Trickle vents - help reduce mould?
Discussion
Sleepers said:
Sounds familiar.
Our old house had UPVC sash windows installed by the previous occupier with no trickle vents and suffered the issue you mention.
We just contacted a local window company who retro fitted trickle vents on all the windows for peanuts.
Immediately the house felt so much healthier with issues sorted
Cheers
I actually bought some trickle vents from Amazon with a view to installing them myself. They're in the garage waiting to be fitted. Before I butchered the window frames, though, I thought I'd ask here to see if they're worth doing. Seems to be a mixed bag bag of answers. Perhaps I'll fit them well as the Drimaster unit.Our old house had UPVC sash windows installed by the previous occupier with no trickle vents and suffered the issue you mention.
We just contacted a local window company who retro fitted trickle vents on all the windows for peanuts.
Immediately the house felt so much healthier with issues sorted
Cheers
SVS said:
How easy are trickle vents to DIY retrofit to PVC windows? It looks easy, but I've heard otherwise 
bloke with a drill (admittedly from a window company!) fitted mine in about 10-15 mins each. Looked pretty simple but some windows couldnt be done where it was all quite tight. The ones I have are either fully open or closed, there's no in-between option.Still waiting on the OPs review of his PIV unit. But since I'm doing so much work to the house I'm 99% sure I'm going ahead with installing one.
Bump - there have been a few mention of drimaster/PIV units and from reading the comments it sounds like something that we need.
The question is - where do we find a company to fit one? We live in Solihull (South of Birmingham) and most searches bring up national companies with 0800 numbers. What kind of company do I need to be searching for to find someone local who can install one of these? They seem to be pretty specialist...
The question is - where do we find a company to fit one? We live in Solihull (South of Birmingham) and most searches bring up national companies with 0800 numbers. What kind of company do I need to be searching for to find someone local who can install one of these? They seem to be pretty specialist...
Perfect Post Timing
We've just decided to go with PIV unit as well. We don't have a major problem but the off set of healthier living as well makes real sense.
We are going with a joint one that will add a little heat but also switch to drawing air from outside of the heat in the lost gets above 25 degrees
Should work well for the summer as well.
V.
We've just decided to go with PIV unit as well. We don't have a major problem but the off set of healthier living as well makes real sense.
We are going with a joint one that will add a little heat but also switch to drawing air from outside of the heat in the lost gets above 25 degrees
Should work well for the summer as well.
V.
giger said:
Bump - there have been a few mention of drimaster/PIV units and from reading the comments it sounds like something that we need.
The question is - where do we find a company to fit one? We live in Solihull (South of Birmingham) and most searches bring up national companies with 0800 numbers. What kind of company do I need to be searching for to find someone local who can install one of these? They seem to be pretty specialist...
An electrician fitted ours. Just a hole cut in the ceiling and a fused spur in the loftThe question is - where do we find a company to fit one? We live in Solihull (South of Birmingham) and most searches bring up national companies with 0800 numbers. What kind of company do I need to be searching for to find someone local who can install one of these? They seem to be pretty specialist...
AlexC1981 said:
Is equipment really necessary? Whenever I get beads of moisture build up in the corners of my windows I open a window for 5 or 10 minutes to let the moisture in the air equalise with the outside. Seems to do the trick.
That's actually the right thing to do - ideally open all the windows in the house for 5 mins and then shut them again. This changes the air without chilling the fabric of the house so it'll warm up as soon as the windows are closed. But doing this frequently enough is a bit impractical.You're not equalising the moisture though. The outside air will likely be even higher relative humidity (RH) than the inside BUT it's colder so contains less mositure. Once that air warms up in the house its RH drops - it drops 5% for every degree C increase in temp. So even 100% RH air at 10C becomes 50% when you bring it into the house and warm it up to 20C.
Some people like to keep windows open a bit all the time - snag with that is it cools the area around the window, the glass, the window reveals etc, and you'll get condensation forming if those surface temps are cooled to lower than the dew point.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Tuesday 24th November 11:44
If I was buying another dehumidifier I'd get another desiccant one (got 2 x Ruby Dry 800's now):
http://www.meaco.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DD8L
The big advantages are they are still efficient at lower temps (ie below 15 degrees C) and also give off some warm air themselves. They have been invaluable when we had no heating in the house.
FFG
http://www.meaco.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DD8L
The big advantages are they are still efficient at lower temps (ie below 15 degrees C) and also give off some warm air themselves. They have been invaluable when we had no heating in the house.
FFG
My roof terrace is accessed via a small, wooden-framed structure (no more than 3x2m), with very old (possibly blown) double-glazing. My first winter in the flat highlighted a major issue with condensation and damp building up in this area. Believe it or not, a small dehumidifier and a fan heater have completely solved the issue. There is seldom any build-up of condensation, and running the heater for 20min every couple of days makes a big difference.
The reason I mention this is that the dehumidifier (Pro Breeze compact, on Amazon) is very quiet, and appears to make a big difference (I empty it between once and twice a week). Two of these in tandem should have a fairly significant impact on an average-sized room, for very little outlay.
The reason I mention this is that the dehumidifier (Pro Breeze compact, on Amazon) is very quiet, and appears to make a big difference (I empty it between once and twice a week). Two of these in tandem should have a fairly significant impact on an average-sized room, for very little outlay.
Muncher said:
The Drimaster is DIY if you are capable of cutting a hole in the ceiling, you then need to get an electrician to give it a power feed from the loft, it is dead easy.
How do you know the best location for it? Do you just go with the middle of the ceiling in the landing, or if the problem is more acute in other areas should the vent be positioned there? I know a good sparky that could cut the hole and fit the unit but presumed you needed some kind of survey to find the optimal position
I called the company and chatted to them a bit about that. They basically said the top floor, middle of hallway.
I was trying to figure out if it should be above the stairs, or more just center of the hall upstairs, and the woman said hallway.
However, I will double check just before I get around to installing it. Also note it has to be a certain distance away from smoke detectors.
I was trying to figure out if it should be above the stairs, or more just center of the hall upstairs, and the woman said hallway.
However, I will double check just before I get around to installing it. Also note it has to be a certain distance away from smoke detectors.
I've just fitted one in our loft, we've always had issues with condensation on windows and I'm interested if it (and the massive hole I hacked out of my pristine, recently plastered ceiling) will make a difference.
I was a bit surprised about the size of the thing, it's a bit of a lump. It's worth checking if it'll fit if you're thinking of buying.
I was a bit surprised about the size of the thing, it's a bit of a lump. It's worth checking if it'll fit if you're thinking of buying.
giger said:
How do you know the best location for it? Do you just go with the middle of the ceiling in the landing, or if the problem is more acute in other areas should the vent be positioned there?
I know a good sparky that could cut the hole and fit the unit but presumed you needed some kind of survey to find the optimal position
It just needs to be in the upstairs hallway I think, it is effective over the whole house.I know a good sparky that could cut the hole and fit the unit but presumed you needed some kind of survey to find the optimal position
H..... said:
We had a similar problem in our London flat, it can be left unoccupied for a couple of months at a time, a builder suggested a PIV http://www.nuaire.co.uk/our-products/Residential/p... it runs 24/7 and has solved the problem 100%.
We had one of these fitted 12 months ago. The unheated conservatory still needs a dehumidifier but the rest of the house is warm and at 45% humidity, despite the outside being almost permanently at 99% down here in sunny Cornwall.Well worth the money.
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