What Is Cross Ventilation in Homes?


Cross ventilation is a common technique used for countless centuries, whether or not people knew it. Modern HVAC systems are becoming more energy-efficient and useful, but they’re quite costly compared to free fresh air. Today, we’ll break down this easy, fast-acting home air circulation solution.

Cross ventilation in homes is a process that moves fresh outside air through an inlet to an outlet, creating a steady breeze. Open a window across the home from an open door to create a cross breeze. It pulls the air from one end out the other, circulating and ventilating the whole room quickly.

Throughout this article, you’ll also learn the following info about cross ventilation in homes:

  • How you can apply the provided techniques to ventilate your home
  • Why it’s more effective than many modern HVAC solutions
  • Common mistakes, issues, and solutions

How Does Cross Ventilation Work?

Cross ventilation works by pulling air from outside through the building to another outlet. For example, if you have an open window on one side of the house and everything else is closed, you won’t notice any results. A light breeze might come through every so often, but it won’t cause cross ventilation.

If you want to cool or ventilate your home with fresh, natural air, you have to open an inlet on one side and an outlet on the other. You might be asking, “What makes a window or doorway an outlet or an inlet?”. To determine the inlet or outlet, you have to figure out which way the wind is blowing.

If the wind is moving northeast, then you should open a window coming from that direction. This window will act as an inlet, pulling wind through the home. You’ve probably tried this part of the technique on a warm day (or when you’re ventilating your home during a house cleaning).

The outlet is determined by the opposite location in the home. If you have an inlet on the northeastern side of the house, the outlet should be at the southwestern part. It’s a perfect location to pull air from the window, letting it flow through your home. You’ll enjoy the fresh, cool air as long as the wind is blowing.

An easy way to think of cross ventilation is to try to make your home part of the local environment. When you walk outside to the middle of the street, nothing is blocking the wind. Try to make your home open from side to side to promote optimal airflow, mimicking the open-air feeling found in the street.

If you prefer visual learning, NAHBTV offers an excellent YouTube video tutorial found below:

How to Cross Ventilate Your Home

Now that you know the amazing benefits of cross ventilation, you’re probably wondering how you can make it happen. The good news is that it’s a very simple technique. After following the steps found in this section, you’ll be able to promote what Moffitt calls ‘Wind Effect Ventilation’ in less than a minute.

Here’s the step-by-step process:

  1. Find out where the wind is blowing. You can walk outside and test it with a flag or put your hand in the air to figure out where you should start. Many weather apps show the wind’s direction, which can be very useful. Take this time to make a two-dimensional map of your home and mark the north, east, south, and west sides.
  2. Locate all of the doors, windows, and openings around your house. When you know where they’re found, you can proceed to the next step. Remember that not all homes have windows and doorways perfectly positioned in the wind’s direction, so you’ll have to mess around with them for a bit.
  3. Open an inlet (only one or two max) at the side coming from the wind’s direction. Once you’ve determined the best inlet, you can open it and feel how strong the airflow is. For big homes, open an additional window to promote more cross breeze. If you’re only working on a small room, one inlet is more than enough.
  4. Open one or more outlets on the opposite side of the home. In most cases, one to two outlets should do just fine. Too many outlets will have the same effect as too many inlets; you’ll cause the airflow to move randomly, ruining the effects of cross ventilation. Fresh air will come inside, but it won’t do too much else.
  5. Test your results, close a couple of outlets or inlets, and repeat until you’re satisfied with the results. If you’re content with the initial outcome, then you’re good to go. Keep in mind that the wind’s direction will change throughout the day or on different weeks. You’ll have to create a master plan for each airflow direction.

As you can see, it’s relatively easy to incorporate cross ventilation into your home. A few windows and doorways should do the trick. Don’t open too many, or you’ll end up causing swirling airflow, stopping the process before it starts. If you want to compare Wind Effect Ventilation to other methods, proceed to the next section.

Is Cross Ventilation Effective?

