Heat Recovery Ventilation System?

marshallka

Anyone got one or anything similar like the "lofty" and any advice on these much appreciated. This is to cure a problem with black mould (corners of two bedrooms, around ceiling tops of windows)and condensation. We have before had a damp specialist round and was tested for actual "damp" but none there, just the condensation and mould. Got fitted wardrobes and have to empty them in the winter. Mould grows on everything (green mould here) . We already constantly run a dehumidifier but want something better than this as the problem is still there. Thinking of replacing soffits and eaves etc but will that be a complete cure? Heard that ventilation is our only cure but not got any real feedback on these systems although reading on them they do look good.

(PS I don't need the run down on "condensation" probs and what "we" can do to eliviate it as we already to everything and its our last resort. We have tried EVERYTHING for this problems for 14 years).

Our house is a bungalow and built in the 60's and has polysterene cavity wall already although I have heard that alone can cause problems. We have replaced our boiler too and have the loft mostly boarded out although we do need some more insulation there but from what we can tell no problems of damp in the actual loft.

We have not got the money to replace the wardrobes, do the soffits, eaves etc and also the loft insulation so would it be better to just get the unit for now. Although we have wooden eaves etc we cannot see any rotting as such as they have been maintained but is it best to do them and get ventilation in that way.

Any input much appreciated.

I am now at the end of my tether with this one.

dampdaveski

Hi Marsha,
I've fitted literally hundreds of these units and they work a treat. I have one in my house, my sisters got one, my ma has one and half the lads at work have 'em too ;-),
The lofty to be quite honest is cheap and nasty, and can be savagly overpriced- some idiot on ebay sells them for £400 - RIP OFF!!
Nuaire invented the positive input ventilation systems in 1972.
they have a few units but even the base model 'drimaster' will solve your problems with ease
Envirovent have one too, that works equally well.
Manufacturers - http://www.nuaire.co.uk/Product/Residential_Products
or www.envirovent.com
You can get the nuaire products online quite reasonably, I use www.condensationproducts.co.uk
there are plenty of others that sell similar units, but these are the peeps I have experience of using.
So fitting a drimaster unit (or similar) will i'm sure solve your problem :-)
hope this helps

marshallka

dampdaveski wrote: »

Hi Marsha,
I've fitted literally hundreds of these units and they work a treat. I have one in my house, my sisters got one, my ma has one and half the lads at work have 'em too ;-),
The lofty to be quite honest is cheap and nasty, and can be savagly overpriced- some idiot on ebay sells them for £400 - RIP OFF!!
Nuaire invented the positive input ventilation systems in 1972.
they have a few units but even the base model 'drimaster' will solve your problems with ease
Envirovent have one too, that works equally well.
Manufacturers - http://www.nuaire.co.uk/Product/Residential_Products
or www.envirovent.com
You can get the nuaire products online quite reasonably, I use www.condensationproducts.co.uk
there are plenty of others that sell similar units, but these are the peeps I have experience of using.
So fitting a drimaster unit (or similar) will i'm sure solve your problem :-)
hope this helps

Hi, thanks for the reply.

We are a bit dubious of the drimaster or the lofty as they don't have vents in every room but must read up some more.

Do they cost a lot to install and also how much to run? I take it we would not have to run a dehumidifier as well as this as that would be defeating the object. Also what about noise? I like my sleep? Would you think that getting this fitted is better than trying the soffits and eaves perhaps? I want a definate solution and mighty quick as i really cannot stand another year like this. I do ventilate the house all the time with windows open but this mould just keep coming back, especially in my wardrobe (Does one of these units help in fitted wardrobes too??????) and my daughters room is very small and if she has a sleepover the window needs towels in to mop up the condensation and that is with the dehumidifier running. We leave that running all night too and its centrally located.

SOrry for all the questions.....:o

brig001

I would try to find where to damp is coming from first. If you fit HRV, you could be masking the problem. I assume you have suspended timber floors, is the ground below these wet? Is the floor properly ventilated? Ask the neighbours if they have/had similar problems. It sounds like more moisture is coming into the house than normal.

HTH,
Bri.

marshallka

brig001 wrote: »

I would try to find where to damp is coming from first. If you fit HRV, you could be masking the problem. I assume you have suspended timber floors, is the ground below these wet? Is the floor properly ventilated? Ask the neighbours if they have/had similar problems. It sounds like more moisture is coming into the house than normal.

HTH,
Bri.

