Less is More: Why Purge Ventilation Works Better for Homes

When people first hear about AirEx Floorvent, they sometimes assume that by closing vents it reduces the amount of ventilation a home receives. After all, the system is designed to shut when conditions are unfavourable, so surely that means less airflow? In reality, the opposite is true. Floorvent doesn’t reduce ventilation, it makes it smarter, more effective and far more energy efficient.

Over the past few months, Richard Kemp-Harper, Chief Strategy Officer at AirEx, has published a five-part blog series exploring how better ventilation can protect residents, cut costs for landlords, and safeguard housing stock.

The series, Smarter Ventilation in Social Housing: Monitor, Detect and Respond, argues that ventilation has too often been “the missing link” in retrofit policy and practice; a view increasingly shared by housing providers under pressure to eliminate damp and mould.

Language is interesting, isn’t it?

Take the words we use for housing as a prime example. We talk about bricks and mortar, fixed assets, how an Englishman’s home is his castle. They conjure images of solidity, safety and permanence. But that’s just the building.

A home only truly becomes a home when you add people to it, and then it changes constantly. It becomes a living, breathing, constantly changing space, as I have discussed earlier in this series.

Improved comfort, better health and less disruption through intelligent airflow control

Nobody likes a draught. Even when we understand that ventilation is essential for a healthy home, comfort still comes first. So how do we square the circle between fresh air and feeling cosy?

Like the tree falling in the forest, if no one is there to feel it, is it a draught? One answer lies in ventilation that works around the resident, responding to their needs without making itself felt.

When we are hot we perspire. When we are cold, we shiver. When we move, we breathe more. When we sleep, we breathe less. Our bodies are constantly responding to the world around us. Shouldn’t our homes do the same?

Over the past few months, the AirEx team has been honoured to work with the Royal Academy of Engineering as an awardee of their Inclusive Leadership Programme (Cohort 2). The result was something we’re incredibly proud of: the Future Ready for All programme; an initiative designed to build inclusive, practical pathways into industry for students from diverse backgrounds.