A new home can have huge windows, bright rooms and beautiful views, yet still leave you reaching for the fan by afternoon because the air feels heavy. Open a window and you may expect the room to instantly feel fresher. Sometimes, nothing much happens.
That can be surprising, especially when a house has been designed with plenty of glass. But the number of windows isn’t what decides whether a room gets good ventilation. What matters is what happens to the air once it enters.
“A room can have generous windows and still feel stuffy by afternoon,” says Hardesh Chawla, Founder & CEO, Essentia Environments. According to him, ventilation depends on whether air has a clear route to enter, move through the home and eventually escape. Without that route, windows may bring in plenty of daylight while doing very little for airflow.