Blackstone Exteriors

Maintaining good indoor air quality is one of the simplest ways to ensure a safer and healthier home. Tasks like vacuuming dust off surfaces and changing HVAC filters regularly helps prevent airborne contaminants from circulating throughout your home. Investing in an air purifier also allows you to get rid of pollutants from the air you breathe so you and your family can breathe a little easier.

But did you know that opening your windows for just a few minutes also helps a lot? You may take this for granted, but doing this helps improve indoor air quality. Allow us to explain.

Using Windows for Natural Ventilation

We often see windows as home components that bring in copious amounts of sunlight to brighten up your rooms. When closed, they create an airtight environment to insulate your home against extreme outdoor temperatures. This, however, also means that dust, pollen, dander and other allergens remain trapped indoors. There’s also the heightened risk for increased humidity levels, which result in the growth and spread of mold, impacting your home’s indoor air quality even further.

Fortunately, keeping your windows open for at least 30 minutes every day helps get rid of contaminants that cause poor indoor air quality. You can accomplish this by opening two windows in the same room. One window vents the stale indoor air and creates negative pressure, allowing fresh outdoor air to move indoors through the other window. By harnessing natural ventilation, you not only bring in cooling breezes but also push out trapped humidity, improving your home’s indoor air quality.

Best Window Styles for Natural Ventilation

Any window that you can open and close can be used to harness natural ventilation and improve your home’s indoor air quality. However, the following styles are best suited for this purpose:

• Double-hung windows: This window style is effective for small rooms where only a single window can fit. You can open both sashes halfway, creating two openings that vent indoor air out and bring fresh air in at the same time.

• Sliding windows: This window style doesn’t take up space when you open it. More importantly, you can choose to slide them open partially or fully depending on your ventilation needs.

• Casement windows: This window style has hinges that allow you to swing the sash out fully if you want to air out your home. Adjust the sash at an angle and you also get to catch side breezes.

For top-quality replacement windows, turn to Blackstone Exteriors. We offer an extensive collection of windows to fit your lifestyle, from bay and picture windows to double-hung and sliding windows. Call us now at (515) 720-2158, or fill out our contact form to get started.