How I Mastered the Art of Ventilating My Home
Five years ago, when I moved from central Tokyo to the coast of Japan, a blanket of humidity seemed to levitate out from the sea and the surrounding mountains, wrapping everything I owned in a moist haze. Combined with crushing summer heat, it cultivated a perfect recipe for mold.
My initial impulse toward a mold-free life was to seal the windows and endlessly run the air conditioner.
Dehumidifiers were my next idea.
On a whim, I purchased a Vornado fan, stuck it in the corner of my living room, and turned it on. Instantly, I felt like a fool. Were fans the simple solution to this moldy puzzle? But the Vornado was no ordinary fan. It was so powerful that it seemed to inhale the room, invert it, and push it back out. The totality of how it moved all the air was a revelation. Buoyed by this fairly obvious insight, I took things further. I purchased some in-window ventilation units that you can install on your own. I fitted them tightly into windows on opposite sides of the room. One pulls in air, and the other pushes it out. Good lord. Standing in the middle of the living room with the vents and Vornado all working in concert was pure rapture. The AC and dehumidifier almost felt unnecessary.
I now own three Vornados and a small army of those in-window units, strategically placed so that no particle of air stagnates in my 1,000-square-foot home. The resulting vortex of moving air eliminates any chance of particle buildup, of a heaviness of atmosphere taking root. Light a cigarette anywhere in my house, and you’ll be dazzled by the flow of the smoke—up and around, through doorways, swirling toward the ceiling and then back to the floor, inscribing elegant arcs through the air—never resting until it finds its way out a window.
Use 12ft to remove the paywall.
Combine reading with the background and notes about the article by the author - Airflow is Life:
Hello from the tail end of Japan Swelter Summer. The humidity broke a few days ago and everything is crisp and glorious and markedly less soggy. I am obsessed with humidity — my home is filled with hygrometers. I have a dry case for camera equipment and my one pair of fancy leather shoes. My friends send me the latest in dehumidifier news. Few people fully understand the implications of runaway humidity. What an odd thing to care about, you may think. But spend a summer in certain corners of Japan and you will suddenly care very much. A comfortable life is contingent on very narrow bands of humidity:temperature ratios. 60% humidity and 22 degrees Celsius is excellent. Crest 70% and 26 degrees and you have just bought a ticket for a mold dance. But increase airflow and the mold can be mitigated. Airflow is underrated. A stagnant room is screaming to be reclaimed by nature. Of all rooms, my bathroom has the best airflow. Its airflow is beautiful, a masterwork. Were you to toke a cigar in my tub the smoke would perform elegant acrobatics all about the volume. You would be awed by the flow. There are no mold issues in the bathroom.