redecorating a cold, condensation prone room

marshallka

dampdaveski wrote: »

Hi dixie,
sorry didn't see this thread (should of pm'd me ;-) )
2sheds has pretty much answered it, your father in law should have no problems at all.

2sheds, the main reason why drimasters are not as effective as they should be is down to loft ventilation. If the loft isn't adequately ventilated, the unit won't be putting as much fresh, DRIER filtered air into your house.
Does your roof have tile vents fitted? has it been reroofed recently with 'breathable' felt? or is over boarded in timber before the tiles have been fitted? (usually found in Scotland)

Hi dampskidave we have had ours fitted now for over 2 months and we still have a hell of the problem with condensation in the windows and my wardrobe is still damp as ever! I have to say for what we paid for this I am little impressed. Its done actually nothing. Ours was quoted and charged for the drimaster 2000 but we actually had the standalone drimaster fitted and also its fitted right by our porch door (inner porch door). They cut hole, fitted the thing up the loft and plugged it in. It took them just over half and hour and they charged us £750. We are looking into getting some money back for this for only fitting the standard model and also where they have fitted it (right over the inner front door) is not really ideal.

marshallka

2Sheds wrote: »

Cut hole in celing, hang drimaster, connect power, turn on. Just take your time and don't panic and get in a state if something isn't going right, like I do!!

Drimaster in the loft




Diffuser below



If anyone can explain why I have a drimaster and still get condensation, while the neighbours don't have a drimaster and don't get condensation.
I'll buy you a pint :beer:

We are struggling the same with ours if that is any consolation. I really would not recommend one. Still having to run our dehumidifier and so glad we did not get rid of it as they recommended.

dampdaveski

Hi Marsh,
fitting the diffuser next to the front door isn't the best place for it, unless of course it can't go anywhere else.
If you're still getting problems the following are the main reasons why it won't work as effectively as it should

• Speed setting is too low
• Ventilation to the loft space is not good enough
• The trap hatch isn't sealed (doesn't have to be airtight but a tight seal)
• Has the pipe from the unit to the diffuser come adrift or is it split
• Diffuser (grille in ceiling) not in the hall or landing
• Do you keep internal doors shut all the time
• Are internal doors tight fitting with no gaps at all
• Do you have lots of downlighters without covers on them (moisture can get into the loft through the gaps)

Any mixture of the above can stop the drimaster (or any other PIV units) working effectively
These are all things that an installing company should be telling you, if it's not working you need to be talking to the people you bought it from.
any

Hope this helps
DD

David_Aldred

I agree with Dampdaveski about why a Drimaster / PIV unit may not be working as well as it might and certainly those installing the units need to consider the quality of the air within the loft space that the unit is going to push into the rooms below. Blowing saturated air into the property is hardly going to reduce the relative humidity within such habitable areas.

These units are a useful tool in trying to address condensation issues but they are not the be all and end all of resolving some condensation problems due to the inherent limitations of the units and accordingly the client should consider all the issues to be addressed rather than relying upon a single course of action.

For instance looking at moisture sources, background ventilation, mechanical ventilation other than PIV units, insulation, surface temperatures, occupancy lifestyles, heating regimes, external issues restricting the way the property is meant to breathe and external defects, sub floor and loft space conditions, the condition of the cavity within walls where applicable, etc and having in mind what has changed / how are people living within that property since it was originally built. In this assessment the occupier has to be brutally honest with themselves if the situation is be brought under control.

