How important is ventilation to you?

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When I have someone to visit I always open a window for ventilation. Does it actually do anything? If it's cold I will shut it but I don't like being in a stuffy room full of people at the best of times.

I find that when I visit my mothers, in laws or grandmas they always have the heating up full whack. No ventilation and it's all hot and stuffy., like they haven't opened a window or door in days. Would an atmosphere like that be a breeding ground for viruses?

It really triggers my daughters allergies in stuffy rooms too!

Would an atmosphere like that be a breeding ground for viruses

Not a breeding ground but more virus particles hanging the air, like cigarette smoke.

The Measles virus for example can infect somone entering a room hours after an infected person has left. Just by the virus particles being airborne. Think of cigarette smoke being inhaled after the smoker has left

Yes ventilation is very important and not just for covid. Its not good to breathe in stale air anyway

Viruses can't replicate on their own, but of course ventilation will help, that's why they keep telling us to open the windows.

Even before covid we have always had windows open all day and night. They were shut once when the temp was -17 and it was truly freezing. This is the kind of reason that poorer families are more at risk health wise overall because they will want to keep heat in. Just as those homes can also become breeding grounds for damp because there is no ventilation.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-ventilation-of-indoor-spaces-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus/ventilation-of-indoor-spaces-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus-covid-19

Thank you! I love opening windows and doors myself even when it's cold 😅

I'm just concerned over the stuffiness in other peoples houses. Not just cos of covid I guess then! I always feel meh after visiting. Felt like there's been no fresh air for days!

My mother has been poorly with a non covid virus and I just felt icky there too!

I used to go a room at work years ago. This room was totally unventilated and the door never left open. A lot people used it. Every single time I left this room I would then have a banging headache. When I stopped going in the room, the headaches disappeared.

I don't have an opening window in the living room, only French doors. It's been far to cold to open those so we've taken our chances.

I try to air the house out as much as I can, but no when people are round I wouldn’t have windows open in winter. I don’t want to have windows open and the heating on at the same time.
I can definitely tell when a room feels musty though and I then throw the windows open for a few hours (radiators off).

Ventilation isn't about keeping doors and windows open constantly. I would think even just 10 or 15 minutes a day would still do a lot of good at airing a room

Or do people have heating on 24 hours a day and never let the temperature drop at all?

I've always been a fan of a well aired house.

We’ve had two rounds of covid here.

First one me and OH. Had a window open in every room. Neither child tested positive.

Second on was DC1. Again kept windows open and DC2 didn’t come down with it.

Of course it could have had no impact at all. Or it could have made all the difference.

All the scientists and building engineers say that ventilation is the most important thing, but as PPs have said, it doesn't necessarily mean having a window constantly open.

I like to open the windows for a bit in the morning every day, I've always done that.
I wouldn't have people round and expect them to sit there shivering with the windows open and the heating off.

Thanks all! My op was more another covid but I know ventilation is good for everything else too! I don't keep my windows or doors open for hours on end but try to open them at different points through the day - mainly my back door as it ventilates both the kitchen and front room!

This time of year (assuming UK) it's not great because if you are heating the house then opening the windows letting all the heat escape, then it's got to warm up from cold all over again.
Especially with the way energy prices are heading.

Love a well aired house. Always looking for opportunities to open windows here (heating off natch)

It's windy here too! So much so that pictures get blown off the walls sometimes. Still doesn't stop me.

I always air at the weekend and given half the chance I'd do the same very day.

I open windows front and back to get a through draught. Have to prop doors open.

Really makes a difference to how the air smells and feels.

Stuffy rooms set off my dust allergy.

@Sparklingbrook

This time of year (assuming UK) it's not great because if you are heating the house then opening the windows letting all the heat escape, then it's got to warm up from cold all over again. Especially with the way energy prices are heading.

This, not to mention older people often feel the cold more keenly and have a greater need to stay warm - so if you're going round your grandma's house for a visit and opening up the windows letting all the heat out, it's not very considerate behaviour.

Germany has really embraced this in a strategy to combat Covid, but on a population level is also already kind of more used to it (opening windows etc is a legally binding thing on a lot of rental agreements there, to keep interiors as well aired as possible).

I remember reading studies that seem to have found that relative humidity has a big influence on the survival of Covid viral elements - more than heat (although again I reckon UV in sunshine has a big influence as well). Damper weather allows the particles to survive and travel further in air. Very dry conditions mean they hardly travel by comparison, but can survive longer on surfaces when they meet them. The studies particularly warned against cold air that had been heated artificially and had humidity stripped out in that way (e.g. inside heating) - this was apparently worse than a lot of air conditioner-controlled surroundings. I think a through draft of fresh air each hour was also thought to be a good thing in weather too cold for a constant open window.

I can understand grandma wanting to
Keep her house warm. Neither my parents or in laws are elderly. I'm concerned as my mum keeps getting ill, but testing negative for covid. I reckon she feels ill all the time due to poor air quality. I don't think I've ever seen my mum open windows. She keeps them locked... DD's allergies get really bad when she visits too!

I keep windows open in the daytime when I'm out at work, not for Covid reasons but to get some fresh air in. I close them when I get home, I'm not sitting around being cold.

I've always hated stuffy rooms that are not properly ventilated. I work from home now but in my previous job it wasn't unusual to go into a shared meeting room and find it horribly stuffy after lots of people had been sitting there for a couple of hours with windows closed.

Between about April and October I always sleep with a window open too. A bit more difficult this time of year when it means the indoor temperature then drops and you need to turn the heating on again though.

I lived in another European country before and blocks of flats for example had a built-in ventilation system to keep the indoor air circulating. It definitely helps prevent damp as well.

I also hate stuffy houses not to do with covid but I just hate being too warm and there being no fresh air, it gives me a headache and makes me feel ill. We sleep with the window open all year round, it’s common practice in some Northern European/ Nordic countries it just seems people like stuffy badly ventilated houses in the UK!

I am essentially in charge of a church building.
I think ventilation is important. And selfishly, I dont want things coming back on me. The congrgation is largely elderly. They are more vulnerable than most.

I'm all for ventilation, hate a stuffy over centrally heated house. You just know when walking into a house whether it ever gets aired or not. I'm a cleaner in other people's houses. When a work I will ventilate every room while I'm working, but by some reactions I get you would think I had just committed murder, just for opening a window. And they aren't even in the room at the time.

I love having windows open. Even pre-covid. Although I fight a constant battle in this house with my husband and daughter who go around closing them all. Although our bedroom window is permanently open. I literally only close it if it's raining sideways.

Luckily I'm now pretty much always working from home, so as soon as husband's gone to work and daughter is at school, I go round opening up all the windows.

Climate change scares me a lot -- covid Not at all. My windows stay closed on cold days.