Air Vents + Black Mould + Very Cold

mannaroth

So I'm in a rented house. The bedroom and hallway are on the ground floor, and then downstairs in the basement is the living room, kitchen and bathroom.

The kitchen and bathroom each have an extractor fan like this: http://i.imgur.com/OYLjqe6.jpg

The living room has two vents: http://i.imgur.com/bnFNfTv.jpg

And the bedroom has a vent: http://i.imgur.com/8JjDvvn.jpg

So the issue is, upstairs in the bedroom we have two problems: black mould, and extreme cold. The vent in the bedroom lets in a huge amount of cold air (the bedroom is always cold, even with the heating on), and you can feel the air blowing in from outside. The vent in the bedroom is literally a hole in the wall with a vent cover on.

Now, it was my understanding that ventilation was intended to prevent black mould. Not so, apparently, because it keeps reappearing in the bedroom after removed.

Every other room in the house is perfectly nice and warm and has no issues with black mould, it's just the upstairs.

What can I do about this (or what should I ask my landlord to do)?

mannaroth

Also there's no gas fire and we have a modern combi boiler in the kitchen.

Ben84

Air vents are claimed to solve damp, but really I find they are pretty good at causing it when placed badly. Trying to solve condensation in a bedroom with an air vent is pointless. It's unlikely much water vapour is being produced in that room, it's from elsewhere, cooking and washing probably and is condensing there because it's cooler. An air vent will just make the room even colder and water will condense in there even better. Trying to vent the water from bathing and cooking out the bedroom wall is kind of odd thinking anyway.

Much better to improve the temperature in that room and to cut down on sources of moisture in the air, for example cooking with lids on pans, drying clothes outside or with a vented dryer, closing the bathroom door while washing and opening the window so the steam escapes, that kind of thing. If you still need to reduce humidity further, using those extractor fans (best of all if they're humidity controlled ones) in rooms like the kitchen and bathroom could help. They directly push out the damp air where it's being produced. They'll still draw in outside air elsewhere around the house, but I've not found that's a problem as it will come from many small leaks around the house rather than in through one single big hole, so you shouldn't get that big temperature drop in one area, which seems to be the problem.

muks11

Swap your vents for hit and miss vents.