Positive Input Ventilation Flatmaster 2000 - Condensation

brightontraveller

lightyearsboi wrote: »

Mines is not on setting 3, it is on setting 2 which is very quiet as the unit is located by my bedroom. the old desiccant dehumidifier needed to be on the highest setting which was loud and it cost me about £20 a month to run (running for around 7 hours a day)

You say that without the heating function they are more useless, but mine has been running the last 2 weeks without the heating function switched on and is working perfectly fine.

You seem to praise extract fans, but like I said I already have 3 of them as do all the apartments and if I walk past the windows of the apartments I see condensation and mould on blinds and on the plaster board by the window. (I did purposely check to see if other people had the same problem)

The air from the flatmaster is being pumped into a central hallway and is working well for all the rooms. I imagine if the apartment was laid out differently it might not work as well.

I'd rather one system that works and that is out of slight than anymore extracts fans. I am going to look at changing the bathroom and ensuite extract fans at some point just with the view to get ones that don't make so much noise.

"You sing there praises I don't "

I'm just happy I no longer need to either wipe windows or run a noisy dehumidifier.

If its working fine without heater then £20- £30 variable speed fan filtered if you want too add one introducing external air same ls would do exactly the same (thats suck external air in not out ).... As that's effectively what yours is doing doesn't that confirm to you there are better cheaper alternatives.... I'd guess not so I'll leave you to rave on about them ....

Andy_Hamilton

I've been looking into the same problem in our 4 bedroom house which incorrectly had the cavity walls filled.
I've bought a dehumidifier for a specific room (almost like a a basement with no air flow). For the rest of the house it's a really well sealed box. Next week we are fitting an extractor fan in the bathroom and a nuaire PIV system.
I've been data logging in all rooms (I'm a geek) and can't wait to see what difference the PIV system does.
One thing I was amazed at is the sealed basement room gets 2 degrees hotter once 2g/mm3 was removed (I ignore relative humidity as its misleading).
If your happy with your purchase enjoy its benefits.

Terry98

Andy_Hamilton wrote: »

I've been looking into the same problem in our 4 bedroom house which incorrectly had the cavity walls filled.
I've bought a dehumidifier for a specific room (almost like a a basement with no air flow). For the rest of the house it's a really well sealed box. Next week we are fitting an extractor fan in the bathroom and a nuaire PIV system.
I've been data logging in all rooms (I'm a geek) and can't wait to see what difference the PIV system does.

I am not a geek but have installed a nuaire PIV system and also use a dehumidifier and I am pleased with the results.

Andy_Hamilton wrote: »

One thing I was amazed at is the sealed basement room gets 2 degrees hotter once 2g/mm3 was removed (I ignore relative humidity as its misleading).

Can you explain the above in non geek terms and why you use a dehumidifier for one room when manufacturers advertise them to cover the whole house http://www.dehumidifiersuk.com/5-bedroom-house.html?

Andy_Hamilton

At the moment we are using the dehumidifier all round the house as it's effectively fixing the damage poor vetalation and us living a life has caused but once the ventilation is sorted with the PIV we only have one room which we have concerns going forward.
The house is built into the hillside with the basement room being a magnet for condensation, it's around 28ftx6ft long with a single tiny window at one end. (more upvc than glass).
This room does not really stand a chance of being serviced by the PIV so the dehumidifier on smart mode will cost little for this single room.
This room has been used to store furniture which we had to throw out due to condensation damage.

malc_b

What this report is showing is that the flat before was getting adequate ventilation. Trickle vents and the like are hit and miss. By creating a positive pressure in the central hall the damp air is being pushed out through the outside wall and windows via the tiny air leaks. So now the flat has controlled, continuous ventilation at a higher rate, rather than a variable rate of ventilation depending on how strong the outside wind was.

It won't do anything for the heating bill but its a simple to fit solution for a flat. To save money you'd need to fit a proper MHRV system to all rooms. Insulation is not the whole answer to condensation as you still need ventilation, preferable something controlled and not dependent on outside wind.

lightyearsboi

malc_b wrote: »

What this report is showing is that the flat before was getting adequate ventilation. Trickle vents and the like are hit and miss. By creating a positive pressure in the central hall the damp air is being pushed out through the outside wall and windows via the tiny air leaks. So now the flat has controlled, continuous ventilation at a higher rate, rather than a variable rate of ventilation depending on how strong the outside wind was.

It won't do anything for the heating bill but its a simple to fit solution for a flat. To save money you'd need to fit a proper MHRV system to all rooms. Insulation is not the whole answer to condensation as you still need ventilation, preferable something controlled and not dependent on outside wind.

