Envirovent Mr Venty

noiseboy23

Recently saw an ad on TV for the enivirovent products and arranged a survey at my property.
I have a detached 1930's bungalow, which has had a damp and condensation problem since I moved in 5 years ago. I have done numerous things to eradicate the problems including CWI removal, installing passyfier vents in all living rooms and a complete re-render of the whole exterior of the house.
The sales rep/surveyor said if I install one of their products, the house would be condensation and mould free within a month which sounds great, however it will cost about £1100 to but and install and then there are the running costs which he reckoned would be about £35 per annum.
Has anyone had one of these devices installed in their homes? Do they work as claimed, and are the costs I've been given correct? Also, does it make the house noticeably colder as its bringing in cold air from the attic so will my heating bill likely increase?
Looking to get some end user reviews rather than sales patter, so any answers would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance

SplanK

I have just had a quick google.... £1100 for essentially a glorified low flow fan pushing air from the loft into the house seems like a an awful lot of money!!


Personally, I don't see how this will solve a damp problem other than attempting to 'push' old air out of the house... Would be better investing in a de-humidifier for £100-£150!!

patman99

These systems are more than just 'a glorified fan'.
They are a complete system that removes the moisture-laden air from a building via a heat exchanger which then heats the incoming fresh air.

Ecovent's products are very expensive. If you google 'diy mechanical heat recovery unit', you can find plans to build one yourself if you wish too.

From late 2017 it will be a requirement for all new houses to have such units installed as new houses are so thermally efficient with all the CWI, roof insulation and double glazing units that the stale, moisture-laden air cannot escape.

phil24_7

Find out WHY you have damp and treat this, not the symptoms.

Do you dry your washing indoors?
Do you vent you house frequently?
Do you warm you house thoroughly most of the time?
Do you have adequate mechanical ventilation in your bathroom(s) and kitchen (many extractors are woefully underpowered or inefficient)?
Where are you damp patches?
Do you have adequate insulation in the loft?
Do you have leaks around windows or in the roof?
Is the ground around your house below your dpc?
Do you have adequate sub floor ventilation?

There are so many things to investigate before you NEED to buy an envirovent.

Some of the things you have done may also be making things worse if they haven't been considered as part of a whole house plan.

SplanK

patman99 wrote: »

These systems are more than just 'a glorified fan'.
They are a complete system that removes the moisture-laden air from a building via a heat exchanger which then heats the incoming fresh air.

Can you show me the link for this for the product the OP is wanting information on? Looking at their website, it just shows it sucking in air from the loft, heating it slightly and pushing it into the house. At no point is it taking in air from the house to 'recycle' it.

patman99

The loft unit uses the loft to vent damp air into. The loft has a gap between the tiles and soffits to allow for natural air movement, so the moist air does escape into the open.

Furts

phil24_7 wrote: »

Find out WHY you have damp and treat this, not the symptoms.

Do you dry your washing indoors?
Do you vent you house frequently?
Do you warm you house thoroughly most of the time?
Do you have adequate mechanical ventilation in your bathroom(s) and kitchen (many extractors are woefully underpowered or inefficient)?
Where are you damp patches?
Do you have adequate insulation in the loft?
Do you have leaks around windows or in the roof?
Is the ground around your house below your dpc?
Do you have adequate sub floor ventilation?

There are so many things to investigate before you NEED to buy an envirovent.

Some of the things you have done may also be making things worse if they haven't been considered as part of a whole house plan.

There is a really pertinent point here. There was a new in line fan fitted in a bathroom in my home. Purchased from Screwfix, and total rubbish. It was ineffective and within three months it was burnt out. I took it back to Screwfix - the response was understandable, being "It is Made in China, what did you expect?" The fan was replaced with a proper European made fan, obviously more expensive, ( around £70 I think) and the transformation in condensation/stem removal is staggering. For example - have a shower with the fan off and the room will fill with steam. Switch the light on and the steam vanishes and the bathroom mirror self dries.

Why purchase cheap fans that fail to do their job and rapidly burn out when proper fans are available cheaper than £1100 quoted to OP for a Mr Eco Venty? I bet the sales person did not put this option across to OP!

tootie

I live in a 1950's semi detached 3 bed house and have always noticed condensation especially since we installed central heating and have had the house insulated. The problem is particularly bad in my bathroom - during showers and baths (no matter how far you open all windows) , in the kitchen - but only when cooking - despite having an extractor and more recently I have noticed some issues on the ceilings in the bedrooms near windows. I have lived here since 2006 and tried everything. Saw and got quoted by Envirovent last month - had a quote for their smallest home system and a much better extractor for my bathroom (current one was useless and I paid £300 for it to be installed just 3 years ago). Had envirovent install on Friday 3/2/17 and now we wait. The installer said we should see a difference in 2-4 days. Well cannot believe how quickly the new extractor works in the bathroom (clears all in minutes!!) and the mould that appears on the ceiling in my bedroom has completely dried and turning into a dry powder (today is Sunday) and yes I will clean it off again but was told to allow it to dry out!! No condensation in any upstairs windows at all in the morning - usually they are covered quite a few centimetres high. Unit looks smart on the landing ceiling and not big and ugly as I had imagined. You can set the temperature that the air is pumped in from the loft so I have not felt my house cold at all however I do feel a little more air movement that I used to up there. I will post again soon but so far, so good. The whole installation has post just over £1200, but I know a lady down my road with the same problem spent over 1800 for a builder to insulate extra parts of her loft and she still has the problem. I will be so glad if it works as I am sick of cleaning mould and re-painting all the time!

