I Tried “Burping” My House for a Week, and the Results Were Unexpected

One thing I enjoy about living in Virginia is that I get to experience all four seasons; seeing the landscape change throughout the year is a must. In winter I even enjoy a snowfall or two, but the stale air from closing up the house to keep warm can get a bit stifling. Opening the windows and letting the chilly air in wasn’t an option for me. That is, until I stumbled upon something that caught my eye on Apartment Therapy: the concept of burping a house.

As a mom and grandmother, I’ve burped lots of babies in my day and was sure the process wasn’t quite the same. So I dove deeper into how this seemingly odd concept could help my house. I tested it out for a week, and some of the results were a bit unexpected. Here’s everything I learned about this traditional European concept of giving your house a breath of fresh air — literally.

Inspired by the German ritual of lüften, house burping involves intentionally opening your windows once or twice a day for five to 10 minutes to refresh your home. Lüften means “to ventilate” or “to air out,” which aptly describes the process. While it’s common to open your windows on the first warm days of spring or to welcome fall’s coolness, burping your house is useful year-round — including during hot summers and cold winters (which is when I decided to try it).

Typically the only time I open my windows and screen doors in winter is to enter or exit the house, or to refill my bird feeders. Sometimes I reluctantly open the back door to convince my indoor cats that, no, it’s not warm enough to sun on the screen porch quite yet. When I first tried lüften, there was snow on the ground — and we (my kitties, husband, and I) were all feeling a little cooped up.

So I decided to see what would happen if I tried to burp my house for a week. Here’s what I discovered.

The first thing I noticed when I raised my sashes was that the outside sills were filthy. I hadn’t touched them up since last summer, so the first thing I did was wipe those areas to make my spring cleaning a bit easier. Getting them pristine took several swipes and some elbow grease, but now I have a fresh start before pollen starts piling in as spring progresses.

We have several cats — currently four residents and two fosters — and within a few minutes of opening the windows, they woke up to investigate. Their little noses sniffed the air, and they went to the sills to sun themselves and look out. While I obviously don’t know their thoughts, they seemed perkier and more content as chilly breezes wafted in each day.

Initially, I worried the house would get cold and overwork our heat pump, but since we keep it at 66 degrees, it wasn’t a big issue. I expected to be more conscious about the open windows, given the low-30s temperatures, but I found myself leaving them open longer. My mind wandered as I stayed productive by cleaning, straightening, and staying active, and I forgot that the windows were open.

With the cool breeze circulating through my house, the atmosphere felt more positive and enjoyable. It happened to be chilly but sunny during the week of my lüften experiment, but having nothing but a thin, metal screen between the inside and outside let in light and air. However, in addition to letting stale air exit (hence burping), it also released lingering humidity, cooking smells, and dust. That, coupled with the mood boost, made the environment seem brighter and less weighty.

One of the best benefits for everyone (although my cats sleep a ton anyway!) was that my husband and I seemed to have more restful nights. As 50-somethings, falling and staying asleep isn’t as easy a process as it was when we were younger, so we welcome any help we can get. Although my husband wasn’t home during the daily burps, even he felt the benefits of keeping the windows open a bit each day.

While it’s not practical for me to incorporate lüften every day, I’ll keep it up well past my week-long experiment. My mood depends on the weather, so open windows always help — rain or shine. Sleeping better and increased productivity are smart reasons to keep it up, but seeing my little crew of felines overjoyed is motivation enough for me to keep burping my house when I can each day.