Why Home Experts Say You Should “Burp” Your Home Every Winter
When the temperature drops and the gray clouds roll in, my first instinct is to lock every window and crank up the thermostat. We spend so much energy trying to keep the cold out and the expensive heat in. But lately, I have noticed that by January, my house starts to feel a little heavy and stale. It turns out that sealing ourselves in so tightly might actually be doing more harm than good for our homes.
What Does Burping Actually Mean?
The term sounds a little funny and it definitely reminds me of burping a baby, but the concept is actually very straightforward. Burping your house simply means opening your windows wide for a very short and specific burst of time each day. It is not about leaving a window cracked all day, which just wastes energy. It is about a rapid and total exchange of the stale indoor air for fresh outdoor air in one go.
Why We Need To Release Stale Air
Our modern homes are built to be incredibly efficient at keeping air inside. While this is great for our heating bills, it means that pollutants get trapped in the living room with us. Think about all the hairspray, cooking fumes, cleaning chemicals, and even just the carbon dioxide we breathe out. Without a way to escape, these things build up in your house over time. Burping the house gives all those invisible particles a quick exit route.
Fighting Moisture
The biggest reason to do this is actually moisture control. We create a surprising amount of water vapor just by showering, boiling pasta, and breathing in our house. In the winter, this moisture hits cold windows and turns into condensation, which can eventually lead to mold growth on your walls. Fresh winter air is naturally drier. When you let it in, it acts like a sponge that soaks up that excess dampness and helps keep your home dry and healthy.
How To Do It Without Freezing
I know it sounds counterintuitive to open the windows when it is freezing outside but you only need to do it for about ten minutes. The trick is to open them as wide as possible to get it done fast. Ten minutes is the sweet spot because it is long enough to cycle the air but short enough that your furniture and walls do not lose their heat. The house will warm back up quickly once you close them.
Creating The Perfect Cross Breeze
To make this really effective, you want to create a tunnel of air. Try to open windows on opposite sides of the house, or at least in different rooms with the doors open. This creates a draft that pushes the old air out while pulling the clean air in. It is much more efficient than just opening one window in the kitchen. You want to feel that brisk movement of air sweeping through the hallway.
The Best Time To Do It
I have found the best time to do this is right when I wake up or while I am making my morning coffee. The air outside is crisp and it wakes up the house, and me. I turn the thermostat down for those ten minutes so the furnace does not have to go into overdrive. Once I close the windows, I turn the heat back up and the fresh air actually heats up faster than the damp stale air did.
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It felt wrong the first time I did it, but now I crave that ten minutes of fresh air. It clears out the foggy feeling of winter and makes the house smell clean without using any sprays. It is a small daily habit that protects your walls from mold and your lungs from dust. Give your house a quick burp tomorrow morning and you will feel the difference immediately.
Bliss Donahue-Power