Always try the cheapest options that will give you the biggest results first before moving onto the more expensive control measures. Please have a look at my other posts on this forum discussing condensation / mould / dampness which may be helpful regarding this matter. Kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

marshallka

dampdaveski wrote: »

Hi Marsh,
fitting the diffuser next to the front door isn't the best place for it, unless of course it can't go anywhere else.
If you're still getting problems the following are the main reasons why it won't work as effectively as it should

• Speed setting is too low
• Ventilation to the loft space is not good enough
• The trap hatch isn't sealed (doesn't have to be airtight but a tight seal)
• Has the pipe from the unit to the diffuser come adrift or is it split
• Diffuser (grille in ceiling) not in the hall or landing
• Do you keep internal doors shut all the time
• Are internal doors tight fitting with no gaps at all
• Do you have lots of downlighters without covers on them (moisture can get into the loft through the gaps)

Any mixture of the above can stop the drimaster (or any other PIV units) working effectively
These are all things that an installing company should be telling you, if it's not working you need to be talking to the people you bought it from.
any

Hope this helps
DD

Hi DD,

Two of four sides were actually blocked with the foam strips so only two were working so i have taken another one out to see if that changes anything. They have set the speed and told us not to touch it and really do not know how to change it as they gave us no instructions but can easily download them I suppose. Our loft is very airy and we could actually build two bedrooms in it (bungalow) and have checked the pipe and no rips or tears and it is attached to the hole/vent.

We only close all the doors at night time when we sleep and most of the day they are left open. No downlights without covers etc. I am very disappointed as this is the standard drimaster and no boost facility on it and we are still heaving with condensation and running a dehumidifier. I will however try to change the settings now.

Thanks as always DD

Chris_Michael

These systems work on the inverse relationship between relative humidity and temperature. So in winter the cold air from outside comes in to the loft and is warmed in the loft and then warmed again as it enters the main part of the house. The warming of the air decreases the relative humidity (but not the moisture content), the hope is that the new relative humidity is lower than the relative humidity of the air that is in the house and is now being forced out by the new air.

What I do not like about these systems is that you are forcing out air that you have already paid to heat and then heating new air again. Also they leave too much to chance and if the outside conditions are not favorable they will not work.

Personally I use a dehumidifier as it is the only thing that actually removes water from the air (which is what you want) and at circa £150.00 on average it is a lot less money. Removing excess water from the air will also reduce your energy bills as well because it is so much cheaper to heat dry air.

Why do you still get condensation when you are doing all these things? Look at how much water you are putting into the air (clothes drying, boiling veg, showering, bathing, breathing, wet weather etc.) and then think about how cold it is outside (the colder it is the more condensation/mould you will get). You need to maintain a relative humidity whereby there is not even moisture in the air for condensation to occur, you can therefore get away with higher levels in the spring/summer than you can in autumn/winter.

Hope this helps.

Chris

dixie_dean_2

Well, we have got a drimaster fitted but with it being summer (allegedly) a bit too early to tell if it will work. If no joy will probably look at adding some insulation inside the house on the wall.

dampdaveski

keep us informed on progress Dixie

Chris,
any PIV system should only be installed to give 3/4 of an airchange an hour, which funnily enough is exactly what happens in a 'normal house' without doing anything at all
Your dehumidifier is removing excess moisture that's already causing a problem, I don't like dehumidifiers for this reason, they are reacting to a symptom of the problem that already exists
and of course they cost a lot of money to run.
As for being reliant on outside weather conditions, the outside air is almost always (99%+) going to be 'drier' than the air inside a house, even when it's winter and pouring with rain.
Saying that if a dehumidifier works for you then great

DD

oneandonlypurplegirl

We had an issue with our main bedroom and condensation/damp. The room connected to an outside wall, and the walls had a problem with getting cold and damp.

Not sure if this would work for you because of the intensity of your damp issue, but this worked for us:

We removed the built-in wardrobes and replaced with free-standing half-size drawer units to promote air circulation. We also stripped off all wallpaper, and covered walls in 'Warmaline' polystyrene strips from B&Q then wallpaper on top of this.

We did this two years ago, and never had a problem with damp in the bedroom again. The walls stay really warm, even in middle of winter. Cannot say whether this is a long-term fix because obviously if there's damp forming behind the Warmaline we wouldn't notice it but its working ok for for now, and is very cheap to install.

dixie_dean_2

It worked! More to come...home time now!