homes, the air some rooms will heat up faster than some areas. Thermostats are normally placed in a hallway where there might not be a heater, or where staircases can mean warm air is able to rise. This means that the area around your thermostat is often the last place to reach the target temperature in your home and radiators actually heat the house well above the target you have set.

Unnecessarily overheating your property uses more energy, but by simply improving the circulation of air around the home, warmth is more evenly distributed, meaning that the target temperature is reached more quickly in all areas and the heating system does not need to run at higher levels for as long.

Improving air circulation in your home

Most houses will have a combination of natural and mechanical ventilation to help the air circulate, but during the colder months, we often cut off airflow through windows and air vents to prevent heat loss.

Extractor fans in bathrooms and kitchens will expel stale air from humid areas, but they have limited effect elsewhere in your property, however whole house ventilation systems such as Positive Input Ventilation will help air circulate throughout your home.

Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) systems such as EnviroVent ATMOS work by drawing fresh filtered air into your home from outside and then gently distributing this through different rooms in your property. The air from outside pushes humid air out of your home and helps to encourage better airflow that will also help to balance temperatures throughout your home.

The improved airflow between different rooms mean that heaters work more efficiently to reach the overall target temperature and ensure that even temperatures reach your thermostat earlier so the heating system does not need to work for as long, which reduces energy consumption.

Other benefits of improved ventilation

Improving the ventilation in your home doesn’t just help even out temperatures during cold weather. Good ventilation helps to reduce humidity which prevents condensation from forming and creating damp patches where mould can grow.

Improved ventilation creates a healthier home that is less affected by many allergens such as mould spores, dust mite waste products and pollen that can cause problems for younger children and those with respiratory problems.

Find out more

If your home is affected by condensation or mould, or you find that poor air circulation makes your heating system inefficient, please contact us to book a free home survey. Our local ventilation specialists can visit your home to identify the causes of condensation or poor air quality and provide you with advice about the best solutions for you. Simply enter your postcode below to find an expert in your area.