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If you live in the northern hemisphere, the chances are your windows have been firmly shut for quite some time now.
After all, it has been a cold, wet winter for many of us – and our biggest preoccupation has been keeping warm; cracking a window open is something for much later on in spring, right?
Well as the first daffodils shoots are springing up, you might want to rethink that approach, put on a jumper, and throw your windows open, even before the sun is out.
For five or ten minutes, at least.
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This is according to the popular German cultural practice known as lüften, meaning ‘to air’ – quite literally, to air out your house.
You might have gotten used to the stuffy feeling of your home, which has been hanging on to the heat (and associated airborne detritus) all winter… and so have all the dust and mould particles that have accumulated – not to mention any traces of colds or flu.
It might come as a shock to many of us, but lüften has proven its effectiveness as a technique for preventing all these things from building up in your house, and helping your health and wellbeing as a result.
Because the more all these things build up in your home, the more they pose a risk, especially to those with asthma or other respiratory conditions, who might feel their symptoms on the increase in a house that hasn’t been aired.
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Can’t stand the chill? The good news is that even ten minutes of lüften can be very effective.
In fact, this technique is known as stoßlüften, meaning ‘shock ventilation’ – the practice of throwing open all your windows for ten minutes, blasting your home with outdoor air, before closing them again.
It’s effective because the damp air travels naturally out of your home, while dry outside air comes in, bringing a flash of freshness and clean air into your home.
Why not give it a try this spring – your home, and your lungs, will thank you.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a quantum computer simulation that has “reversed time” and physics may never be the same.