How to keep your apartment free of mold in summer: The best ventilation tips!

How to keep your apartment free of mold in summer: The best ventilation tips!

Proper ventilation is crucial, especially in summer, to keep heat away and prevent mold from forming. Experts recommend only ventilating at times when it is cooler outside than inside, such as early in the morning or late in the evening. Ventilation should not be done through the window that has been tilted for hours, as this hardly ensures effective air exchange. Instead, it is advisable to fully open windows and doors for around 15 to 20 minutes to create a draft. Interior doors should also be opened to improve air circulation and minimize the risk of condensation, which can promote mold.

During the day, it is important to keep windows and doors closed to prevent warm air from entering. An effective way to keep the apartment cool during the day is to darken the windows with shutters, curtains or blinds. In addition, the humidity should be monitored closely; A relative humidity between 55 and 60 percent is considered optimal to avoid mold formation. A digital hygrometer can help to monitor the humidity in the room, emphasized Focus.

Tips for effective ventilation

A lot of moisture quickly builds up, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. These rooms should be ventilated intensively after each use - for example when cooking or showering. Here too, it is advisable to open the windows completely. In bathrooms without windows, the door should also be left open after showering to allow the moist air to escape. Constantly high humidity in these areas should not exceed 70 percent to reduce the risk of mold. You can also get this advice from Federal Environment Agency.

When it comes to bedrooms, they should be ventilated intensively through wide-open windows before going to bed and in the morning. During ventilation, the doors to cooler bedrooms should remain closed to avoid condensation and an increased risk of mold. In living spaces with numerous plants or sources of moisture, regular ventilation is essential to ensure pleasant and healthy indoor air.

Special features for basements and new buildings

In basement rooms, when the air is warm, moisture can condense on cold walls, which can also lead to the formation of mold. Therefore, basement rooms should ideally be ventilated at night or in the cool morning hours, especially in summer. Many older buildings often lack proper sealing of the basement walls, which compounds the problem. In new buildings, increased ventilation is necessary to remove building moisture, while after energy-efficient renovations the ventilation behavior must be adjusted.

The right ventilation technology plays an important role in avoiding mold problems. Constantly tilted windows should be avoided as they not only increase energy consumption, but also increase the risk of condensation and mold formation. Adequate humidity and occasional bursts of fresh air are key to a healthy living environment.