I Tried the Viral “House Burping” Trend—It Sounds Absolutely Wild, but I’m Convinced Everyone Should Be Doing It

As a parent, I dread the dead of winter. Noses are dripping, humidifiers are running nonstop and cabin fever is setting in with a vengeance. I’m a big believer that crisp air is good for my family, but it can be hard to convince my kids to run around outside when the temps are below freezing.

All that inside time can add up to a house that feels stale, though. So when I came across the viral idea of “house burping” to combat that stuffiness, I was intrigued. Could this be a simple solution to feeling stuck?

I spent a week—and this is a sentence I never expected to write—burping my house. From the history of the trend to the benefits and drawbacks, I’m covering it all ahead. So read on for my honest opinion.

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What in the world is house burping?

House burping is a social media spin on a German habit called lüften, which translates to “air out.” In Germany, it’s common practice for people to ventilate their homes once or twice daily. The fresh air, they say, can improve air quality and potentially reduce mold’s ability to grow.

Germans have been doing it for centuries, and it’s such a big deal that they’ve even broken it down into two types: Querlüften (which translates to “cross-ventilation”) is for the whole house, while stosslüften (which means “shock ventilation”) is for a specific room. They take it so seriously that landlords sometimes include lüften in leases to ensure tenants keep the home in good shape.

At the end of 2025, the internet did what the internet does, which is give the time-honored tradition a catchy new name. Forget “airing out.” We’re all “house burping” now.

The rebranded trend went viral on TikTok and Instagram, with tens of thousands of videos now showing people burping their homes.

How does house burping work?

While there are no formal written guidelines for house burping, you can follow these steps to give your home a much-needed dose of fresh air, the German way:

Pick a day without precipitation.
Fully open two windows in your home that are situated opposite each other, such as one in the living room and one in the kitchen.
If you don’t have an open floor plan, open all interior doors.
Leave the windows open for up to 15 minutes, depending on the season, so air can circulate.
Close your windows.
Shut the interior doors if necessary.

How often (and for how long) should you do it?

The general consensus is that once a day, every day, is the way to go. This daily dose of lüften will ensure the freshest air is circulating in your home. That said, some people do it several times a day in short bursts when it’s humid to reduce the chance of mold growing.

You can leave your windows open for anywhere from three minutes during the coldest months to 15 minutes on a relatively nice day.

Is this good for your health?

Yes, there is some evidence that house burping is good for your health. Which means you’re not inviting the winter chill into your home just for fun. Here’s how your house and health may benefit.

Lower VOCs

The Environmental Protection Agency has acknowledged that ventilation can reduce levels of household volatile organic compounds (VOCs), gases emitted by certain household items, from dry-cleaned clothing to disinfectants to paint.

Reduced carbon dioxide

The simple act of opening your windows can also lower carbon dioxide levels in your home. And that might even improve your sleep quality, which in turn can improve cognition.

Less opportunity for mold

Mold loves closed, moist spaces, and science has shown that better ventilation can reduce its ability to grow. That’s good news for your health because mold exposure can lead to allergic reactions, irritation and asthma.

Fewer germs

As we learned during the pandemic, fresh air can help reduce some airborne viruses and bacteria. A 2021 study on the COVID-19 virus notes that opening windows for 10 minutes every couple of hours can reduce the virus’s spread … without turning you into a popsicle in winter.

Is there a downside to the practice?

The goal here is to improve your indoor air quality—not make it worse. So house burping may not be for you if the air outside is worse than the air indoors. In other words, if you live in an area with heavy pollution or high pollen levels, house burping might not be good for your health.

What happened when I tried house burping?

Despite one major drawback (more on that below), I was impressed with the practice!

I have a smart thermostat that “rates” my air quality, and for the past few weeks, it’s been giving me a “fair” rating based on VOC and carbon dioxide levels in my home. One of its suggestions for improving air quality? Opening a window. House burping seemed like an easy, free way to try to boost my air quality.

I gave myself a week to test it out. I live in the South, where the weather is unpredictable, so I chose afternoons as my sweet spot because the forecast called for temperatures in the 50s and 60s all week.

My test

The daily steps were very doable—quick and easy to follow.

Open the living room window and the back door in the kitchen.
Give it about 10 minutes (real talk: sometimes that ended up being longer because I simply forgot about it, especially on warmer days).
Close the window and kitchen door.

The results

The air-quality reader on my thermostat reported that my air was cleaner each day after burping my house. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer solid data points as to how it arrived at that conclusion, which would have been nice to know.

My take

Unfortunately, I live in a high-pollen area and have extreme seasonal allergies, so house burping would work for me only during certain times of the year. I would also be interested to see how it affected my energy bill, especially during the summer months, when it regularly crosses 90 degrees here.

One appealing aspect: House burping might help reduce some moisture during the sticky summer months. (My dehumidifier works overtime from May to October.) I’d be interested to see what the trade-off would be between my energy bill and the humidity and pollen levels later in the year.

So will I keep house burping?

This was free, easy and effective, so I’ll likely keep house burping during months when the weather is good and the pollen count is low. I imagine the effect on my energy bill is low, but that’s something I’ll have to test later in the year. If you’re cranking the heat at the height of winter in the Northeast and leaving your windows open for 10 minutes a day, your energy bills might see a bigger spike right now.

Setting a daily timer is a smart move I plan to adopt, at least until the process becomes second nature. If you want to try out the trend but worry you’ll forget to close your windows, this simple step could do the trick. At the very least, you may lose that precious heat or air conditioning for a shorter time frame than if you forgot the crucial closing step.

Still on the fence? If you feel like your air quality is poor or stale, I’d definitely recommend house burping.

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Sources:

New York Times: “Should We All Be ‘House Burping’?”
EPA: “Volatile Organic Compounds’ Impact on Indoor Air Quality”
Building and Environment: “A field intervention study of the effects of window and door opening on bedroom IAQ, sleep quality, and next-day cognitive performance”
EPA: “A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home”
National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health: “Carbon Dioxide in Indoor Air”
Pathogens and Immunity: “Evaluation of Interventions to Improve Ventilation in Households to Reduce Risk for Transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2”
Environmental Health Insights: “COVID-19 and Ventilation in the Home; Investigating Peoples’ Perceptions and Self-Reported Behaviour”
National Library of Medicine: “WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Dampness and Mould”

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