For a person to live comfortably in the house, a sufficient amount of oxygen is required. Prolonged stay in an unventilated room leads to drowsiness, fatigue, and in the case of a regular lack of fresh air, even serious diseases of the respiratory system and circulatory systems. Installation of natural ventilation systems in a private house or apartment will help to avoid such negative phenomena.
Content:

Operating principle
Our ancestors were much less concerned about the ventilation of residential premises. Wooden windows with loose panes and doors that were not very airtight provided enough natural ventilation without any additional devices. Openings for the inflow and outlet of exhaust air were equipped only in the basements and cellars.
With the advent of modern finishing materials and plastic windows on the construction market, the issue of providing ventilation for residential premises has become more acute. The absence of the slightest cracks in the houses led to the appearance of condensate and stale air. If you also began to notice that there was an excess of them in the house, and a long stay in the room leads to discomfort, it's time to take care of natural (and in some cases artificial) ventilation.
How to make the "correct" natural ventilation in a private house? When designing such a system, it is very important to understand how it works. After all, air circulation will depend only on the correctness of the calculations. The slightest mistake will be enough for the formation of stagnation of air masses.
Natural ventilation in the premises operates due to the pressure difference. Wherein:
- warm air rises only; the cold one is at the bottom (it moves in the direction where the pressure is lower, that is, towards the ceiling, where warm air is less dense)
- in winter, due to the difference in temperature (and hence pressure), ventilation functions better
- air must be provided with free passage throughout the house; for the correct distribution of air flows, it is desirable to consider the location of the premises and interior partitions still under construction

Advantages and disadvantages
We list the main advantages of such devices:
- warm air rises only; the cold one is at the bottom (it moves in the direction where the pressure is lower, that is, towards the ceiling, where warm air is less dense)
- in winter, due to the difference in temperature (and hence pressure), ventilation functions better
- air must be provided with free passage throughout the house; for the correct distribution of air flows, it is desirable to consider the location of the premises and interior partitions at the construction stage
Although ventilation systems have a lot of disadvantages, they can be minimized with proper and thoughtful installation. Its disadvantages include:
- insufficient air flow in the summer, when temperature differences in the room and on the street, especially in the absence of wind, are insignificant; in this case, the usual ventilation of the house with open windows and doors will help
- the presence of drafts in the cold season; the air intake in winter can be slightly reduced by adjusting the vent valve; also note that in "clean" rooms there should be only an air inlet; if you also install an extractor hood here, you will only get a draft and a significant loss of heat; air must pass through all rooms
- under certain conditions (for example, a change in wind direction or the temperature in the premises is lower than outside), ventilation may start to work in the opposite direction: the intake of air masses starts from the hood; but such a phenomenon is possible only with an insufficient number of holes for air flow
- in low-rise buildings, due to insufficient height difference, natural exhaust may work poorly, so the air duct should be raised to a sufficient height above the ridge
Natural ventilation will not be enough, perhaps, only if the house is located in a gassed area. In this case, forced exhaust systems with multi-stage filtration are used. Their installation is also required with a large area of \u200b\u200bthe premises.

System Performance Calculation
It is easier to calculate the diameter and length of air ducts using an online calculator. But you still need to know the principle of calculations in order to avoid errors.
All rooms in the house are conditionally divided into "dirty"required more intensive ventilation (kitchen, toilet, bathroom, laundry, etc.) and residential "clean". According to SNiP, the air in "dirty" rooms must be renewed at a rate of 60 cubic meters. m per hour. If there is a gas stove in the kitchen, the renewal rate is increased to 100 cubic meters. For bathrooms, this figure is slightly lower - 25 cubic meters. m, and for laundries it is 90 cubic meters. m per hour.
Forced ventilation is used in "dirty" rooms. To do this, the kitchen provides a separate channel made of galvanized steel, running vertically, without elbows. It is allowed to combine it only with the bathroom ventilation duct.
For "clean" rooms (living rooms and corridors), ventilation is reduced to 3 cubic meters. m per hour. For pantries, 0.5 cubic meters is enough. It remains to calculate how much air per hour is required to be removed from these rooms.
There is another way in which air exchange is calculated depending on the number of people living in the house. In this case, an influx of fresh air of about 30 cubic meters is considered the norm. m per hour per person. In the southern regions, it is better to increase this figure to 40. For the northern regions, where the air density is lower, 20 cubic meters will be enough. m. To the amount received (according to the number of residents), it is necessary to add another 30 cubic meters. m for the kitchen.

