PIV Systems or equivalent

[shabbaranks]

Hi guys,

Just had a chat with someone about PIV systems as we get a lot of mould spots in the corners of the bungalow and above the little'uns bedroom window. We try to keep on top of ventilation but times of year (cold wet winters) and living in the South West with a lot of moisture in the air seems to make it harder.

Does anyone have any experience or views on these systems and can they recommend any in particular? Apart from the wiring element I cant see it being too difficult to fit ourselves or am I wrong?

Thanks!

 

[jeds]

I do a lot of work for property owners - rentals etc. I have specified PIV on several occasions where nothing else worked. e.g. a lovely older Eastern European lady who took in washing from a 10 mile radius. She dried everything on radiators and clothes racks all over the house, which was literally black with mould. We treated and installed PIV. It killed the mould dead.

Drimaster is the one.

 

[pcaouolte]

Highly recommended. Completely cured long standing condensation and mould problems for me. Ventilation is needed to avoid condensation and mould but most of my family are very reluctant to open windows because that lets the heat out. They can't switch the PIV off so they get constant ventilation.

The one I installed was a Nuaire Drimaster Eco Heat which I purchased here: https://www.i-sells.co.uk/nuaire-dr...ut-ventilation-unit-with-integral-400w-heater

Highly recommend that you get one with a heater to take the cold edge off the air on the coldest days, you can switch the heater off if you decide that is is too expensive to run but you can't retrofit a heater to a model which doesn't originally have one.

 

[pcaouolte]

I would also note that they do some fancy wall mounted controls, humidistats etc. These are expensive and I don't consider them to be necessary at all. They can be added later if you decide that they would add anything.

 

[Mike Cowley]

hi, I have a vent axia pureair, installed in the loft. We bought a 1970s house 18 month ago that has really old double glazed windows which have no trickle vents. All the windows used to condensate BAD over night, to the point there would be puddles on the windows sill. After installing the piv the condensation was down to next to nothing withing days.

The only negatives I would have is, even tho I have a piv with a heater the air that's being blown in still feels a bit chilly, but it doesn't really bother me that much. Also, you can hear the piv running if your in the room under we're it's installed. We put ours above the bathroom so it doesn't bother us.

I'd say the positives massively out weigh the negatives

 

[shabbaranks]

Thanks for the info. I had someone come over and quote an install they also stated tge decibel count for the device they would reccomend (which was low) with that and the 300mm of insulation in the loft I dont think noise would be too much of an issue...

 

[pcaouolte]

You can hear a quiet sound from the fan and the sound of the air coming out of the vent. As they are normally installed in a hallway or landing the noise isn't usually a problem. Likewise with the cold air that they do introduce into the house, you can feel it as you walk along the hall but you don't feel it in adjacent rooms.

 

[shabbaranks]

Have you guys had all seasons running yours? Im just thinking from my perspective its more the winter that will be an issue (or currently is an issue) and the peace of mind something like this offers to get rid of any dampness. As said we don't suffer greatly its just in the corners of the rooms where the walls are a couple of degrees colder than the rest of the wall.

 

[pcaouolte]

Mine has been running since August. In the summer time it shuts down during the day to avoid pumping the hot air from the loft into the house, it tends to start up again in the night when the loft cools down. The heater only functions when the outside temperature is less than about 6 degrees C (that is adjustable).

Dampness still exists in the summer from people breathing, showering, drying washing etc so the PIV is helping to get rid of this dampness which doesn't form condensation but does get into the fabric of the building. The basic idea is to leave it running constantly all year round. It uses about 7watts of electricity without the heater.

 

[shabbaranks]

Hi guys - sorry to pester. Could you guys drop the model names of the systems you have here please as its the classic there are so many options\manufacturers out there all promising the world but I would rather go down the route using experience and use to decide which one to go for.

Thanks!

 

[pcaouolte]

Nuaire DRI-ECO-HEAT-HC

 

[Johnytuono]

Same, Nuaire DRI-ECO-HEAT-HC, as stated above, the heater can be turned off completely so I'd get one with the heater. The setpoint for the heater to work is changeable between 5 to 15c and I think it's measured from the loft temperature (which should be slightly higher than outside temp anyway. The 400 w heater isn't on constantly anyway, it sort of pulses on/off, I think it's quoted as being on 10 to 15% in a day total.