Room ventilation

[Gareth J]

Sorry! I was confusing that supplier with another. I should have done my Googling before not after posting!

No need to apologise! I'm new to all this MVHR business either way so don't really know what I'm on about. Anyway, it's just arrived...

 

[gaz1]

im going to be a little honest here

I dont love insulation eps infact i hate the stuff

ive seen the damage years ago from polystyrene fires and the effects of it

and eps insulation just reminds me of it

a blast from the past

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12614378.father-and-four-children-die-in-tenement-fire/

the worst part is grenfell and we are being forced to install it in our homes by council planning

seen as this vid is close to insulation then plasterboarded ceiling and walls im going to show you this video

remember this when facing a fire with eps insulation

 

[rtcosic]

I'm new to all this MVHR business

You will love it! I installed a whole house system back in 1989 when we built this house. They have moved on a lot.

Filtered fresh air, so no hayfever, asthma etc. Every room smells clean and fresh at all times. Bathroom mirrors and windows are clear of condensation by the time you have mopped the shower. No cooking smells.
The downside is everyone else's house smells musty and stale.

 

[DAPPH]

Move the sofa.

You might not have a damp problem as such, just that behind the sofa will be a zone of dead or stagnant air, especially if it is made of leather or other impervious material.

A small fan (maybe a computer fan) to ensure circulation might cure the problem. Even a 12" gap behind the sofa will improve things.

Had the same problem when we moved into the bungalow we now live in. I put a planed up varnished bit of scaff board along the length of the back of the sofa on the carpet as a spacer & did the same with my daughters single bed to keep it away from the wall but used two widths of scaff board .

Cleaned the mould off IIRC with 50 ml of white wine vinegar 50 ml of eucalyptus oil and 10 ml of lavender ( recipe off the " Filthy house SOS " sky TV programme ) did the same in the bathroom and bedrooms ..it's not come back . Proprietary mould removers being mainly bleach bsed didn't work for long .
,
Added trickle vents to all windows using a 10 mm UPVC plastics drill put in a vented hob extractor in and also two ceiling fans /lights vented to the outside on 40 minute timers in the bath room as three of us showering twice a day didn't help in keeping the moisture down especially as my wife and daughter had waist length hair which took ages to dry . Also found Mr Nearly the PO had screwed the central heating and hot water system using self amalgamating tape to make joints & utter incompetence at DIY . The area within the foundations had flooded and started to evaporate though the internal walls ..It took a couple of weeks to drain out once I'd got to the foundation concrete and took a 1/4 of a concrete building block out ..

 

[DAPPH]

I seem to remember it before, i just washed the wall down with dilute bleach. Yes its is an external wall and a window wall, south facing, so gets plenty of daylight. I had to bung up the vent, the amount of air coming in was madness, couldn't keep the room warm, and could hear people walking by talking clearly and the traffic too.

If you have vents and are closing them off in an attempt warm your home for goodness sake get a couple of CO2 alarms s the reason for the vents may be to comply with safety & the fire/boiler installation air requirement for a safe atmosphere to breath

 

[DAPPH]

Am about to take delivery of a small MVHR unit. It's to fit into a new build lean to. No issues with condensation yet but it's an easy install and by all accounts should provide a pleasant environment. Plus it includesa porch so lots of wet things to try to dry out.

If it goes well, will be putting another in the loft to help battle the black mould shower room which, despite a humidity activated extractor, still sweats with condensation or is freezing cold. Or both.

One thing I'm not sure about is what happens when the "fresh" air is at 100% humidity. A lot of days here are spent inside a cloud, or so it feels.

Picture , data and any other details will be most welcome as we are thinking of such a thing ..

We put a heating cable set up c/w timeclock & temp control in the bathroom floor so it is warm at the usual showering times and able to dry the floor out .. put one extractor / 12volt light unit above the shower cubical and another over the bath . Both come on when the main bathroom light set is switched on found that they almost dry the floor but not quite .. they run on timers which ought to be for 80 min not 40 min .

Being an incoming mains pressure power shower and me liking it rather hot means when I shower I also have to open the window to get it dried out whilst the fans are on. Was thinking of putting in a humidistat but didn't want the fans coming on during dead mans hours to wake me up .

 

[DAPPH]

Yes. Agreed. As part of the plan is IWI and curing whatever is allowing bits of the wa to be saturated (which I'm sure it is in the winter).



It's a blauberg unit. Smallest model they do. Got it from fastlec. Looks ok for a "budget" option at "only" ~£300.

It will have to save a lot of oil to pay for itself, which I doubt it ever will. More about an improved living environment that you hopefully don't need to constantly manually moderate. Like opening/shutting windows

Seeing where you live the sea will not help .. sealing the home &( UPVC windows & doors and putting in a total MVHRS does like Rob says seem to be the best solution . The recovered dry heat will drop your heating bills tremendously .

Just putting in tripple glazing and a new door without a letter box & adding a roof void top up of the latest insulation , has seen us drop from using 1800 litres of heating oil a year to less than 600 litres in 11 months ... there may be grants available at " warmer homes grants " or similar & by putting your electricity supplier in front of warmer homes bit.

 

[minimutly]

You will love it! I installed a whole house system back in 1989 when we built this house. They have moved on a lot.

Filtered fresh air, so no hayfever, asthma etc. Every room smells clean and fresh at all times. Bathroom mirrors and windows are clear of condensation by the time you have mopped the shower. No cooking smells.
The downside is everyone else's house smells musty and stale.

