Health Benefits

Your installed RoofWhirly4Africa provides considerable proven health benefits.  In addition good ventilation results in comfortable indoor temperature with lots of fresh air.  Enjoy our outstanding quality roof vent (commonly referred to as a whirlybird) that is affordable and costs nothing to run.  

  • Improved health and safety
    • People are less prone to stress, fatigue, headaches and migraines, colds and flu, allergies, asthma, eye and bronchial infections, caused by breathing in airborne pollutants.
    • Reputable studies show roofwhirlys are an affordable and effective method of reducing the spread of airborne diseases e.g. Tuberculosis.  You will find some good examples of these studies below.
    • Health benefits increased workplace productivity
      • The benefits of fresh air in the workplace include higher performance output and morale.  Furthermore people have greater levels of concentration and fewer mistakes are made.
  • Improved quality of life
    • Fresh air enhances people’s moods, increases their motivation, reduces daytime drowsiness and improves quality of sleep.
  • Increased durability of structural materials
    • Good air quality retards the deterioration of paint, tiles, concrete, wood, steel, rubber, electrical components, adhesives and thermal insulation.  The reason is all of these are sensitive to heat and moisture. As a result the costs associated with structural maintenance can often be substantially reduced.
  • Increased shelf-life of perishable goods
    • Fresh cool air increases longevity of perishables such as foodstuffs, plants, rubber and electronic components.

Health Benefits

Infection Control Guidelines – to reduce the transmission of TB from person to person

“Poor people living crowded together into shacks with little air circulation are at high risk of infecting each other” – Professor Stoltz.

A number of studies confirm the installation of roofwhirlys improved air changes to exceed the WHO recommended levels (60 litres per second per patient).  This is because fresh air and air flow reduces the risk of the transmission of TB in buildings.  The WHO (World Health Organisation) guidelines for fresh air in Health Clinics is 12 air changes per hour (ACH) although 6 is acceptable to facilitate infection control.

“The wind turbine ventilator is obviously the answer- it  also looks great.”

Prof Shaheen Mehtar
MBBS, FRC Path (UK), FCPath (Micro) (SA), MD (Eng)
Head of Academic Unit for Infection Prevention and Control
Tygerberg Hospital & Stellenbosch University

Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières)

 “Once again Médecins Sans Frontières has been at the forefront of addressing South Africa’s epidemics. MSF, or Doctors Without Borders, identified the urgent need to develop an evidence-based, low-cost and practical intervention to reduce the risk of TB transmission in health care facilities. The existing alternatives; mechanical ventilation, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) etc., are ill suited to the needs of developing countries because of their expense in installation and maintenance. Accordingly, MSF focused on natural ventilation as an appropriate alternative for resource poor and rural health care settings.

They realised wind-driven roof turbines are a potential low-cost, low-maintenance technology, which also does not require electricity. Research was undertaken to ascertain to what extent these wind turbines could assist in improving airflow and ventilation, and therefore contribute to the effective infection control of TB, including drug-resistant TB.

The Centre for Disease Control’s infection control guidelines stipulate the need for 12 air changes per hour (ACH) although a minimum ACH of 6 is acceptable in order to facilitate infection control. MSF’s research in Khayelitsha found that even with a wind-speed of less than 10 km/h an average of 9 ACH was achieved using the Roofwhirly alongside a door or window grate. On average, according to MSF’s measurements, the wind-speed in Khayelitsha is 10.6 km/h meaning that on average the ACH was around 12.2.

With the roofwhirly acceptable ACH levels are reached even with low wind-speeds, patients and staff feel less draughts and unlike windows, patients or staff can’t shut the Roofwhirly meaning ventilation stays constant.

Ultimately, we clearly need the life-saving  potential of the roofwhirly, but interestingly it also needs us.”

24/03/2011—Dakki Weyers—Health E