With the exception of dwellings equipped with a dual-flow VMC (Controlled Mechanical Ventilation), a house or apartment must be equipped with joinery allowing the ventilation of each room, namely windows with aerators. Let’s see what exactly they are for and what is the best solution to clean them without any difficulty.
What is a window ventilator?
The window ventilator is a small opening grid embedded in this carpentry. Its role is to provide occupants with a on specific. It is therefore not a futile accessory, far from it, since it allows a mixing of ambient air. Thus, the stale air from the interior is evacuated while the fresh air from the exterior enters the room. They clog because:
- Dust,
- Insects,
- pollutants,
- CO2 released by the occupants of the house,
- Some gas,
- Insecticide products used indoors,
- air fresheners,
- Greasy fumes from the kitchen,
- cigarette smoke,
- Pet hair.
Window ventilators are just as important for get rid of unpleasant odors cooking, smoking, stale and others.
This accessory limit in addition the risk of condensation and therefore excess indoor humidity which promotes mold responsible forallergies and which deteriorate materials of all kinds (walls, furniture, etc.), as well as clothing, decorative objects and of course the stock of food. Moreover, the mites are less present in a ventilated dwelling than in a totally confined dwelling whose windows are not equipped with aerators or whose aerators are clogged with dirt.
Finally, it should be noted that stale air is more difficult to heat. By making sure to have aerators at your windows that are always perfectly clean, you can therefore achieve heating savings.
A window ventilator is only effective if it is clean
Besides the fact that it is always more pleasant to have a perfectly maintained house or apartment, including corners, cleaning your window vents is very important. Indeed, they ensure a constant ventilation of the dwelling. It is for this reason that they should never be obstructed, neither by a layer of foam or a sheet of cardboard (as some people are tempted to do), nor by dust and plant debris, for example, which accumulate there over time.
We know very well that pollution, dirt of all kinds, cobwebs and cocoons that pile up quickly end up forming an air-blocking film. In urban areas, especially in buildings located along avenues where car traffic is dense, these aerators become clogged even more quickly than in the countryside. It is therefore necessary to be vigilant, but the advice holds regardless of where you live because when these elements are very dirty, there is no longer any possibility of benefiting from good air circulation.
The problem caused by this obstruction is even more important nowadays because we now have extremely insulating carpentry which no longer let in an ounce of air, unlike the old worm-eaten wooden windows which did not always fit very well. It is also for this reason that since 1982ces window ventilation grilles are mandatory if no other ventilation system is installed.
The best solutions for cleaning your window vents
There is no excuse for neglecting its aerators because they are very easy to clean. Several solutions are recommended, namely:
- Without dismantling: imbibe one chiffon of glass product which is wrapped around a rigid rod such as a wooden or iron rod, a knife blade or a screwdriver and passed through the interstices in order to take off and then trap the dirt. If you don’t have window cleaner on hand, the White vinegar does the job just as well.
- By dismantling: it is recommended to be able to clean these elements 100%. Simply remove the removable part, soak in a tub of water with vinegar or added black soap for example, and during this time the fixed part is completely scoured, generally equipped with a filter.
If we also have glazing with integrated ventilationwe take advantage of this cleaning session to clean them in the same way as the aerator grilles because this equipment also promotes the ventilation of the rooms.