Smart Air Bricks

Spoonie_Turtle

Our air bricks were filled up by cavity wall insulation, after the Housing Association blocked up the open fires.

FreeBear

mmmmikey said: I believe these smart air bricks are specifically intended for use in houses with suspended ground floors where the void underneath is ventilated to prevent the build up of moisture and rotting of the floor timbers.

Another reason for air bricks in certain areas of the country is to get rid of radon gas that might accumulate in the void.

Certainly a case of if you don't understand all the reasons an air brick has been fitted, do not mess with it.

markin

I don't remember seeing a radon gas sensor in the specs just temp and humidity.

Radon gas was my first though reading the thread yesterday.

Hazel29

I have had a quote for Airex Smart vents for my bungalow and was surprised to find that the prices one sees online are wildly too low  I was quoted between £3000 and £4800 for 17 vents!  Bungalows have more vents than a two storey house but even so it would take a long time to offset the cost as energy savings are predicted of around £100 to £150 per year at best for gas heating

RHemmings

That's not outside the bounds of what I saw, as the smart heat exchange things that I saw were about £300 each. Does the Airex Smart include heat exchange? As if not, I think there are cheaper options. But, more research is needed.

I'm still planning on going ahead with this, but will look into it in more detail after completion. 

radox2608

I hired a thermal imaging camera a few month's back in an attempt to make my home warmer. At the same time I watched a few YouTube videos about how to use them. I came across a few which were from professional home energy auditors, usually in the USA. One video I remember talked about the concept of the "envelope" which is the region of a house in which you live; the living room, kitchen, bedrooms, etc. Your home also includes regions which are not in this envelope, i.e. the loft, the under-floor space, etc. Whilst you heat the envelope, the areas outside the envelope are not heated and to reduce heat loss in your home, you should try to avoid air moving between the two. I thought this made sense and by finding and blocking a few gaps between these two regions in my home, I do think it is warmer. Therefore, I don't think you should block off, even only temporarily, airbricks which ventilate the under-floor space. They are there for ventilation purposes only. There shouldn't be any of your home's heated air down there. A better solution would be to insulate the floor, either under the floor (hard to install) or under the floor covering (easier).

RHemmings

I'm planning to insulate the floor at some time. I'm not sure what order things will be done in. I have to get the house first. 

MultiFuelBurner

RHemmings said:

I'm planning to insulate the floor at some time. I'm not sure what order things will be done in. I have to get the house first. 

😂😂😂 Yes to be able to insulate the floor best to purchase first rather than breaking in and doing it.

Chickereeeee

Manually blocking underfloor air bricks gives rise the virtually certain possibility that you forget to unblock them. You will do it for the first few months, or even years, then forget.

Using airex smart air bricks gives rise to the virtually certain possibility that the batteries fail after a couple of years, and you forget to replace them, OR the bricks malfunction and cannot be repaired in place.

Underfloor insulation is a a once-off upheaval, but no maintenance.

Also, carpets+good underlay appear to greatly reduce heat loss, and thus increasing payback time or the smart vents.

Hazel29

I recently had these smart air vents installed in my bungalow.  They work!  I am able to run my central heating in the coldest months at flow temperatures between 45 and 50 degrees C.  I'd tried to do this the winter before and found my system toiling to give me confortable temperatures. The hub in the system sends data to Airex who give me a monthly summary of performance.  The vents not only reduce heat loss through uninsulated floors but also reduce losses through walls as these are ventilated from below.