Great! Your home is cool, fresh, and smells like natural outside air, but is it useful? You might be wondering if you should go back to HVAC systems or dump your air conditioner unit. Don’t act so fast; there are a few notable comparisons that can make a world of difference in your decision.

Cross Ventilation vs. Air Conditioning: Which Is Better?

Air conditioning is very effective, which is why it’s one of the most used cooling methods worldwide. However, it’s incredibly costly. NerdWallet states that a new A/C unit can cost upwards of $7,000 if you don’t have one already. To make matters worse, it can cost between $15 to $200 or more per month to run your expensive unit.

What about cross ventilation? It’s free! However, that’s not enough to convince most homeowners to ditch their air conditioner units in favor of opening a few windows. Cross ventilation is an excellent choice for semi-cool spring, fall, and winter days between 50 to 75 °F (10 to 24 °C), but it’s not as effective during dry, warm summer days—90 °F (32 °C) or higher.

In other words, cross ventilation can save you tons of money throughout the year. It’s incredibly effective against HVAC solutions, but you’ll need wind to make a difference on warm days. Keep it in mind when you’re trying to save money and freshen the air in your home.

Using Fans With the Windows Closed

Many people use fans with cross ventilation to move wind through. This is an effective technique, but it’s not virtually free like cross ventilation without fans. You could use this method if it’s warm and there’s not enough wind to move outside air from the inlet to the outlet.

If you’re leaving the windows closed and running fans, you’ll be disappointed to know that you might be doing more harm than good. Fans can’t lower the temperature; they just move it around. Combine that with the fact that fans heat up after a few hours of use, and your decision might’ve backfired.

Tip: Place a bowl of ice in front of the fan to cool the air!

Making Cross Ventilation Cleaner

Anyone living out in the woods will tell you that the air is fresh, clean, and pleasantly scented. However, city dwellers might feel differently. Heavy smog layers, car exhaust, and other artificial odors ruin the fresh smells caused by cross ventilation. Is there anything you can do to purify the incoming air?

Here are three tips:

  • Use an air purifier right at the inlet’s base. If you have a window opened as the inlet, set the Blueair Blue Pure 311 Air Purifier (or a similar air purifier) right below. It’ll remove allergens, debris, and other contaminants from the air. You can enjoy fresh, clean air without loud fans.
  • Attach a box fan filter to your floor fan. If you use a box fan on the windowsill to encourage airflow, you can purchase a filter that removes debris before it flows through your home. You won’t have to deal with smokey, smoggy, gross city air anymore.
  • Cross ventilate your home in the morning instead of in the middle of the day. Before people are driving and the air is still cool, you can open the inlets and outlets to reduce your home’s internal temperature. Once the sun is in the middle of the sky, close all of the openings and enjoy a cool house or apartment.

Unfortunately, artificial sprays don’t freshen the air. They add chemicals that are unhealthy to breathe. Instead, try essential oils, diffusers, or other natural scents. Indoor plants can freshen the air, spreading through your home when you’re cross ventilating the air.

What You Should Know Before Incorporating Cross Ventilation Into Your Home

Before you start opening windows and doors, there are a couple of things that you should know. Cross ventilation is one of the most basic airflow techniques, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for error. Fortunately, you’re about to discover everything that you should try or avoid to yield the best results.

  • Never open windows or doors that will disrupt the airflow. Side openings change the way the air moves through your home. If there are too many disruptions to the direction, air will follow those openings instead of reaching the outlet. It’ll act like a freshener, but not as a ventilation technique.
  • Bedrooms, garages, and other rooms affect ventilation tactics. Outlets play a role, but did you know that small indoor doorways can change everything too? When you’re cross ventilating a house, close the door of each room you don’t want to ventilate. This suggestion will promote a direct pathway for the airflow.
  • Don’t forget about pollen and other allergens in the area. If you’re allergic or sensitive to anything outside, cross ventilation might be problematic. Remember that you can use filters and air purifiers to fight these issues, though. It’s up to you to decide if they’re too troublesome to endure.
  • Clean the windows and open doorways regularly. Pollen, dust, mold, and other debris will undoubtedly build on the outlets and inlets since everything moves through them. Use a rag or cleaning products to wipe them weekly. Failure to do so invites that debris into your home.

