Edit: Context behind this question is because my parents always tell me to shut the windows all the way and I kinda feel like I’m suffocating… literally… (it’s Winter here)
Like I just struggle to breathe with windows closed…
So I’m just curious, how do y’all not suffocate while trying to keep house warm and spend less on heating?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HNq-De_wCx0
In the winter, Stoßlüften, especially to get moisture out in winter, to reduce and clear out condensed water on windows and prevent mold. I guess bathroom after a shower more than other rooms either way. In the summer, full night, none during the day.
Sometimes not for a few days, sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes open all day. Depends on the season and a few other things.
Honestly. I used to always keep my window open* over the night. This winter was the first I have regularly not opened my window and just opened it for a bit during the day (yes stoßlüften), which I of course did before as well, since I’m German 😅
* when I say “open” I mean my window would usually be tilted open (“gekippt”) not fully opened wide
I never open Windows regardless of season.
I like the fresh scent of Mint in my house instead.
Never of course. Don’t know exactly what Winter and Summer mean, some desktop environments maybe? And what is fresh air?
Where I live, there’s usually 3-4 months out of the year that it’s better to open the windows to let the air in than to use central air. Cheaper as well. In the winter we usually get a day or two where it’s warm enough to open up to let air circulate. But swamp ass summer and deep winter here suck eggs to be opening the windows.
Never, I switched to Debian…
Mostly just the spring and fall, but occasionally the summer if it’s nice out and rarely the winter if it is unseasonably nice. Sometimes crack a window for a short time if the toddler makes a really smelly bm
I try to keep windows open as much as possible. I also struggle with breathing when they are closed. During winter tho it’s a struggle. My mom gets furious when I turn the radiator on and set it to anything above level 2 and she never ups hers above level 1. So I’m suffocating and freezing. Sometimes I gotta turn the fan on for a half hour just to get some relief.
Honestly I’ve given up on trying to save on heating during the winter. Even with everything closed my house is drafty as fuck. I’ve got one whole room on the ground floor that was an addition built later and no one bothered to run ventilation into it, so it needs a space heater. Yeah it gets stuffy but I’d rather be warm.
Spring and summer are a different story. I love spring and summer air and I open everything.
Only close them if it’s raining
I use linux
I hate Windows
Joke:
“How did the Russian dissident survive the assassination attempt?”
“He went to an Apple Store”
(Sorry if this joke is dumb lol)
Daily, all year roun,for a short time.
Let me introduce you to Stoßlüften.
How old is stoßlüften? I know people that are always opening windows and telling their kids to go outside to “blow the stink off” and while they have german ancestry it would be from over a hundred years ago.
As a foreigner living in Germany, I just knew this would be the main response. Germans LOVE to air out rooms
This foreigner made a video out of their experience
(I was looking for a different one I thought they made, but this is where I ended up.)
Stale air contains high levels of CO₂, which can make you feel tired
Oh… no wonder why my circadian rhythm is fucked up… I feel so tired in the day and now its 1AM and I’m wide awake… 🫠
Lpt: if your residence has central heating/ac and was made within the last 50 years then your house is probably getting sufficient airflow.
Central heating, no AC.
Heat is not carried by air, but by those pipes with hot water running to radiators… so I don’t know if there’s any airflow.
Built before 1978, might have lead paint under there… but it was painted over once before we moved in so its probably lead safe(? I hope lol, i’d be lame to lose a few iq points to something stupid like lead)
Ah, then no forced air through ventilation ducts to move air around.
My current house doesn’t have vents either, but I have fans that move air around the important bits that get occupied the most. With my dogs needing to go out, and work, the doors are open enough, and there’s enough leakage to not worry about co2 levels. Except my wife sometimes trips the sensor in the hallway when she takes a long bath while burning multiple candles…
isnt also the lack of sunlight too during winter makes you depressed, less VITAMIN D more depression.
I try to open my bedroom window as little as possible because the air outside is usually poor quality and I have an active air filter monitoring my room and removing crud from it. I LOVE living in a car centric city in a country who’s government has been partly captured by oil companies and dealerships at all levels.
I like to think the plants I have in my room help with the CO₂, but I don’t feel they make that much of a difference.
same here. you probably need alot of plants to make a difference, or larger ones. monstera, dracaena, rubber tree fig
Neat, that was a fun read! I’ll have to try it!
Sadly my upstairs and downstairs neighbours are chain smokers. They close their windows and the balcony doors and I get all the (pot) smoke. Why does Germany have so many smokers?
Dies ist der einzigste Weg.
This is the only way
Wenn schon, dann auch the onliest way.
I basically never open my windows. This winter, I don’t think I opened them at all except maybe during a big cleaning day.
In Japan, ventilation is required by law, and most modern houses are equipped with a 24-hour ventilation system. Because of that, we don’t really need to open the windows to get fresh air — the system continuously circulates air for us.
At the same time, it doesn’t make the house noticeably colder in winter or hotter in summer. The air also goes through filters, which is especially nice during pollen season.
So I don’t really feel suffocated even with the windows closed, since the air is still being exchanged constantly.
I live on the Chesapeake Bay, so during the late spring into late Fall, I open my windows pretty much daily on the weekends and whenever I am home during the week.
Our place is ventilated well enough that I don’t need to open the windows for ventilation or to manage humidity per se, but I am fortunate enough to live in an area with good quality air, so I often do in spring/summer/fall just because it feels fresher.
In winter, I don’t want to freeze or waste energy, so I usually keep them closed. But once in a while, if I have my computer running for a long time and the heat is also on for the rest of our place, I may crack the window a bit just to keep that room from becoming unbearably hot.