Types of natural ventilation
To ensure normal air exchange in large areas, a single duct will not be enough.
There should be several ventilation systems:
- The device of natural ventilation in a private house is impossible without air flow. The intake of air masses should begin with the cleanest (residential) premises - the living room or bedroom. In order for the supply air to warm up better, the openings for it should be located near a heating radiator or other heating device.
- Fresh air must pass throughout the house. Its output must be provided in the kitchen, bathroom or toilet
- Exhaust pipes should rise at least 1.5 m above the roof. This will provide stronger draft
- In the kitchen, a separate forced hood is installed, connected to a vertical channel. She will take on some of the burden. Forced exhaust is also desirable to equip in the shower or bathroom
- You can replace the supply ventilation openings equipped in the walls with window valves

Supply holes in the walls
In order not to violate the tightness of windows, it is possible to provide a supply hood directly in the walls of the premises. Let's describe this process in detail:
- The influx of natural ventilation of a private house (see photo) can be ensured using through holes. A pipe of the desired diameter will be inserted into them. To drain condensate, it is laid with a slight slope. To protect against debris, a grate is attached to the end of the pipe.
- The height of the inlet opening is 2.0-2.5 m from the floor. In this case, the cold air will mix with the warm air rising from the batteries. For the fastest warming up of cold air, the location of the holes under the window sill, in the immediate vicinity of the radiators, is allowed.
- On the opposite side of the pipe, from the side of the room, a valve of a special design is attached, which allows air to be taken in and regulates the intensity of its flow
- If one valve in the wall is not enough to ensure a normal flow of fresh air, additional ones will be equipped in exactly the same way.

Ventilation valves in windows
The latest models of double-glazed windows are already equipped with supply valves. If they are not there, install them really with your own hands. It is more convenient if such valves are equipped with air flow regulators:

Arrangement of the exhaust channel
The length and diameter of such a channel directly depends on the performance of the ventilation system. However, its cross section is made at least 160 square meters. cm. The minimum length of the pipe is 2 m. If you increase it to 3 m, then with such a section it will be possible to ensure the removal of air masses up to 30 cubic meters. m per hour.
An exhaust duct can be made from special ventilation blocks, bricks, ceramic or metal pipes. If there are several hoods, they are made equal in length.
The optimal placement of ventilation ducts is in the internal walls of the room. When passing them through unheated rooms (attics), they are additionally insulated.It is desirable to insulate the hood on the roof as well - the ventilation efficiency will increase.

Basic installation errors
For the correct functioning of the ventilation system, the following rules must be observed:
- Whatever type of ventilation is chosen, free air circulation should be ensured for it. Otherwise, its effectiveness will be reduced.
- In order to avoid accumulation of dust and loss of pressure, it is advisable to choose air ducts not rectangular, but round. Rectangular are used only when there is not enough space for installing round pipes of the desired diameter
- If it is impossible to avoid turns, it is better to use flexible corrugated pipes. The pressure loss in this case will be much less. Please note that each turn reduces the speed of air masses by 10%
- All joints must be perfectly aligned. Otherwise, the resistance in the system will increase, and the thrust will decrease.
- At the end of the hood, a deflector is mounted. It not only serves as protection against debris and moisture ingress, but also acts as a "divider" of the air flow, creating areas with a rarefied pressure zone. Installing a deflector helps increase traction by 20%
- Tightly closed interior doors prevent normal ventilation of the room. Therefore, it is necessary to leave small gaps along the bottom or mount special gratings in the lower part.
Details about the arrangement of natural ventilation in a private house in the next video. Its author talks in detail about the principles of its operation and talks about the main errors in the installation of such systems:
How natural ventilation works
Natural ventilation in a private house: device, schemes, do-it-yourself arrangement (Photo & Video)