Ward off winter ills and chills by keeping your whānau cozy in a warm and dry home. HRV home ventilation reduces moisture levels and helps to keep your family safe and well.

Winter is the time when the family is most susceptible to feeling under the weather with poor health. This means time off school, time off work and a seemingly endless cycle of trying to recuperate at home. But what if your home is one of the factors contributing to poor health?

If your home feels damp, it could be one of the reasons your family is feeling unwell. Your home needs proper ventilation to be at its healthiest. A poorly ventilated, damp property with stale, unhealthy air can lead to respiratory problems and other health issues for the people living in it. If your home is damp, it makes it more difficult to heat than a dry environment plus you will need to use more power.

“Cold and damp homes are linked to poor health, especially for babies and small children, people who are ill and older people,” the Ministry of Social Development’s website advises.

So how do our homes become so damp?

Unfortunately, even our breathing adds to moisture levels, not to mention every time we boil the jug for a cup of tea or enjoy a steamy, hot shower. Drying our laundry can also wreak havoc, whether you use a dryer or air your garments on a clothes horse inside.

There are some steps you can take to alleviate the effects of moisture in your home, such as moving beds slightly away from walls, and using an extractor fan when you’re cooking. Try drawing your curtains as dusk falls and in the morning, open your curtains and wipe away any condensation on the window panes.

“Condensation on your windows in the morning is a sure sign of a poorly ventilated home. Dampness indoors can lead to mould growing on your walls, furnishings, and clothes. That’s just unhealthy,” says Norman Woods, group general manager of home-ventilation specialist HRV.

When it’s cold and wet outside, however, what’s the best way to bring fresh air into your home? Leaving windows open isn’t always possible when the weather’s bad or if there are security concerns.

For improved air quality and comfort, a home-ventilation system from HRV will help make your home drier and healthier – and reduce condensation, moisture and mould.

HRV has ventilation solutions to suit most homes and the company offers free home assessments to homeowners to help determine which ventilation system is best for their needs. For example, HRV’s whole-home ventilation systems increase airflow to every room, delivering drier air to reduce unhealthy moisture where you live and sleep.

“Reducing moisture and helping to prevent mould means less condensation on your windows, less harmful mould on your walls and ceilings and a healthier living environment for you and your family,” Norman says.

So how does it work? HRV AirSense™ is a positive-pressure ventilation system that takes drier air from your ceiling space, filters it, and distributes it into the parts of your home that need it. Its five-layer WoolCare™ filter has exclusive filtration technology that helps improve your home’s indoor air quality by filtering out most of the common asthma and allergy triggers. HRV AirSense™ Balanced is a balanced-pressure system, making it ideal for modern homes with tightly sealed windows and doors.

Norman says the HRV AirSense™ range builds on two decades of experience to deliver the ultimate in home ventilation, helping Kiwi families create drier, healthier homes. The latest model also monitors and displays levels of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

“HRV AirSense™ and our HRV Classic range give homeowners a variety of ventilation options to suit their home, lifestyle and budget,” he says.

To learn more about how HRV can make a difference in your home, visit hrv.co.nz and make a booking at hrv.co.nz for a free home assessment.

*In 2021 the HRV AirSense™ home-ventilation system was scientifically proven to reduce moisture and help prevent mould in a study of 15 New Zealand homes conducted by Auckland’s Unitec-Te Pūkenga Institute of Technology on behalf of HRV (results may vary depending on design and geographical location of a home).