Cross Ventilation Roadblocks

If you can get past allergens and other pollutants, then you can probably try cross ventilation. Everyone should give it a chance, even if it doesn’t end up working. There are two significant roadblocks that could complicate the process, though:

  • If you don’t have enough windows, you’ll have a problem on your hands. Many apartments don’t have inlets and outlets opposite of each other. You can open a window and an outlet far away from it for the best results. Long-distance is essential to promote optimal airflow.
  • If you live in a dry, low-wind region, you won’t get the same results. Wind plays a crucial role in cross ventilation. If there’s not enough of it, you’ll have the pleasant outside scents without much airflow. However, you can use box fans and ice bowls, as mentioned earlier, paired with cross ventilation to cool down the home.

These minor issues could hinder cross ventilation, but there are always ways to work around them. Using fans, ice bowls, and other tools can cool down your home without requiring an expensive air conditioner unit. If you’re worried about messing anything up, read on.

Common Mistakes When Cross Ventilating Your Home

It’s easy to make mistakes with any new task, including cross ventilation. Minor alterations can change how it works, so don’t think that a slight change doesn’t matter. This section will cover a few basic mishaps that people encounter when they’re trying to cross ventilate their home.

  • According to Den Garden, one of the most common mistakes is thinking that you can cool your home with warm outside air. The outside temperature has to be lower than the inside temperature to lower it. If your home is 75 °F (24 °C) and it’s 80 °F (27 °C) outside, leave the doors and windows closed.
  • Many people try opening all of their windows and doors to cool them down. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work this way. You’ll lower the temperature, but you’ll miss out on the cooling breeze of cross ventilation. One or two inlets and the same number of outlets are all you need. Location, wind direction, and the number of inlets and outlets are the three primary components of cross ventilation.
  • Not placing a doorstop. If it’s windy outside and you left the door open as an outlet or inlet, you should place a doorstop in front of it; otherwise, the door will slam when a heavy gust comes through. Not only is it loud and obnoxious, but it can also damage the door frame. Save yourself the time, money, and stress, and use door stops.

Now that we have the mistakes out of the way, you’re prepared to enjoy a free, natural breeze. Most people have tried cross-ventilation without knowing it. Close the unnecessary windows and doors, and you’ll be surprised by the results. Who needs air conditioning when there is a bit of a breeze outside? Open the windows and relax without spending a dime.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cross Ventilation

If you’ve made it this far, then most of your questions have been answered. For those who are extra cautious, you should review the frequently asked questions and appropriate answers below. Keep in mind that all homes are shaped differently, which means you’ll have to mess with the results until they work well.

  • How long does it take for cross ventilation to work? In most cases, cross ventilation can be felt immediately. However, give it a couple of hours for the whole home to cool down, especially if you live in a large space. Keep in mind that you can accelerate the process by starting early in the day when it’s colder outside.
  • Does cross-ventilation cool down a building? It only works if the outside air is colder than the inside air. You can’t reduce internal temperatures with warmer air. That being said, if the temperature is the same or similar, the breeze will help you feel cooler.
  • Why does cross ventilation make your doors slam? The main reason is that you’re creating a wind funnel with inlets and outlets. It cools and ventilates your home, but it also suctions the inlets and outlets, causing them to slam with heavy gusts. Doorstops will do the trick to protect your doorways.

Conclusion

There are millions of people worldwide enjoying the free cross-ventilation provided by nature and architectural design. It might not be as cool as an air conditioner, but there’s no doubt that fresh air makes a massively noticeable difference and it is definitely healthier and better for the environment.

Here’s a rundown of what the post should’ve taught you:

  • Cross ventilation works best if with only one or two openings on opposite side.
  • Clean the windows and doorways for fresh air all day long.
  • Pull up the blinds and slide curtains to the side on windy days.
  • The inside air can only get as good as the airflow from outside.

Sources

Recent Posts