Help with a PIV - will it work in this setup?

Tygermoth

Hi Guys,

I need to pick your brains before getting a PIV unit. (and it maybe not working!)

Our rented bungalow seems just not to have any airflow. None whatsoever.

Even with its working chimneys and windows always being cracked open... air just stays dead still. (it’s also enclosed by a large copse of trees so is dark, shaded and enclosed which doesn’t help)

Another reason there is no air flow is its very long and thin bungalow with all rooms feeding off a windowless hall way. To make matters worse the hall kinks and thins at each end like this shape [ . Which seems to stop any flow from back to front door even when they are wide open.

The thing is we are very careful. We are aware that air does not move in this house so the tumble dryer is outside in a shed, we never put washing on the radiators. We shut the doors when cooking and open the windows and the same when we use the shower. This being said the bedroom windows (the only condensation affected room) are always wet in the morning and every day I ensure I mop it up so water is not kept about.

Yesterday I found a great deal of nasty staining mould behind our bed in our bedroom. This mould seems solely due to our breath while sleeping. Even with both the large bay windows open half an inch as usual the windows were sopping.

Due to the way the loft sits the PIV could only sit at the far end of that 30 foot hall way from the affected room and round a kink [ _ at this end when the bed room affected is round the corner at [* this end

Would this still work?

Thank you for your time and thoughts on the matter.

Kind regards

Tygermoth

KeithP

Wondering what PIV was, I stuck PIV into Google.

What an eye-opener! :eek:

It was page two before I discovered you probably mean Positive Input Ventilation, and not one of the other possibilities.

WestonDave

Given that its a rented bungalow, you'd need permission to install a permanent item like a PIV so that is a consideration.

Whether it would work would depend on a number of factors - the biggest one really being where the likely exit point for the air is. If the house can be made pretty air tight with all the windows shut, then a PIV at one end of the house and the window open in the bedroom could be a decent solution as the air being pumped in would move through and out via the bedroom window. If however its just going to leak out somewhere in a nearer room then it won't solve the bedroom problem.

That being the case I'd probably suggest that in a rented property getting a dehumidifier that you can take with you if you move might be a better solution, unless you really need the air change for other reasons (smoking etc). A dehumidifier will dry the air, will release some heat as it does and generally runs on a low power to do the job. Running a PIV involves pushing cold outside air into the house, and then using your heating system to heat that up so that it dries (relative humidity falls as temperature rises all else being equal). They have a place in the damp tool box but they have their limitations.

MX5huggy

As a Landlord who has just got back a property that is riddled with mold caused by the tennants life style. Your landlord should be involved in the solution.

Tygermoth

Thank you for your replies.

PIV - a ventilation system via the loft to cause a positive pressure

This house is an country estates lodge, large estates offer a cheaper rent than most with a very long term let. but basically they are always strapped for cash so if anything breaks or needs work you just get on with it unless it major. They expect you to look after the house if you owned it.

So they wont care re the PIV as long as we are picking up the tab.

We will be here about 10 years or so so a more permanent solution rather than the dehumidifier (which would have to run in the bedroom at night which just wont work)

I really think the PIV would be the best option for just getting air movement its a shame the hallway is so darn awkward!

MX5huggy

If it was my own, which it is halfway to being yours, I would be looking at a whole house MVHR system, such as the Vent axia Sentinel systems if you can run the ducts to each room.