Air bricks - good or bad ?

MouldyOldDough

We have airbricks in our 1st floor bedrooms

I have always assumed them to be advantageous in terms of airflow to keep damp at bay but not according to damp surveyors who tell me that they cause cold areas which increases condensation and thus damp !

Any comments ?

outtatune

By 'damp surveyors' I assume you mean 'salesmen who want to frighten you into buying their companys products'?

FreeBear

MouldyOldDough said:

We have airbricks in our 1st floor bedrooms

I have always assumed them to be advantageous in terms of airflow to keep damp at bay but not according to damp surveyors who tell me that they cause cold areas which increases condensation and thus damp !

Any comments ?

A source of cold draughts and a route for heat to escape. Whilst they do allow for ventilation, there are much better ways of solving the problem - MHRV and PIV systems spring to mind.

If I had them here, they would have been blocked up a long time ago.

EssexExile

We have them in our 1950 house. They were blocked up years ago and we've noticed no problems since.

MouldyOldDough

outtatune said:

By 'damp surveyors' I assume you mean 'salesmen who want to frighten you into buying their companys products'?

No. I mean Alpine surveys 

mexican_dave

Sorry to disappoint but often the so-called surveyors are only salesmen as Outattune says! Unless you are still using open fires (burning coal or logs) then you don't need these air bricks venting into your rooms. The only exception is if you have an old boiler needing an external air source, keep an air-brick in that location! I agree block them up.

FreeBear

mexican_dave said: Sorry to disappoint but often the so-called surveyors are only salesmen as Outattune says!

Alpine Surveys appear to be an independent outfit without any ties to the PCA - The lack of PCA affiliation is one big point in their favour.

mexican_dave

If this the same Alpine Surveys as https://alpinesurveys.co.uk then that's good, these are RICS qualified surveyors, people with qualifications for what they do.

ComicGeek

MouldyOldDough said:

We have airbricks in our 1st floor bedrooms

I have always assumed them to be advantageous in terms of airflow to keep damp at bay but not according to damp surveyors who tell me that they cause cold areas which increases condensation and thus damp !

Any comments ?

But are you experiencing condensation/damp in those areas in the bedrooms? If not, then happily ignore them. Traditional air bricks have been replaced by window trickle vents, but use the same principle. The amount of heat lost through them is normally minimal, while having the big benefit of bringing in fresh, cold and dry air in winter to keep humidity levels down.

Generally you won't get condensation issues where there is adequate ventilation regardless of surface temperatures. 

Cold surfaces + poor ventilation + excess moisture = condensation. If you don't have all 3 it won't happen, or at least not in any significant amount.

We have a small bedroom window open 24/7 all year to ventilate, only closing it if it's really windy and noisy. 

MouldyOldDough

ComicGeek said:

MouldyOldDough said:

We have airbricks in our 1st floor bedrooms

I have always assumed them to be advantageous in terms of airflow to keep damp at bay but not according to damp surveyors who tell me that they cause cold areas which increases condensation and thus damp !

Any comments ?

But are you experiencing condensation/damp in those areas in the bedrooms? If not, then happily ignore them. Traditional air bricks have been replaced by window trickle vents, but use the same principle. The amount of heat lost through them is normally minimal, while having the big benefit of bringing in fresh, cold and dry air in winter to keep humidity levels down.

Generally you won't get condensation issues where there is adequate ventilation regardless of surface temperatures. 

Cold surfaces + poor ventilation + excess moisture = condensation. If you don't have all 3 it won't happen, or at least not in any significant amount

We have a small bedroom window open 24/7 all year to ventilate, only closing it if it's really windy and noisy. 

Yes we have... And don't have trickle vents
We use a dehumidifier in the winter 

MouldyOldDough

I have always assumed that double glazing is designed to seal in heat buy stopping draughts - so what's the point of spending thousands on replacement windows (sometimes with triple glazing) - just to ruin it by having a vent open 24/7 trickling cold air from outside - into your nice warm home ?