4 ms·

I'm still amazed seeing "x panes" windows that are supoosed to be great with a "trinkle vent"/ aka adjustable gap - at the top of them to let air in/ out!!!

switch007 4y ago
Exactly! I pleaded with the window company not to put vents in the new windows, as my house is already very draughty. They said it’s the law. They are cheap and poorly designed so they let in lots of noise too. And I had to tape them off because of the draught they let in even when closed.
- mnw21cam 4y ago
  A house does need ventilation. It's incredible how quickly humidity and carbon dioxide build up in an enclosed space from just breathing. The carbon dioxide is bad for you (reduces your ability to concentrate), and the humidity will have to condense out somewhere (on the coldest part of the house, which will usually be the windows, but wherever it is, it'll help mould to grow). However, getting that ventilation using trickle vents in windows is just a stupid way to do it. You're letting all the heat vent out, and letting the noise in. A better way is with a mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system. That sucks air out of some rooms (the bathroom and kitchen are recommended), and passes it through a heat exchanger before pushing it outside, while simultaneously pulling in fresh air from outside, heating it up in the heat exchanger (for free) and blowing it into other rooms (such as bedrooms and the lounge). This is the proper way to do it. A MVHR system only really makes sense if your house is otherwise fairly non-leaky. However, if you do install it, then it can take over the bathroom and kitchen extraction, and it allows you to plug all those leaks and insulate well, without causing stale air problems.
  - switch007 4y ago
    My house has plenty. I’m very sensitive to lack of fresh air, so I would know. The kitchen fitters did a terrible job and left lots of holes in the walls behind the cabinets and the floor is extremely draughty. There are huge exposed air bricks to keep the timber dry which also causes draughts everywhere downstairs even with good carpeting. And it’s open plan from the kitchen to upstairs so those draughts make their way upstairs. I also live on a hill and get plenty of prevailing wind. I spend a huge amount on energy trying to keep warm - it’s hard to know which bits to tackle to keep warm but not to cause structural and other problems… MVHR makes total sense and sounds superior. I’m sure the builders have successfully lobbied against such a sensible suggestion for decades and that’s why we have (I imagine) such stupid and basic solutions in our building regulations. I feel like UK houses lack infrastructure that the likes of the US and Europe have. Even kitchen ventilation is such an afterthought
  - jaclaz 4y ago
    Nowadays, with lots of places being converted to be more "energy efficient", the interventions are typically: 1) huge thickness thermal insulation on the exterior 2) double/triple gaze (airtight minus the small built-in ventilations) windows 3) NO added mechanical ventilation The bets are on on how long it will take for people to realize that if they do not vent manually the house humidity/mould will form. This has already happened for houses built some 10-15 years ago (the first houses built as Class A or Class B) that - even if newly built - did not usually provide mechanical ventilation. There are on the market since a few years small "in-pipe" mechanical ventilators, including a heat exchanger, basically you make a 100 or 120 mm hole in the wall and put in it a pipe that contains the vent and heat exchanger, they are very suitable to install "as an afterthought". Trouble is that they work on "alternate cycle", i.e. they suck air from the inside for - say - 30 seconds (warming the heat exchanger), then they push air from the outside for another 30 seconds, and they may be (or become) noisy, new models have built-on timers to be able (as an example) to switch off at night if in bedrooms or switch off in the evening in the living room, etc.

switch007 4y ago

Exactly! I pleaded with the window company not to put vents in the new windows, as my house is already very draughty. They said it’s the law. They are cheap and poorly designed so they let in lots of noise too. And I had to tape them off because of the draught they let in even when closed.

mnw21cam 4y ago
A house does need ventilation. It's incredible how quickly humidity and carbon dioxide build up in an enclosed space from just breathing. The carbon dioxide is bad for you (reduces your ability to concentrate), and the humidity will have to condense out somewhere (on the coldest part of the house, which will usually be the windows, but wherever it is, it'll help mould to grow). However, getting that ventilation using trickle vents in windows is just a stupid way to do it. You're letting all the heat vent out, and letting the noise in. A better way is with a mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system. That sucks air out of some rooms (the bathroom and kitchen are recommended), and passes it through a heat exchanger before pushing it outside, while simultaneously pulling in fresh air from outside, heating it up in the heat exchanger (for free) and blowing it into other rooms (such as bedrooms and the lounge). This is the proper way to do it. A MVHR system only really makes sense if your house is otherwise fairly non-leaky. However, if you do install it, then it can take over the bathroom and kitchen extraction, and it allows you to plug all those leaks and insulate well, without causing stale air problems.
- switch007 4y ago
  My house has plenty. I’m very sensitive to lack of fresh air, so I would know. The kitchen fitters did a terrible job and left lots of holes in the walls behind the cabinets and the floor is extremely draughty. There are huge exposed air bricks to keep the timber dry which also causes draughts everywhere downstairs even with good carpeting. And it’s open plan from the kitchen to upstairs so those draughts make their way upstairs. I also live on a hill and get plenty of prevailing wind. I spend a huge amount on energy trying to keep warm - it’s hard to know which bits to tackle to keep warm but not to cause structural and other problems… MVHR makes total sense and sounds superior. I’m sure the builders have successfully lobbied against such a sensible suggestion for decades and that’s why we have (I imagine) such stupid and basic solutions in our building regulations. I feel like UK houses lack infrastructure that the likes of the US and Europe have. Even kitchen ventilation is such an afterthought
- jaclaz 4y ago
  Nowadays, with lots of places being converted to be more "energy efficient", the interventions are typically: 1) huge thickness thermal insulation on the exterior 2) double/triple gaze (airtight minus the small built-in ventilations) windows 3) NO added mechanical ventilation The bets are on on how long it will take for people to realize that if they do not vent manually the house humidity/mould will form. This has already happened for houses built some 10-15 years ago (the first houses built as Class A or Class B) that - even if newly built - did not usually provide mechanical ventilation. There are on the market since a few years small "in-pipe" mechanical ventilators, including a heat exchanger, basically you make a 100 or 120 mm hole in the wall and put in it a pipe that contains the vent and heat exchanger, they are very suitable to install "as an afterthought". Trouble is that they work on "alternate cycle", i.e. they suck air from the inside for - say - 30 seconds (warming the heat exchanger), then they push air from the outside for another 30 seconds, and they may be (or become) noisy, new models have built-on timers to be able (as an example) to switch off at night if in bedrooms or switch off in the evening in the living room, etc.