Envirovent/whole house ventilation - any good?
Discussion
Hello all.
Apologies if this has been posted before as a topic - the search facility seems to be down so I couldn't check.
I've recently moved into a maisonette with thick hard walls and piss-poor ventilation. Yep, you guessed it; condensation and black mould on walls and window frames. I've invested in a dehumidifier, which is very effective in the one room its positioned in but doesn't do a great deal for the rest of the house. Plus, I'm concerned about my 'leccy bill. And I'm sick of cracking open the windows all over to increase ventilation. Especially in this bloody freezing weather.
Just saw an ad on the telly for Envirovent and their whole house ventilation systems. Anyone have any experience of them or similar systems? Any good? Any other recommendations for dealing with this sort of issue more comprehensively? I reckon Envirovent might be rather pricey but I'd really like to nail this problem on the head once and for all.
Thanks in advance!
Apologies if this has been posted before as a topic - the search facility seems to be down so I couldn't check.
I've recently moved into a maisonette with thick hard walls and piss-poor ventilation. Yep, you guessed it; condensation and black mould on walls and window frames. I've invested in a dehumidifier, which is very effective in the one room its positioned in but doesn't do a great deal for the rest of the house. Plus, I'm concerned about my 'leccy bill. And I'm sick of cracking open the windows all over to increase ventilation. Especially in this bloody freezing weather.
Just saw an ad on the telly for Envirovent and their whole house ventilation systems. Anyone have any experience of them or similar systems? Any good? Any other recommendations for dealing with this sort of issue more comprehensively? I reckon Envirovent might be rather pricey but I'd really like to nail this problem on the head once and for all.
Thanks in advance!
I'd also be interested to hear whether anyone has any experience of these type of systems as we have a similar problem.
Having done some research, the Drimaster from Nuaire does that same thing as the Envirovent system, but is considerably cheaper, as they don't install the unit themselves. We've been quoted £625 for the Nuaire unit including VAT and installation.
Having done some research, the Drimaster from Nuaire does that same thing as the Envirovent system, but is considerably cheaper, as they don't install the unit themselves. We've been quoted £625 for the Nuaire unit including VAT and installation.
I was renting a house back in '97 and the landlord put one of these systems in to help with condensation in the coldest part of the house.
The installers just put a pump up in the loft and drilled a hole in a wall and charged £1000. A £5 PC fan as an extractor stuck in a wall would have been just as good.
It really didn't help much.
Basically, you get condensation in the coldest part of the house so thermally upgrade it with better windows, cavity wall, insulated plasterboard etc. From my research, the key is to make sure it never falls below 12/13'C.
So I would spend the money on insulation rather than a whole house ventilation system. Once the house is properly insulated, a heat exchange could make sense but is expensive.
I've done this on my house and now only get condensation in a very small shower room which clears using an open window in a few minutes.
The installers just put a pump up in the loft and drilled a hole in a wall and charged £1000. A £5 PC fan as an extractor stuck in a wall would have been just as good.
It really didn't help much.
Basically, you get condensation in the coldest part of the house so thermally upgrade it with better windows, cavity wall, insulated plasterboard etc. From my research, the key is to make sure it never falls below 12/13'C.
So I would spend the money on insulation rather than a whole house ventilation system. Once the house is properly insulated, a heat exchange could make sense but is expensive.
I've done this on my house and now only get condensation in a very small shower room which clears using an open window in a few minutes.
I have just moved in to a 2 bedroom bungalow which has a envirovent whole house ventilation system fitted by the previous owners in 2007. The original owners paid about £600 to have it fitted. Its set on lowest ventilation setting but has a medium, high and boost setting.
The DC electric motor is mounted in the loft with a large pipe going through the ceiling in the hall to a very unobtrusive low level box fixed to the ceiling which the filtered air comes from.
According to the service engineer who came and replaced the external filter and showed me how it worked said it cost about 1.5p a day to run on the low setting. The filters are not cheep at £45 + vat but they are supposedly usable for 5 years, I will let you know in 5 yrs time.
In winter the air temperature is monitored and a heating element cuts in to keep the incoming air at 10C
Since I have not used it over the winter it remains to be seen how effective it is in very cold weather and how expensive it is to run
When we viewed the house in January the couple who owned it were still on holiday and had been away for about 3 weeks so we were able to have a good look round the house and we did not see any signs of condensation or mold nor did our surveyor when he looked round the house a week later while the owners were still on holiday.
The DC electric motor is mounted in the loft with a large pipe going through the ceiling in the hall to a very unobtrusive low level box fixed to the ceiling which the filtered air comes from.
According to the service engineer who came and replaced the external filter and showed me how it worked said it cost about 1.5p a day to run on the low setting. The filters are not cheep at £45 + vat but they are supposedly usable for 5 years, I will let you know in 5 yrs time.
In winter the air temperature is monitored and a heating element cuts in to keep the incoming air at 10C
Since I have not used it over the winter it remains to be seen how effective it is in very cold weather and how expensive it is to run
When we viewed the house in January the couple who owned it were still on holiday and had been away for about 3 weeks so we were able to have a good look round the house and we did not see any signs of condensation or mold nor did our surveyor when he looked round the house a week later while the owners were still on holiday.
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