Hmm, "fresh at all times"? What happens when the local farmers are spreading slurry - does it fill the house before you know it?

 

[ronan]

If you have vents and are closing them off in an attempt warm your home for goodness sake get a couple of CO2 alarms s the reason for the vents may be to comply with safety & the fire/boiler installation air requirement for a safe atmosphere to breath

The boiler is in a shed across the yard, no need.

 

[DAPPH]

Hmm, "fresh at all times"? What happens when the local farmers are spreading slurry - does it fill the house before you know it?

It's one of the benefits & delights of deciding to live in the countryside , the more deep breaths you take .........the quicker it goes .

 

[brightspark]

It's one of the benefits & delights of deciding to live in the countryside , the more deep breaths you take .........the quicker it goes .

was working in a nice house out in the sticks bad news was it absolutely stinks right next to a pigfarm and guess which way the prevailing wind blows

 

[Gareth J]

You will love it! I installed a whole house system back in 1989 when we built this house. They have moved on a lot.

Filtered fresh air, so no hayfever, asthma etc. Every room smells clean and fresh at all times. Bathroom mirrors and windows are clear of condensation by the time you have mopped the shower. No cooking smells.
The downside is everyone else's house smells musty and stale.

Hope so. Only a small one for the lean to but at the moment. Rest of house needs more work to make it sensible I think.

Hmm, "fresh at all times"? What happens when the local farmers are spreading slurry - does it fill the house before you know it?

...hope not! But thoughtful location of the outdoor air source grille should help. And there's always the off switch

 

[minimutly]

Hope so. Only a small one for the lean to but at the moment. Rest of house needs more work to make it sensible I think.



...hope not! But thoughtful location of the outdoor air source grille should help. And there's always the off switch

Thoughtful location? Let me tell you, we have remote silage producing fields north and south of us. If we are really unlucky with the wind we can catch it from both directions, for about 3 days at a time, 3 times a year. Worst case scenario me and the wife get home to a house stinking like a s***heap. You can however, predict when it will happen - the first dryish day after sileage harvesting usually.

 

[Gareth J]

Thoughtful location? Let me tell you, we have remote silage producing fields north and south of us. If we are really unlucky with the wind we can catch it from both directions, for about 3 days at a time, 3 times a year. Worst case scenario me and the wife get home to a house stinking like a s***heap. You can however, predict when it will happen - the first dryish day after sileage harvesting usually.

That sucks! It's a pretty pervading aroma!

 

[minimutly]

That sucks! It's a pretty pervading aroma!

To be fair we grew up on and around farms so it's nothing new. The way of farming has changed though - small farms, which we had around us have all been bought up by bigger farms that use the land for silage, three or four crops a year.

 

[rtcosic]

Hmm, "fresh at all times"? What happens when the local farmers are spreading slurry - does it fill the house before you know it?

Oh yes, we have the delightful old school slurry spreading aroma at times !

Oddly just yesterday as SWMBO dragged me out for the 'voluntary' daily exercise as soon as we opened the door the faint smell was there.

Evidently, I passed the Not-COVID test. As we walked up towards the fields the smell became increasingly fragrant.

No smell indoors. I can't claim the inlet air filter removes all smells all the time, but we really don't smell it indoors.

I wouldn't like to test that in your case though - that seems much too severe a test!

If you like that sort of thing you could arrange for one of those timed perfume sprayers to squirt into the fresh air distribution plenum. I did it once with an aerosol and the whole house smelled evenly putrid for quite some time. Like the old days of walking into the Tart's Boudoir at the entrance to a department store. Not enough solvent carrier to make your eyes water fortunately.

 

[minimutly]

Lol at "tarts boudoir" bit like the duty free at airports, puke inducing..

 

[willie.macleod]

Hmm, "fresh at all times"? What happens when the local farmers are spreading slurry - does it fill the house before you know it?

Easily dealt with by adding an active charcoal filter to your inlet side of your MVHR system.

 

[Gareth J]

Some were requesting a review of what I have installed.

It's a Blauberg D105A.

So far, it's ok. It's quite a (relatively) cheap one so isn't so efficient as one of the passivhaus standard ones, which claim over 80% efficient.

Is only operating in a lean to/extension a whole house one would be much bigger.

The supply fan cuts out below 5C to protect the HX from frost. You can tweak its thermostat but presumably is there for a reason. More expensive units have a little heater to help.

It works, the air coming in is much warmed. But it's a lot of expense for the unit and faff to get all the insulated piping in place.

 

[DAPPH]

was working in a nice house out in the sticks bad news was it absolutely stinks right next to a pigfarm and guess which way the prevailing wind blows

Years ago at one of the local farm gala days we used to attend , I met this gorgeous volumptious natural curly haired blond gal & her family who lived at a farm 23 miles away .

I nearly puked when she gave me a cuddle ..yep her dad owned a 200 plus intensive pig farm unit , their five bedroomed house was abut 60 mtrs away from it & 80 mtrs from the massive 60x 60 mtr open slurry pit that could take a 10 foot depth of pig slurry with ease . Cor did she & her family stink .. every bit of their clothing bottled too . She said she never knew any different having been born at the house and having lived on site for 18 years.
Glad we met though , for after she discovered I was a shooter with moderated .22 ,another rifle , a shottie & an open licence she introduced me to her dad & I got shooting & trapping rights over almost 600 acres to cull as many rabbits & foxes as possible in and around the pig farm lands .