Is it still illegal to remove trickle vents?

Ally_E.

UK has high humidity as a general rule already, currently we are experiencing 60-80% humidity, mould grows at anything above 60% inside the house. You are promoting mould and fungal growth and putting your health in danger. You can only live without trickle vents if you air out the house more than 2x a day and use a dehumidifier.

You can buy a humidity reading thermometer for £3-5 on amazon and see for yourself how humid houses are in UK.

jez9999

I just wish they could find a way of inventing trickle vents that maintained the sound insulation of the sealed window. The sound is a real nuisance.

EssexExile

Ally_E. wrote: »

You can only live without trickle vents if you air out the house more than 2x a day and use a dehumidifier.

There are lots of us out here who don't have trickle vents, don't "air out the house" (whatever that means), don't have a dehumidifier & don't have condensation.

ComicGeek

EssexExile wrote: »

There are lots of us out here who don't have trickle vents, don't "air out the house" (whatever that means), don't have a dehumidifier & don't have condensation.

But you're talking about non new build houses, which will naturally be more leaky anyway.

We're all responding directly to the OP about their NEW BUILD house, which you just seem to keep ignoring.

Drying out a NEW BUILD house with adequate background ventilation is really important.

Apodemus

Ally_E. wrote: »

UK has high humidity as a general rule already, currently we are experiencing 60-80% humidity, mould grows at anything above 60% inside the house. You are promoting mould and fungal growth and putting your health in danger. You can only live without trickle vents if you air out the house more than 2x a day and use a dehumidifier.

You can buy a humidity reading thermometer for £3-5 on amazon and see for yourself how humid houses are in UK.

Humidity is only part of the equation, though. Mould growth will only happen if you have a suitably damp substrate such as condensation on the walls. Condensation will only form where warm damp air meets a colder surface. Temperature differential between outside and inside is also important in UK, where outside humidity levels can often be higher than inside and you rely on the air warming to increase its water carrying capacity. In many houses, insulating the walls to eliminate a cold surface, stops condensation forming and avoids mould growth, with no change to householder behaviour or to humidity levels.

Kim_kim

I ripped the covers off all my trickle vents to allow freer flow!

DREKLY

Beware the Trickle Vent police, they have detector vans in your area!

Fire_Fox

jez9999 wrote: »

I've just moved into a new build property and of course all the windows have trickle vents. I detest the things. I'm planning to fill them all with expanding foam, but frankly I'd like to get new window frames fitted without them.

I've read that it's illegal to do so if the existing windows have trickle vents (bloody government regs). However I've also read that those regulations were removed some time ago. So just to be sure: is that still a requirement, or can I get new window frames fitted without trickle vents, given that my current ones have them?

Building Regulations are on the Planning Portal.

There is more to indoor air quality than just humidity. Consider oxygen/ carbon dioxide balance, 'pollutants' coming off furniture, furnishings, cleaning products, building materials.

Aylesbury_Duck

As above, seems daft to irreversibly block them and in my view, it's not a good idea to block them at all, but no one is going to police you so you can do as you please. As long as you understand the potential problems that might arise from doing so. From around now until March, this forum regularly features threads from people looking for help with condensation, damp, peeling paintwork, mould, bulging wood floors, etc. and common to almost all of them is that they are merrily cooking, showering, bathing, breathing and drying laundry in an almost hermetically sealed house.

Oxid8uk

jez9999 wrote: »

I just wish they could find a way of inventing trickle vents that maintained the sound insulation of the sealed window. The sound is a real nuisance.

There are acoustic trickle vents on the market. They can just be really big and ugly.