Thanks, its not "damp" but condensation alone and black mould growth because of it. We are in a bungalow with bichumen floors. Our loft is mostly floor boarded.

brig001

Sorry, bad word. From reading your first post, it seems like more than just condensation, but you probably thought that 14 years ago. Hope you get it sorted. Bri.

dampdaveski

Hi Marsh,
I speak with experience of the drimaster units
So I'll try to respond to each question :-)
Vents in every room
As the inlet grille is fitted in the hallway, the unit will vent every room (within reason)
Install costs
An electrician who knows the units could install one in less than an hour. Even one who hasn't fitted one before should be able to do it in under 3 hours, so i'm guessing somewhere around the £100 mark would not be unreasonable
Noise
Less than 15 decibals! i.e. quieter than a fridge. If I listen for my unit I can just hear it when it's very quiet and i'm stood underneath the grille. I cannot hear it in any of my bedrooms, i've also NEVER had anyone complain about the noise :-)
Dehumidifier
I usually tell people to sell it on ebay or put it in the loft, they are good for water leaks, but cost 2-3 pence an hour to run and they are reacting to the condensation problem AFTER it has happened
Soffits & Eaves
by all means replace them if they need replacing, don't replace them thinking it will improve your 'mould' problems as I suspect it won't make any difference internally at all - unless of course they are leaking and letitng waterinto the house
Wardrobes
By fitting a loft unit you are diluting the moisture laden air that is getting into the wardrobes, so effectively you are removing the problem before the wardrobes are affected
Running Costs
Drimasters which I fit the most, cost around a penny a day to run as they have a transformer to run the unit on DC electric, they are rated on a 1 amp fuse too
I don't work for nuaire either ;-)
hope this little lot helps, any further questions just let me know

marshallka

dampdaveski wrote: »

Hi Marsh,
I speak with experience of the drimaster units
So I'll try to respond to each question :-)
Vents in every room
As the inlet grille is fitted in the hallway, the unit will vent every room (within reason)
Install costs
An electrician who knows the units could install one in less than an hour. Even one who hasn't fitted one before should be able to do it in under 3 hours, so i'm guessing somewhere around the £100 mark would not be unreasonable
Noise
Less than 15 decibals! i.e. quieter than a fridge. If I listen for my unit I can just hear it when it's very quiet and i'm stood underneath the grille. I cannot hear it in any of my bedrooms, i've also NEVER had anyone complain about the noise :-)
Dehumidifier
I usually tell people to sell it on ebay or put it in the loft, they are good for water leaks, but cost 2-3 pence an hour to run and they are reacting to the condensation problem AFTER it has happened
Soffits & Eaves
by all means replace them if they need replacing, don't replace them thinking it will improve your 'mould' problems as I suspect it won't make any difference internally at all - unless of course they are leaking and letitng waterinto the house
Wardrobes
By fitting a loft unit you are diluting the moisture laden air that is getting into the wardrobes, so effectively you are removing the problem before the wardrobes are affected
Running Costs
Drimasters which I fit the most, cost around a penny a day to run as they have a transformer to run the unit on DC electric, they are rated on a 1 amp fuse too
I don't work for nuaire either ;-)
hope this little lot helps, any further questions just let me know

MY hubby is an electrician.

How much is the cost of actually having one fitted as he has little time really and I would appreciate someone actually TELLING us where best to fit it etc.

Got someone tomorrow evening coming about soffits and eaves etc so that is a maybe but would definately like one of these units fitting for the condensation.

We are in a bungalow and loft access is OK . We run the dehumidifier in the hall. The back of the house is actually worse for the condensation and is north east I think.

PM me if you wish and you think you can help me more.

dampdaveski

Hi Marsh,
If your hubby is a sparks, he won't thank me i'm sure, but he will have it installed in an hour.
Install instructions and brochures are all available here LINK (link is for condensation products site)I should email them this asking for discount next time i order
Best place for the grille has to be in your hallway (definately not bathrooms or kitchens), depending on the layout keep your grille a metre away from walls, if you can't use the foam inserts to reduce airflow blowing onto walls. honestly the units really are a piece of cake to install.
As long as the grille is in the hall it doesn't really matter where it goes, but as a rule of thumb the more central the better, or i suppose if it can go to the end of the house with the biggest problem it might be a bit more effective
let me know if you have any more questions :-)

marshallka

dampdaveski wrote: »

Hi Marsh,
If your hubby is a sparks, he won't thank me i'm sure, but he will have it installed in an hour.
Install instructions and brochures are all available here LINK (link is for condensation products site)I should email them this asking for discount next time i order
Best place for the grille has to be in your hallway (definately not bathrooms or kitchens), depending on the layout keep your grille a metre away from walls, if you can't use the foam inserts to reduce airflow blowing onto walls. honestly the units really are a piece of cake to install.
As long as the grille is in the hall it doesn't really matter where it goes, but as a rule of thumb the more central the better, or i suppose if it can go to the end of the house with the biggest problem it might be a bit more effective
let me know if you have any more questions :-)

Thanks for this. Just shown him the install details and he says it looks very easy. We just need to find the best place to install. Thanks so much for taking the time to post all the info on this. Its very kind of you.

We are only a small bungalow and its mainly the back of the house that has the probs. We are going to look into buying this for definate.

Once again many thanks:beer:

dampdaveski

my pleasure, nice to be appreciated:j
hope it goes well