5 ms·

There is a horrible trend of sealing homes up tight, and then we start to notice a raft of problems developing - in the fabric of the home, and it's inhabitants

There is a horrible trend of sealing homes up tight, and then we start to notice a raft of problems developing - in the fabric of the home, and it's inhabitants. I am lucky to live in a 1930's building in London, with plenty of ventilation built it. It is certainly not the most eco rated property, but, it is healthy. It might cost a couple of pounds more to heat over the year, but, it has proven itself over time, from coal fires, to back boilers, to central heating, air flows throughout, damp does not get a chance to thrive, nor mould nor fungi nor other related issues.

kghose 12y ago
This is interesting. Do you have a reference for this? It seems logical because humans give off moisture a lot and if the air is not exchanged it will accumulate.
blacksmith_tb 12y ago
Passive Houses use active ventilation for just this reason. Mine draws air from outside, runs it through a heat exchange with the air being pumped back outside, and through dual HEPA filters. I breathe much more easily now than in the 100 year old home I lived in for the previous ten years.
akgerber 12y ago
A Passivhaus should be designed to allow for similar ventilation as older houses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house#Ventilation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house#Ventilation I haven't actually examined one in person, so I don't know how well it's been executed in practice, but thought was given to this issue.
danpat 12y ago
Houses with poor ventilation will have problems, but sealing buildings up is good for energy efficiency. "HRV" (heat recovery ventilators) are common and required by code in many cold climates (Canada, northern Europe) which do whole-house ventilation with a heat exchanger so you're not just blowing all your nice warm air straight outside when it's -40C all week. The German Passivhaus standard shows what can be done with this approach, and it works very well.

kghose 12y ago

This is interesting. Do you have a reference for this? It seems logical because humans give off moisture a lot and if the air is not exchanged it will accumulate.

blacksmith_tb 12y ago

Passive Houses use active ventilation for just this reason. Mine draws air from outside, runs it through a heat exchange with the air being pumped back outside, and through dual HEPA filters. I breathe much more easily now than in the 100 year old home I lived in for the previous ten years.

akgerber 12y ago

A Passivhaus should be designed to allow for similar ventilation as older houses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house#Ventilation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house#Ventilation I haven't actually examined one in person, so I don't know how well it's been executed in practice, but thought was given to this issue.

danpat 12y ago

Houses with poor ventilation will have problems, but sealing buildings up is good for energy efficiency. "HRV" (heat recovery ventilators) are common and required by code in many cold climates (Canada, northern Europe) which do whole-house ventilation with a heat exchanger so you're not just blowing all your nice warm air straight outside when it's -40C all week. The German Passivhaus standard shows what can be done with this approach, and it works very well.