SJB777

tootie wrote: »

I live in a 1950's semi detached 3 bed house and have always noticed condensation especially since we installed central heating and have had the house insulated. The problem is particularly bad in my bathroom - during showers and baths (no matter how far you open all windows) , in the kitchen - but only when cooking - despite having an extractor and more recently I have noticed some issues on the ceilings in the bedrooms near windows. I have lived here since 2006 and tried everything. Saw and got quoted by Envirovent last month - had a quote for their smallest home system and a much better extractor for my bathroom (current one was useless and I paid £300 for it to be installed just 3 years ago). Had envirovent install on Friday 3/2/17 and now we wait. The installer said we should see a difference in 2-4 days. Well cannot believe how quickly the new extractor works in the bathroom (clears all in minutes!!) and the mould that appears on the ceiling in my bedroom has completely dried and turning into a dry powder (today is Sunday) and yes I will clean it off again but was told to allow it to dry out!! No condensation in any upstairs windows at all in the morning - usually they are covered quite a few centimetres high. Unit looks smart on the landing ceiling and not big and ugly as I had imagined. You can set the temperature that the air is pumped in from the loft so I have not felt my house cold at all however I do feel a little more air movement that I used to up there. I will post again soon but so far, so good. The whole installation has post just over £1200, but I know a lady down my road with the same problem spent over 1800 for a builder to insulate extra parts of her loft and she still has the problem. I will be so glad if it works as I am sick of cleaning mould and re-painting all the time!

Hi Tootie, any updates? Are the products working?

I'm sceptical as to the benefit over other products.

Also very keen to know the running costs - £35 per year seems very cheap for the loft unit!?

Any feedback much appreciated...

rawlhacker

We had a Mr Venty installed 9 years ago, we had windows in the winter running with water, mould on walls and ceilings, and even in wardrobes, 2 days after it was fitted everything was dry and has been since, it blows air in from the loft and pumps it into the house increasing air pressure and forcing damp air out, older houses in particular suffer as the chimney, fire and airbricks have gone ( a great natural ventilator) and doors and windows replaced, effectively sealing up the house, and water from cooking, showering, washing clothes, even just breathing, condenses on the windows and the coldest walls and ceilings, it may be expensive but in comparison to dehumidifiers (we've been there) or the costs involved in insulating walls, which doesn't solve the problem, just moves it to the next coldest surface, it is very cost effective, I cannot recommend it highly enough, if you are on the fence it will solve all your condensation and damp problems, and the added advantage of having a constant supply of fresh air in your house, so drastically reduces toxins

rawlhacker

Furts said:

phil24_7 wrote: »

Find out WHY you have damp and treat this, not the symptoms.

Do you dry your washing indoors?
Do you vent you house frequently?
Do you warm you house thoroughly most of the time?
Do you have adequate mechanical ventilation in your bathroom(s) and kitchen (many extractors are woefully underpowered or inefficient)?
Where are you damp patches?
Do you have adequate insulation in the loft?
Do you have leaks around windows or in the roof?
Is the ground around your house below your dpc?
Do you have adequate sub floor ventilation?

There are so many things to investigate before you NEED to buy an envirovent.

Some of the things you have done may also be making things worse if they haven't been considered as part of a whole house plan.

There is a really pertinent point here. There was a new in line fan fitted in a bathroom in my home. Purchased from Screwfix, and total rubbish. It was ineffective and within three months it was burnt out. I took it back to Screwfix - the response was understandable, being "It is Made in China, what did you expect?" The fan was replaced with a proper European made fan, obviously more expensive, ( around £70 I think) and the transformation in condensation/stem removal is staggering. For example - have a shower with the fan off and the room will fill with steam. Switch the light on and the steam vanishes and the bathroom mirror self dries.

Why purchase cheap fans that fail to do their job and rapidly burn out when proper fans are available cheaper than £1100 quoted to OP for a Mr Eco Venty? I bet the sales person did not put this option across to OP!

Most fans even expensive ones are not rated to run all day and night, and would be very noisy, the environment fan is almost noiseless even standing next to it in the loft, it also turns off automatically when the temperature increases during the summer months as condensation mainly occurs during colder months