Excuse me, social media influencers. You want me to “burp” my house?
House burping has become a viral trend online. It encourages people to open their windows for a few minutes every day—whether hot or cold outside—to ventilate their home.
The practice is a loose interpretation of a time-honored German custom called lüften, which roughly translates to “ventilate” or “air out” and has been dubbed “burping” by Americans on social media. In Germany, opening windows was intended to air out homes and prevent mold. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, some leaders suggested ventilating
homes in this way to help control the virus.
So is “house burping” helpful or a waste of electricity as your heating and air conditioning system works to return your home to a comfortable temperature?
According to Safe Electricity, it depends.
A brief window opening can be useful when you need to clear cooking odors or smoke or if you’re airing out paint or cleaning fumes. Just be sure to keep it short, limiting it to five to 10 minutes.
Burping your house daily is less helpful if you bring in humidity, pollen, allergens or smoke or raise or lower the temperature to kick your HVAC on.
If your goal is cleaner indoor air, consider whole-home ventilation, air purifiers, HVAC maintenance and filter changes.
Opening windows occasionally can help freshen your home. But daily house burping is not usually the best approach for homes that depend on central HVAC systems.