I'm not too concern about extra heating costs because I was already paying around £20 a month to run a dehumidifier. I'm just glad I no longer have to listen to a noisy dehumidifier in the evenings, also when I go away I won't need to remind my housemate to empty the dehumidifier. Overall so much less hassle and the air feels really fresh too.

lightyearsboi

Andy_Hamilton wrote: »

I've been looking into the same problem in our 4 bedroom house which incorrectly had the cavity walls filled.
I've bought a dehumidifier for a specific room (almost like a a basement with no air flow). For the rest of the house it's a really well sealed box. Next week we are fitting an extractor fan in the bathroom and a nuaire PIV system.
I've been data logging in all rooms (I'm a geek) and can't wait to see what difference the PIV system does.
One thing I was amazed at is the sealed basement room gets 2 degrees hotter once 2g/mm3 was removed (I ignore relative humidity as its misleading).
If your happy with your purchase enjoy its benefits.

I was doing the same logging data in each room

phil24_7

lightyearsboi wrote: »

Mines is not on setting 3, it is on setting 2 which is very quiet as the unit is located by my bedroom. the old desiccant dehumidifier needed to be on the highest setting which was loud and it cost me about £20 a month to run (running for around 7 hours a day)

You say that without the heating function they are more useless, but mine has been running the last 2 weeks without the heating function switched on and is working perfectly fine.

You seem to praise extract fans, but like I said I already have 3 of them as do all the apartments and if I walk past the windows of the apartments I see condensation and mould on blinds and on the plaster board by the window. (I did purposely check to see if other people had the same problem)

The air from the flatmaster is being pumped into a central hallway and is working well for all the rooms. I imagine if the apartment was laid out differently it might not work as well.

I'd rather one system that works and that is out of slight than anymore extracts fans. I am going to look at changing the bathroom and ensuite extract fans at some point just with the view to get ones that don't make so much noise.

"You sing there praises I don't "

I'm just happy I no longer need to either wipe windows or run a noisy dehumidifier.

A dehumidifier running 24/7 shouldn't even cost that much to run!

I would say your current extraction is all woefully under powered or very inefficient.

alejamruc

We have the Nuaire Drimaster - designed for installation in houses, not flats, but with the same principle. I also don't have any connection with any manufacturer/supplier, but am very keen to raise some awareness of these and it solved a problem that us and many our friends/family have all experienced for years.

Personally, I can't recommend positive pressure units enough.

We had tried all of the typical advice to solve condensation problems but still had some issues. Doing anything further would have meant changing our living habits far too much.

After installing one of these positive pressure ventilation units we have completely solved our condensation/mould issues without making major changes to our living habits.

It works in the background, constantly driving moisture-laden air out of our property and replacing it with fresh air. By removing the excess moisture there is now nothing to condense on walls/windows and create the conditions for mould growth.

We now don't have to boost our heating or keep it on constantly to warm our house (in fact, we now put our boiler on its frost setting when going away for the weekend and come back to a fresh-smelling house, instead of a dank one).

We also don't have to have extractor fans on for long periods (no more than ten mins or so after bathing/cooking) or open windows every day to ventilate the place.

Problem areas for returning mould growth (for us, an external wall in an alcove behind a piece of fitted furniture) now not an issue for months since cleaning the last patch off before installing the unit.

We put our unit in ourselves, so saved hundreds on the damp specialist quote.
However, I suspect the flatmaster would be a bit trickier to self-install, as I understand you'll have to create a hole in an outer wall, which will probably require a pretty hefty hammer drill and a bit of care/skill to not create more problems than you solve! However, I would still say that you wouldn't need to pay the high prices damp specialists charge - it is essentially just a reverse extractor fan with some clever technology involved, so a competent builder/electrician should be able to do it relatively quickly and charge something much more reasonable.

LouMcF

We have a Flat built late 60s which we rent out, we have had some issues with condensation causing mould in the past and are aware that all the flats in the block have the same issue. We supplied a dehumidifier for tenants use and it worked reasonably well until we got new tenants......it definitely proves it's occupants that exacerbate the problem, after a couple of months we had a call to say the problem was horrendous went to inspect it and it really was! There was mould growing on blinds, furniture and even the carpet had a growth covering a small area, the windows were soaking all the time and the wooden sills had puddles. I had looked into the Flatmaster from Nuaire previously but thought it would be a real hassle to fit. Well took the plunge and had it fitted 4 weeks ago and from day 2 it has been fantastic, no more window problems from then, a week later and the walls dried out and there have been no more problems since then. Neighbours in the block have been in to have a look and are looking forward to fitting them too and getting rid of the noisy dehumidifiers.