Condensation/damp

SuzieSue

richardc1983 wrote: »

This is the one you would need... http://www.nuaire.co.uk/our-products/catalogue/residential/positive-input-ventilation-piv/flatmaster/ or the flatmaster 2000 which has a built in heater like mine... http://www.nuaire.co.uk/our-products/catalogue/residential/positive-input-ventilation-piv/flatmaster-2000/difference in price between the 2 models is £190 or £252 I got mine from platinum chemicals but they are also on amazon for the similar price - and no I am not associated with either companys. Amazon is good to check out the reviews!

Thanks for this. What is the advantage of having one with a built-in heater?

marmitemayhem

The heaters do not affect the functionality of the units, they are for your benefit.
As they are PIV - they pull in air from elsewhere, loft space. or elsewhere which is (in the winter) cooler than the house, or in the depths of winter, flippin' cold.
So without heater, over winter the room where the outlet is will be cold(er) due to the cold air being pumped in. With the heater the chill is taken off the air and its heated so you don't feel the cold air.
You can tune the thermostat based on your preference.


Over summer, when loft air is warmer, the fan goes "faster" to recover the free heat.


Hope that answers your question.


In summary, Without heater it will still work but be cold over winter. With heater it will be much less cold but cost more to run.


IMO - paying for the heater is worth it as yeah, its expensive (say £100 over winter) - but that's cheap to get rid of the problem! Of course, on a budget, you don't need the heater


EDIT: As there is interest in PIV systems, I've taken the information off my travel blog and put it on a dedicated site HERE which has more details and FAQs. Hope this is useful.

SuzieSue

marmitemayhem wrote: »

IMO - paying for the heater is worth it as yeah, its expensive (say £100 over winter) - but that's cheap to get rid of the problem! Of course, on a budget, you don't need the heater

Many thanks for your detailed answer. Are you saying that using the heater over winter will cost around an extra £100 a year in electricity? Can you switch the heater off if you don't want to use it?

richardc1983

SuzieSue wrote: »

Many thanks for your detailed answer. Are you saying that using the heater over winter will cost around an extra £100 a year in electricity? Can you switch the heater off if you don't want to use it?

At install it's best to get the electrician to wire the heater into a power socket so that you can fit a timer plug that way you can have the heater on at times that suit. That's how mine was done, set at 6-10am then 5-11 at night.

socrates

Interesting topic - thanks for all the info

marmitemayhem

@Suzie - yes and yes.
Its a 500W element, so max it will use is 12kw/h per day, so 360kw/h per month @ 12p (ish) per kwh, so £43 per month MAXIMUM - but element isn't on all the time as its thermostat controlled, so at 10' it will use less than 18' (obviously). £100 was a guess.


As Richard rightly says, depends how you install it. Both he & I have the heater "separate" so the PIV unit is on all the time (a few p per day) - and I turn the heater on for winter (remember "on" means only when colder than thermostat says) - and off for summer. Richard has a more clever timer. Up to you. I would always suggest wiring the heater separately to give you the choice.


@Richard - did you find a spur timer, or did you wire via a timer to a "socket"?


Edit: My elec bill last month (so November) was £49, previous month £29. Heater on (via thermostat) throughout. Prior to fitting, same period was £25/27. So November +£20 for the month - though NOTE this ALSO INCLUDES 150w underfloor heating in the bathroom that costs, say, £5-6 per month to run, so just for the heater, I'd GUESS for me October +£5, November +£15, expect Dec/Jan/Feb +£25, Mar +£15....., Apr +£5....


EDIT: As there is interest in PIV systems, I've taken the information off my travel blog and put it on a dedicated site HERE which has more details and FAQs. Hope this is useful.

richardc1983

marmitemayhem wrote: »

@Suzie - yes and yes.
Its a 500W element, so max it will use is 12kw/h per day, so 360kw/h per month @ 12p (ish) per kwh, so £43 per month MAXIMUM - but element isn't on all the time as its thermostat controlled, so at 10' it will use less than 18' (obviously). £100 was a guess.


As Richard rightly says, depends how you install it. Both he & I have the heater "separate" so the PIV unit is on all the time (a few p per day) - and I turn the heater on for winter (remember "on" means only when colder than thermostat says) - and off for summer. Richard has a more clever timer. Up to you. I would always suggest wiring the heater separately to give you the choice.

@Richard - did you find a spur timer, or did you wire via a timer to a "socket"?

It has a plug on the end, so I just used a digital timer from Argos. Neat and tidy. The heater is also a pulse heater so pulses on and off as needed remember it's only increasing the temp very slightly not warming a room. If set to 12c the air is only increased to that temp it doesn't blow out warm air so the heater pulses on every second very quickly. Don't think of it using lots of power like a fan heater that your trying to warm a room up with.