Lofty whole home ventilation system - any good?

[JohnD]

Well, if you fill your house with moisture from wet washing, then of course it will be moist. If you have no covered area like a carport where you could put a line, you could try a retractable line in the bathroom, and leave the fan running and the doors and windows SHUT. And leave the fan running until the washing and the windows are dry.


An extractor fan will run for 50 hours on one kWh of electricty so don't tell me you cant afford 14p for 50 hours.
A tumble drier will cost about 50p per load if modern.

 

[JWhite]

Part of our problem is that we are in a bungalow and it has an internal bathroom with no window. It has a full length double shower cubicle and does have a strong extractor fan. I doubt we could dry the washing in there as the bathroom is in regular use and not large enough for an airer, even if it were, it would not be warm enough to dry a load of washing in say 6-8 hrs. The airer would have to go inside the shower cubicle and of course it is in use every night. I have no doubt that there are many people with this problem in small accommodation, especially apartments so I do not feel we are "out of the ordinary" with having to dry washing inside the property, although many have tumble dryers who can afford them. When you are a single pensioner living on just over £100 per week, I don't know many that can afford the extra expense of a tumble dryer at 50p per load.

 

[JohnD]

You are right. There are lots of people who drape wet washing around their homes and therefore have wet homes.

Sorry.

If you want to do anything, try the bathroom extractor method.

It is dried by air not by warmth.

 

[^woody^]

We have a radiator in the room but cannot use it due to it being right behind my dressing table and I have nowhere else to put the dressing table so leave the radiator off but do put on the halogen heater and slim panel heater we have, on every night for about 6 hrs.

There is no reason why you should not use the radiator, and heating the room along with the rest of the property is much better than the irregular use of the electric heaters - which will rapidly heat up and cool the air and actually compound any condensation problems. Plus the radiator will be easier on your pension than electric heaters

You also need to get the HA, or someone to look at the loft and make sure that the ceiling is insulated properly down at the eaves above the window.

Existing mould needs to be treated - remove wall paper and treat the plaster behind with a fungicide. Check to see if the HA will do this type of work for you, many wont though

Also consider giving the washing a good spin and part use the drier so that its not wringing wet when you put it on the airer

Then search the net for all the normal condensation prevention advice

We have damp washing seemingly drying all over the place, but we don't get any mould. This is due to the house construction, so its not just about the moisture you produce, but the property's ability to deal with it

Only consider a lofty type device if you have extreme condensation in several rooms

 

[JWhite]

Well my husband decided to investigate the source of the damp by stripping the wallpaper that had gone damp and black in places and it turns out the wall beneath the stripped paper was bone dry and he had problems getting the backing paper off !

Apparently the surveyor who came down from our housing association to inspect the wall when we thought we may have a leak, told my husband that Supaglypta and that type of absorbent spongy paper is the worst possible paper to have in a room where you get condensation like we get in our bedroom. We now believe it it probably condensation rising from the window during the night when the room is cold and we are sleeping that is causing mould spores on the paper and ceiling directly above it. My husband is treating it and sealing it first and then we are going to paint it to see if the problem reoccurs and if not he is going to paper but then painting the paper with kitchen/bathroom moisture resistant paint to see if that cures the problem as far as normal condensation and then we are going to try avoiding drying wet clothes in any room without keeping the door closed overnight and see how we go.

 

[Smithysson]

Condensation on Walls windows etc beeping feeling damp when getting in bed read up about nuaire dry master bit the bullet shelled out the dish fitted sat just gone omg what a difference looks a bit like an elephants head sat in the loft almost silent operation and two days on the house is dry as a bone! I cannot believe the difference even the bedroom windows have no wet on them in a morning and the patio doors that were preiously like trying to look through lake are dry best 300 quid I ever spent and soooo easy to install prob could have done it my self and I'm a girl!

 

[bluenose23]

Hi I have been advised by a local damp speacialist company to invest in a Lofty Remcon to help minimise against condensation forming mold. He gave me an estimate of £700 supply and fit. Has anyone had an alternative to the Lofty fitted ?
I would be interested in a cost for supply/supply and fit.
I would also welcome any feed back on the performance on these units.

 

[^woody^]

Never, ever take the advice of a "specialist" damp company when that advice is to purchase a product they just happen to sell or install, or can be provided by one of their associated companies

All these units, no matter who makes them, do a good job if installed correctly and if deemed suitable for the problems diagnosed.

These units are always a very last resort though, and in many cases, the issue can be dealt with cheaper by other means. And those other means should be explored first

 

[bhm1712]

Easiest steps to reducing if not ending condensation in a home:

*Fit a cooker hood extractor fan and use it when cooking without fail

*Fit a bathroom extractor fan

*Open the windows every day for at least 20 minutes (even if just on the night vent latch)

*keep clothes drying inside to a minimum and use a properly vented or condensing tumble dryer where possible

(We used to have every window pane dripping with water every morning, walls wet and mould growth in various places until we adopted the above. Unfortunately, in the culture of energy saving with more and more insulation, lack of air bricks, A rated windows and trying to cut costs by not using a tumble dryer or extractor fans means that houses will have damp and moisture problems)

 

[bluenose23]

Easiest steps to reducing if not ending condensation in a home:

*Fit a cooker hood extractor fan and use it when cooking without fail
Thank you for the reply.
As much as I try I can't pursuade anyone to leave the windows open when drying washing etc. A friend has advised me to fit 3 air brick vents into my two bedrooms. A local builder has quoted £250 to fit these , does anyone think this is a fair price and more important will they sort out the condensation issue.

*Fit a bathroom extractor fan

*Open the windows every day for at least 20 minutes (even if just on the night vent latch)

*keep clothes drying inside to a minimum and use a properly vented or condensing tumble dryer where possible

(We used to have every window pane dripping with water every morning, walls wet and mould growth in various places until we adopted the above. Unfortunately, in the culture of energy saving with more and more insulation, lack of air bricks, A rated windows and trying to cut costs by not using a tumble dryer or extractor fans means that houses will have damp and moisture problems)

Thank you for the reply.
As much as I try I can't pursuade anyone to leave the windows open when drying washing etc. A friend has advised me to fit 3 air brick vents into my two bedrooms. A local builder has quoted £250 to fit these , does anyone think this is a fair price and more important will they sort out the condensation issue.

 

[JohnD]

I can't pursuade anyone to leave the windows open when drying washing etc.

if your house contains people with an aversion to ventilation, who insist on adding large quantities of water to your home, it will always be wet and mouldy. They will doubtless block up the air bricks on the grounds that they introduce undesirable fresh air.

sometimes people like that blame the builder, the windows, the insulation or the landlord. They can't be helped.

 

[Pownstar69]

Guys I have just opted to have this system installed 3 weeks and it will be in and can take upto a week to stabilise the environment ill keep you posted what happens [/b]

 

[Koolpc]

Very interested in this system too. It will be for my bungalow.

Any particular make / supplier? Ta

 

[Pownstar69]

The one I have gone with is envirovent loft system and a auto vent put in the bathroom the whole system has cost 1k but we are so sick of mould and sopping wet windows, it comes with a money back guarantee, because they did the survey and they recommend products based on that survey if it doesn't work they will give us the money back, we bought a new washer dryer so we are not having washing all over the place, we opened up the fireplace we had new windows with trickle vents installed all to no avail, we have high humidity when he did a test on the rooms there were averaging 89%, will keep you updated,

Regards
Gary[/b]

 

[Koolpc]

So, you have it fitted. Seen any benefits so far?