Should I Close the Doors? How to Properly Ventilate Your Apartment in Winter

Even a simple, routine action like airing out your apartment has its rules. In winter, proper ventilation becomes especially important.

When winter arrives, the first thing you want is to feel warm and cozy. However, to stay comfortable and healthy, it's essential to let fresh air into your apartment or house. At first glance, it seems straightforward: open all the doors between rooms to let fresh air in and cool down the entire apartment. However, it's not that simple. When ventilating your home, you need to consider how heat is distributed throughout the space.

The more enclosed a room is, the more heat it retains. By keeping doors to colder rooms closed, you can prevent warm air from escaping. It's important to close doors not just to the outside or terrace but also to basements, stairways, and attics, where it's typically colder.

Despite the cold outside, regular ventilation is crucial in winter. Fresh air should ideally be let in during the morning. Before going to bed, open the window for just 5–10 minutes to improve air quality and ensure better sleep.

Another key reason for ventilating in winter is to combat humidity. Temperature differences between the inside and outside of your home can lead to moisture buildup, which over time may result in mold growth.

When ventilating, keep room doors closed to allow humidity to escape effectively without spreading to other rooms. This is especially important in kitchens after cooking and in bathrooms.

If humid air moves between rooms with different temperatures, the risk of mold increases. This happens because warm air holds more moisture than cold air. When the door between a warm and a cold room is left open, moisture condenses on walls due to the temperature difference.

There's one exception: if your home has windows on opposite sides, you can open all doors and windows to create a cross-breeze. In this case, five minutes is enough to completely refresh the air in the house.

Finally, it's worth noting that temperatures don't need to be uniform across all rooms. The living room and bathroom can stay at around 22°C, while the kitchen and bedroom can be cooler, at 18°C. However, experts recommend keeping the temperature in any room from dropping below 14°C, even in the coldest parts of the house.