Trickle vents - help reduce mould?

Trickle vents - help reduce mould?

Author
Discussion

Sheepshanks

32,531 posts

118 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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driverrob said:
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.
How sure are you the 45% is reasonably accurate? That's a pretty low figure.

I had a cheapo humidity meter that's sitting in the living room showing 40% right now - but a more expensive one next to it is reading 55%!

craigjm

17,909 posts

199 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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H..... said:
defblade said:
craigjm said:
and tackle the lifestyle choices you are making that is causing excess moisture to build up.
You know, like breathing.
LOL, some people (who've never had a damp problem) think that it's easily solved.
Breathing is only one of the issues. There are a huge number of lifestyle choices that build up moisture in addition to that. Bedrooms are often cooler than other rooms in the house, is the heating sufficient? If it's a flat and the bedroom is near the kitchen do you keep doors closed when cooking? Lids on pans to cut down on steam? If the bedroom has a north facing wall and it's always cold have you insulated it? Just a start. Most homes won't need anything more than trickle vents unless they are built like a fortress with nowhere for air to escape and not many are like that.

H.....

483 posts

146 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
craigjm said:
Breathing is only one of the issues. There are a huge number of lifestyle choices that build up moisture in addition to that. Bedrooms are often cooler than other rooms in the house, is the heating sufficient? If it's a flat and the bedroom is near the kitchen do you keep doors closed when cooking? Lids on pans to cut down on steam? If the bedroom has a north facing wall and it's always cold have you insulated it? Just a start. Most homes won't need anything more than trickle vents unless they are built like a fortress with nowhere for air to escape and not many are like that.
Heating is fine. The bedroom is along a short hallway, as far from the kitchen as it could be, but the kitchen doesn't have a door as kitchen, dining, living room and hallway are open plan. The outside wall in the bedroom is about 10% of the room, odd shape. Two of the windows are sash and very old, so they don't seal very well, they are 'trickle vents'.

The PIV cost a few hundred £££'s, so it was the simplest and most cost effective option. I appreciate that different solutions solve different problems but dismissing PIV because you don't like it isn't really very helpful.

Dave_ST220

10,288 posts

204 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
craigjm said:
is the extraction from your bathrooms sufficient etc.
When I did our renovation I fitted cheap in ceiling fans (basically because I'd run out of ££!). 10 months later and I've replaced the lot with these :-

http://powerdiscount.co.uk/manrose-mf100t-in-line-...

We now have zero moisture on the windows, even the mirrors are clear after a hot shower smile

craigjm

17,909 posts

199 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
H..... said:
Heating is fine. The bedroom is along a short hallway, as far from the kitchen as it could be, but the kitchen doesn't have a door as kitchen, dining, living room and hallway are open plan. The outside wall in the bedroom is about 10% of the room, odd shape. Two of the windows are sash and very old, so they don't seal very well, they are 'trickle vents'.

The PIV cost a few hundred £££'s, so it was the simplest and most cost effective option. I appreciate that different solutions solve different problems but dismissing PIV because you don't like it isn't really very helpful.
When did I dismiss a PIV?

The simple fact is mould is caused by moisture. Yes a PIV deals with this but it's not tackling the source. I am glad you have sorted your problem

driverrob

4,687 posts

202 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
driverrob said:
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.
How sure are you the 45% is reasonably accurate? That's a pretty low figure.

I had a cheapo humidity meter that's sitting in the living room showing 40% right now - but a more expensive one next to it is reading 55%!
There's pretty close agreement between an old, simple weather station, the panel for my large weather station and the read-out on top of the dehumidifier which I've had to bring into the kitchen because we've just been cooking and washing up, which took it to 48%.
If it goes much over 50% the PIV pushes that out into the porch and we get condensation running down the walls - and mould after a while.
Incidentally, the PIV is supposed to have a filter fine enough to remove mould spores from the air it draws in. They're everywhere.