When planning a ventilation system in our house or in any other investment, we may encounter the concept of infiltration.
What does it involve and what does it mean for our comfort indoors? More on that below. It can be said that ventilation is a pre-determined action aimed at effective air exchange in rooms.
It can take place in a more or less controlled way, i.e. it can be a gravitational exchange, but it can also be a mechanical exchange. In both cases, the idea is to remove stale air from the room and introduce fresh air, while limiting heat loss, which is especially important in winter. As for infiltration, it is defined as uncontrolled air exchange.
It takes place through various types of leaks, e.g. porosity of the materials from which the walls are made, or various types of gaps and cracks. In this case, air exchange takes place in a non-cyclical, even chaotic and even violent manner. This is associated with a decrease in the temperature of the partition and an increased speed of air movement, which ultimately reduces our comfort. As you can see, infiltration is treated as a negative phenomenon. However, it should be remembered that eliminating this phenomenon without an appropriate ventilation system may result in excessive accumulation of carbon dioxide in our rooms, i.e. lack of fresh air and accumulation of moisture, which may ultimately lead to the formation of fungus.