Trickle vents - yes or no?

JustAnotherSaver

lol.

MSE. Gotta laugh.

Me: hey i'm thinking about these trickle vents. yada yada yada.
MSE: what a load of nonsense. Don't waste your time etc etc etc.
Me: Ok i'm not getting trickle vents any more.
MSE: You fool, they are the greatest thing ever created.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

leveller2911

lstar337 wrote: »

Something doesn't need to be compulsory to be a great idea.

Eating healthily and taking regular exercise is great advice, yet not compulsory in any way.

Consider the fact that for years trickle vents were seen as being a "great idea" until the powers that be woke up and saw the flaw in their logic. Making a window air tight,energy efficient glazing that lets the heat from the sun in but not out and draught stripping only to then cut a whole in it to let the air in.

By no means a "great idea"....

SuzieSue

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

lol.

MSE. Gotta laugh.

Me: hey i'm thinking about these trickle vents. yada yada yada.
MSE: what a load of nonsense. Don't waste your time etc etc etc.
Me: Ok i'm not getting trickle vents any more.
MSE: You fool, they are the greatest thing ever created.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Only a few people said that. Some said that you should get them. You read what you wanted to read.

In fact, the very first person to reply to this thread said that he wouldn't be without them.

SuzieSue

leveller2911 wrote: »

Consider the fact that for years trickle vents were seen as being a "great idea" until the powers that be woke up and saw the flaw in their logic. Making a window air tight,energy efficient glazing that lets the heat from the sun in but not out and draught stripping only to then cut a whole in it to let the air in.

By no means a "great idea"....

But they stop condensation as the OP himself said. So I think they are a great idea.

DRP

SuzieSue wrote: »

But they stop condensation as the OP himself said. So I think they are a great idea.

THey're not for everyone, but OP has specific damp/humidity issues. Seems a bit daft not to have t he option imo.

Next post " I've got brand new windows and puddles of water on my windowsills!".

System

They are no longer compulsory in the regs but that's only because there are lots of different strategies for ensuring proper ventilation to apartments - it doesn't mean they are terrible! Also aiming for the minimum standards in the UK regs isn't exactly a high point in construction details!!
Trickle vents can be good if you use them properly, because people don't use them properly they get a bad rep... some window manufacturers have very well detailed trickle vents, but the majority of ones I've seen from smaller upvc fabricators are just add-on standard things with no real consideration in their design.
That said in a room suffering from condensation I would definitely be looking to install trickle vents as it's much more problematic installing alternative ventilation.
Whichever way you decide to go op, the only way to relieve condensation will be some form of suitable passive ventilation if you simply seal up the room you will end up with mouldy walls

lstar337

the_r_sole wrote: »

if you simply seal up the room you will end up with mouldy walls

Exactly!

All this talk of air tightness is great, if you have a system in place to remove the moisture.

People breathe, and when they do they release moisture into the room. Without ventilation, a dehumidifier, or an air circulation system with heat recovery and moisture extraction, the house will fill up with moisture which will settle on the walls and cause mould.

Trickle vents give all day long ventilation.

I have an A rated house built in 2014 which has trickle vents on all the windows, and a Velux window with a ventilation flap. This ventilation doesn't make the house cold in the slightest, however if you close up the trickle vents then I do get condensation on the windows* at certain times in the year. I stopped closing them after 6 months as the benefits of leaving them open were very apparent.

*I don't have crappy windows either. They are low E glass, have Warm Edge thermal break spacer bars, a 20mm gap, and Argon filling.

Furts

lstar337 wrote: »

Exactly!

All this talk of air tightness is great, if you have a system in place to remove the moisture.

People breathe, and when they do they release moisture into the room. Without ventilation, a dehumidifier, or an air circulation system with heat recovery and moisture extraction, the house will fill up with moisture which will settle on the walls and cause mould.

Trickle vents give all day long ventilation.

I have an A rated house built in 2014 which has trickle vents on all the windows, and a Velux window with a ventilation flap. This ventilation doesn't make the house cold in the slightest, however if you close up the trickle vents then I do get condensation on the windows* at certain times in the year. I stopped closing them after 6 months as the benefits of leaving them open were very apparent.

*I don't have crappy windows either. They are low E glass, have Warm Edge thermal break spacer bars, a 20mm gap, and Argon filling.

I second this and tend to contradict leveller2911 - we never agree on trickle vents.

A little bit of background - trickle vents came in during the 1980s when energy efficiency was behind todays standards. The vents worked, but over time it was found people could not be bothered to use them correctly.

Air tightness became an energy concern, so the volume builders said - "those trickle vents are stopping us passing our pressure testing". This of course was bo--ocks. They also pointed out that people did not use them correctly. They got them deleted so window manufacturing became cheaper, hence better profits, and it became easier to pass the testing.

The concern today is in door air quality. The volume house builders could not care less about this, because this is only an issue after they have sold their wares and declared their profits. Basically "we build unhealthy houses, but we do not care. We fool the general public because they do not realise this."

Pasiv Haus is a seperate issue - just in case the usual folks start attacking me here. For ordinary people in ordinary houses, trickle vents are a good idea provided the occupants can be bothered to use them.

leveller2911

Trickle vents are a bit like re inventing the wheel. For centuries people have "aired" their houses by opening windows. It's really not rocket science and the vast majority of modern Windows have a night vent facility which can be used all day long and still be covered by house insurance obligations ...

Having spent over 30yrs making Windows,doors etc I know a fair bit about the subject and I would never have them on my house .There is no window system that will stop condensation 100% especially in bedrooms and bathroom purely down to the amount of moisture in the air..

SuzieSue

leveller2911 wrote: »

Trickle vents are a bit like re inventing the wheel. For centuries people have "aired" their houses by opening windows. It's really not rocket science and the vast majority of modern Windows have a night vent facility which can be used all day long and still be covered by house insurance obligations ...

Having spent over 30yrs making Windows,doors etc I know a fair bit about the subject and I would never have them on my house .

Fine, but as you say, they are just an alternative to the night vent facility which I don't have eventhough my windows were only installed 10 years ago.