The laundry room bears the dirt of the house, and it all gets cleaned out in that room, yet the laundry room is usually neglected and considered less important when it comes to proper air ventilation.
A stuffy laundry room is not hygienic for you; it smells, feels congested, lacks enough oxygen, and harbors air pollutants.
In this article, we will be looking at the need for ventilation in the laundry room, the right amount of ventilation needed, and the type of door best suited for cross-ventilation in your laundry room.
Here’s If Laundry Rooms Need Vented Doors:
Laundry rooms need vented doors to allow air and light to flow into the room even when the door is closed. Any room that houses a washer needs to have a vent to let out the accumulated air moisture and allow free flow of fresh air. The laundry room does more than just house a washing machine.
Does Laundry Room Need Ventilation?
Ventilation balances the inflow of fresh air from outside and the outflow of stale air from the room. You can do this manually by opening up doors and windows to let in the fresh air or with electrical devices such as extractors. Proper ventilation keeps oxygen well saturated in the air and makes the environment safe for breathing.
Proper air ventilation is usually recommended as an important code to follow when building houses for you to pass building assessment tests and for the good health and longevity of your furniture and building.
You should know that to live comfortably in your home; you need to pay attention to the proper ventilation of the house. Stale air builds up in the home when there is a shortage or no fresh airflow from outside.
Breathing in stale air is uncomfortable and harmful to your health. Ventilation is important for safe living and maintaining air balance within the home.
Every room within your house should be well ventilated, and your laundry room is not exempted. It is a very important room so you should well monitor its ventilation.
Your Laundry room needs proper air ventilation. This is because you carry out your washing process in this room, use a washing machine, spin-dry your clothes, and do all sorts of activities involving water.
Water forms moisture and thereby increases the humidity level of the room. With the humidity level increased, there is more need for ventilation. To release clogged up air and to let in the fresh air.
Your laundry room needs ventilation because:
- Fresh air for your breathing:
The need for you to breathe in the fresh air cannot be overemphasized, and it is the most important reason you should ensure proper ventilation in your laundry room.
- Clear up air moisture in the room and regulate humidity:
All your washing processes would result in an increased level of humidity. Ventilation is important in your laundry room to help keep humidity- air moisture at an optimal level. This is for the benefit of your furniture and the room structure.
- To remove odor and air pollutants:
When your laundry room functions as a cleaning room, there is a high chance of bad odors from dirt. Proper ventilation airs the room and keeps your house free from laundry odor and air pollutants.
When there is no ventilation in the laundry, as much as the stale air poses a threat to your health, the entire room is not safe, especially if your doors and window are made of wood.
Porous surfaces begin to soak up water, wooden doors and windows grow morse, moisture condenses on the mirror, and even the floor becomes slippery.
Laundry maintenance must ensure proper ventilation. It is a preventive measure that you must take.
How Much Ventilation Does A Laundry Room Need?
Ventilating a laundry room can be done in two ways. It could be done manually by opening up the window and door for fresh air or using an extractor fan to remove stale air. However, there are requirements on how much ventilation is needed in the laundry room.
For manual ventilation, 5% ventilation is required. This means that there must be an openable window or any other open structure in the laundry room that covers a minimum of 5% of the room’s total floor area.
While for mechanical ventilation, it is required that the minimum capacity for an extractor fan that you would install in a laundry room should be 20 liters per second.
These are the least requirement to maintain proper ventilation in your laundry room. You can, however, go beyond the minimum but not below it.
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Do Laundry Room Doors Need To Be Louvered Or Vented?
A louvered door comprises window blade-like components that can be either kept opened or closed. Either way, light, and air are still permitted into the room with a louvered door. It is a common design now in modern homes.
This is because it helps maximize the advantages of having an opened door and yet reaping the benefit of enclosing a room. It is suitable for a room that needs to be well ventilated, such as your laundry room.
Vent in the actual sense is a term that represents space. However, a vented door has a small vent opening, usually located at the lower part of the door. This is usually to let out the air.
The major difference between a louvered door and a vented door is the amount of space allocated for air and light. While a louvered door has a large part of it dedicated to its blades called louver, the vented door has a relatively small area allocated for that purpose.
The question now is, which of these doors is most suitable for your laundry room?
A louvered door is best suited for your laundry room. It keeps the room well ventilated by allowing air and light in, whether open or closed.
Summary
Laundry rooms need to be well ventilated to allow free airflow and remove stale air from the room. The benefits of proper ventilation extend from your safe health to proper maintenance of the structures in the laundry room.
The minimum required ventilation in the laundry is 5% of the floor space. There is a need for a laundry room to have a vented door, and the best suited is a louvered door.
What Is Ventilation and Why Is It so Important? – Burngreave Building Company
Building Code of Australia (BCA) Ventilation Requirements | Prolux Electrical Contractors
