New build - drying laundry?

RelievedSheff

We moved into our new build in April so our house has had the benefit of several months drying out and ventilating prior to the start of winter.

We were also warned by the developers not to dry washing inside, to always use the extractor fans when cooking or showering and to make sure we ventilate the rooms well.

We have not had a condensation or mould problem as we followed the advice but the young couple over the road who ignored it completely now have a problem with mould around the windows and ceiling edges which the developers are not going to sort out as they didn't follow the advice.

We got a washer dryer to deal with drying clothes which saved us a lot of hassle with clothes drying.

Although our house has had a good 9 months drying out it still has a long way to go before it has fully dried out. Probably the same amount of time again if not more, so anything you can do to keep moisture production to a minimum is a bonus.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

OP, here are the average moisture generation rates as per the The Institute of Specialist Surveyors and Engineers https://www.isse.org.uk/articles/dampness

Three occupants in the house all day - 4.8kg
Six occupants in the house all day - 9.2kg

Weight of moisture released by various domestic activities:
Cooking with gas cooker: 3kg/day
Cooking with electricity: 2kg/day
Dishwashing: 0.4kg/day
Washing clothes: 0.5 kg/day
Drying clothes indoors: 1.5kg/day
15-minute shower: 0.6kg (more if a power shower)

OP, do the developers also place limits on occupancy, cooking, showering, dishwashing, etc? Obviously, they can't do that and hence they come up with the notion of "drying clothes indoors" being the cause of all evil in new build homes because that's an easy get-out clause for them when people fail to ventilate their properties regularly in winter and end up with condensation and related issues.

As you can clearly see, even if you didn't dry ANY clothes indoors, your house will still experience significant amounts of moisture from the above activities and just from people living in it. There is no alternative to properly ventilating your home, especially if it's a super insulated new build with little to no natural ventilation.

Andysandy

I let out a new-build flat to a family and how I wish they would follow this advice! It has an amazing EPC rating of 85 and the energy bills are super low, which the tenants love.

However, the flat is essentially like a hermetically sealed enclosure and (it looks like) they just don't open the windows all through winter. I eventually had to wire up up a humidity controlled exhaust fan to ensure that there was some ventilation.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

There is no alternative to properly ventilating your home, especially if it's a super insulated new build with little to no natural ventilation.

Exodi

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

OP, here are the average moisture generation rates as per the The Institute of Specialist Surveyors and Engineers https://www.isse.org.uk/articles/dampness

Three occupants in the house all day - 4.8kg
Six occupants in the house all day - 9.2kg

Weight of moisture released by various domestic activities:
Cooking with gas cooker: 3kg/day
Cooking with electricity: 2kg/day
Dishwashing: 0.4kg/day
Washing clothes: 0.5 kg/day
Drying clothes indoors: 1.5kg/day
15-minute shower: 0.6kg (more if a power shower)

OP, do the developers also place limits on occupancy, cooking, showering, dishwashing, etc? Obviously, they can't do that and hence they come up with the notion of "drying clothes indoors" being the cause of all evil in new build homes because that's an easy get-out clause for them when people fail to ventilate their properties regularly in winter and end up with condensation and related issues.

As you can clearly see, even if you didn't dry ANY clothes indoors, your house will still experience significant amounts of moisture from the above activities and just from people living in it. There is no alternative to properly ventilating your home, especially if it's a super insulated new build with little to no natural ventilation.

Sorry but I think those are misleading examples.

Cookers have extractor fans mounted above them, dishwashers/washing machines can condensate internally and disperse via the waste pipe, tumble dryers are commonly externally vented and bathrooms generally have an inline fan pushing moisture out through an external vent.

The builder wants to prevent people drying their clothes in a room with no ventilation (maybe a trickle vent at most but I know a lot of people that close this 'because it makes the room cold'), not opening the window because its the middle of winter, turning down the radiator because 'why heat a room I don't use' and closing the door.

This is actually a really common problem (just last week my landlord friend was complaining about how his tenants have done this).

The builder is probably preempting this issue and doing what he can to avoid it.

Thrugelmir

On a dry windy day it's possible to remove a fair amount of the moisture from washing by hanging up outside. Alternatively pop round the local laundrette and use their dryers.

millwalls

Sorry but I think you are making the assumption that they didn't consider the normal mitigating factors. It's not like they might be qualified or anything, eh ?

If you think kitchen extractor fans are all ducted to the outside, oh boy are you in for a surprise! Regs don't require externally vented fans in the kitchen unless there are no openable windows.

Ducted hoods remove air to the outside, while recirculation hoods recycle purified air back into the kitchen. No prizes for guessing which is more expensive to install properly, guess which one new build developers would choose unless forced to do by regs?

Exodi wrote: »

Sorry but I think those are misleading examples.

ripplyuk

PurplePopcorn wrote: »

Trouble is, most of my clothes aren’t suitable for a tumble dryer so I’m a bit stuck. What should I do?

If you mean that the labels say not to tumble dry, then I would just ignore it. Virtually ALL clothes labels say that. It’s just the manufacturers covering themselves if it shrinks or is damaged. I throw almost everything in the dryer. I even dry my wool mix coat on the lowest heat setting and it’s fine.

If your clothing consists mostly of cashmere or pure wool, then obviously don’t put them in

Annastin

That is an eye opener. Humans breathing can generate all that moisture?! That is crazy.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

OP, here are the average moisture generation rates as per the The Institute of Specialist Surveyors and Engineers https://www.isse.org.uk/articles/dampness

Three occupants in the house all day - 4.8kg
Six occupants in the house all day - 9.2kg

Weight of moisture released by various domestic activities:
Cooking with gas cooker: 3kg/day
Cooking with electricity: 2kg/day
Dishwashing: 0.4kg/day
Washing clothes: 0.5 kg/day
Drying clothes indoors: 1.5kg/day
15-minute shower: 0.6kg (more if a power shower)

RelievedSheff

Millwall's. Pretty sure most developers install proper extractor fans in kitchens where possible!

Exodi

millwalls wrote: »

Sorry but I think you are making the assumption that they didn't consider the normal mitigating factors. It's not like they might be qualified or anything, eh ?

I'm not sure how it can be championed that 'they are more qualified, listen to them' while this thread is born from ignoring the advice of the house builder about preventing detriment to a property.

But sure, I'll join the bandwagon - yeah OP, dry your clothes in the guest bedroom, don't listen to the stupid house builders!

EDIT: you edited your post after I posted, I won't comment on your point regarding re-circulatory hoods as I would have no way of knowing how common or uncommon this is.

RelievedSheff wrote: »

Millwall's. Pretty sure most developers install proper extractor fans in kitchens where possible!

My thoughts also, but I don't think either of us could prove either way. That said, I'm not a big fan of these forums witch hunting house builders at every step. Same with debt collectors/loan companies on the finance forums, gets a bit tiresome.