Omit the single room rule? Controlled residential ventilation + gas heating, new construction

an empty house

Those who drive to work in the morning have usually spent anywhere between 8-12 hours inside it immediately before. If you don’t happen to count cross-ventilation among your morning rituals (a bit of icy east wind at the breakfast table is anyway better than coffee), you will inevitably return to the old stale air after work.

Does that cause "permanent" damage? Probably not to humans, but if I imagine a family of four taking a shower in the morning and then leaving the house without ventilating... well.

Everyone can do as they please, but trying to convince an owner of a controlled residential ventilation system that their system is not "worth it" is about as reasonable as reminding a single-family house owner that their student flat was also nice and warm and dry.

I already thought it was just hot air.

The refrigerator comparison is hugely flawed. A heat source inside a cooling unit causes efficiency to plummet. A running controlled residential ventilation system during absence, on the other hand, fulfills the original purpose. Apparently, nobody has ever entered a forced-ventilated single-family house after a longer absence. The difference compared to a house without ventilation is huge.


Your argument is still missing the personnel to ventilate in the morning/noon/evening, otherwise this is also flawed here.

Lo and behold, a controlled residential ventilation system pays for itself after just a few years.

Modern plastic bag houses, which the Energy Saving Ordinance prescribes to us, simply require an air exchange that many homeowners are not able to manage. Nowadays, you can already tell on the first step into the house whether it is properly ventilated or not. My experience is (if no controlled residential ventilation is present): hardly any ventilation is done, and that is good neither for allergy sufferers nor for non-allergy sufferers.

Yep, anyone who likes to get up at 3 in the morning to properly ventilate the bedroom and children's room crosswise and also finds time to do so in the morning, noon, and evening doesn’t need controlled residential ventilation. Fairly speaking, however, it must be mentioned that there are also inexpensive methods to limit manual ventilation to 1-2 times a day. For example, window rebate ventilation, decentralized supply and exhaust air, etc.

To be fair, it must also be said that a controlled residential ventilation system does not cost upwards of 10K. Installation and commissioning then cost another 2K and let's say another 1K for any additional valves, pipes, etc. (generously calculated) You are still at a maximum of about ~8K.

I already thought there would be nothing but hot air.

The refrigerator comparison is way off. A heat source inside a cooling unit causes efficiency to plummet. In contrast, a running controlled residential ventilation system during absence serves its original purpose. Apparently, no one has ever entered a forced-ventilated single-family house after a long absence. The difference compared to a house without ventilation is enormous.

Spare me the platitudes and explain who raises the CO2 levels or introduces so much moisture during absence. I’m happy for your enthusiasm for controlled residential ventilation, but the lectures are misplaced.

Instructions are by no means out of place, as there apparently is a lack of basic knowledge.

CO2 levels are only the tip of the iceberg and do not even need to be elevated; there are plenty of other particles in the house that thrive splendidly in the absence of presence and without sufficient ventilation.

Energy exchange processes continuously take place in a house even when unoccupied. These produce what people perceive as odors, and these can sometimes be quite unpleasant.

The sun also shines in occasionally and warms everything it touches, causing plastics/adhesives/paints in the windows/doors/walls/furniture/TV and other technology to start off-gassing.

The shower and other sanitary fixtures release the moisture introduced into the bathroom long after a brief morning airing. Unless you wipe it absolutely dry, but nobody does that.

Etc... The list can be continued indefinitely... even the extractor hood emits odors as soon as it is turned off, unless the filters are cleaned immediately, but nobody does that either...

Everything in the house produces odors and waste products during absence without sufficient air exchange rate. These are then happily inhaled upon first entering the house (until the next air exchange).