Ventilation.. do I need ducting?

[fiskrond]

extract fan in loft hatch , cardboard hatch lid
Best to try following (or get somebody who knows about such things to inspect the property and advise you ) Bldg Regs Approved Documents on background, purge/rapid, mechanical extract ventilation, thermal insulation, ventilation of roof space , draughtstripping/sealing loft hatch, and recommendations in other recognised publications on thermal insulation/condensation avoiding the risks etc.
ps The hatch isn't big enough to comply with current requirements of course.
pps the south facing rear of my house with patio doors is much warmer than the north facing front of the house ,the living room at the front is distinctly cooler ,but that is to be expected .

House built circa 1860... they didn't use string let alone a spirit level. Short of knocking it to the ground I gotta work with what I have.. :-/

 

[catlad]

The reason I was asking what you had on the roof is concrete tiles hold a lot more heat than say slates.
Have you considered lap vents to help with air movement and help cool things down.

 

[arkie]

extract fan in loft hatch , cardboard hatch lid
Best to try following (or get somebody who knows about such things to inspect the property and advise you ) Bldg Regs Approved Documents on background, purge/rapid, mechanical extract ventilation, thermal insulation, ventilation of roof space , draughtstripping/sealing loft hatch, and recommendations in other recognised publications on thermal insulation/condensation avoiding the risks etc.
ps The hatch isn't big enough to comply with current requirements of course.
pps the south facing rear of my house with patio doors is much warmer than the north facing front of the house ,the living room at the front is distinctly cooler ,but that is to be expected .

Sealing the loft hatch should have been done when the insulation was blown in.

Whole house vents are very common in the USA, basically a big fan over the hatch to push the hot air out the living spaces in the evenings, he is after all mostly talking about air-con weather around 10 weeks, and if it fails to help he's spent £30 vs £1000's, sometimes simple things can solve a problem.

 

[Leofric]

House built circa 1860... they didn't use string let alone a spirit level. Short of knocking it to the ground I gotta work with what I have.. :-/

My point was to try and work to the principles of ventilation as contained in Bldg Regs Approved Documents e.g. natural ventilation - rapid ventilation by opening windows , background ventilation by trickle vents, mechanical extract ventilation to bathroom and kitchen ,ventilation of roof space , thermal insulation etc

 

[Leofric]

Whole house vents are very common in the USA, basically a big fan over the hatch to push the hot air out the living spaces in the evenings

Still don't like the idea of discharging possibly moist air from rooms into the roof space , as others have said any mechanical extract fans should discharge to outside air.

 

[fiskrond]

The reason I was asking what you had on the roof is concrete tiles hold a lot more heat than say slates.
Have you considered lap vents to help with air movement and help cool things down.

Ahh.. good info, cheers!

 

[fiskrond]

Sealing the loft hatch should have been done when the insulation was blown in.

Whole house vents are very common in the USA, basically a big fan over the hatch to push the hot air out the living spaces in the evenings, he is after all mostly talking about air-con weather around 10 weeks, and if it fails to help he's spent £30 vs £1000's, sometimes simple things can solve a problem.

Now THAT'S the set-up that I had in mind..

There is only one small window upstairs at rear of house (in said bedroom).. currently have a 16" fan facing outward so as to draw air through the house from ground floor in the evening from shaded side of house. Seems to be pulling a fair bit of air through as the gaps under doors (if closed) downstairs make whistling noise when fan running... still can't get heat out of the upstairs though. Ground floor noticeably cooler, at times ~8c difference in summer..

 

[fiskrond]

My point was to try and work to the principles of ventilation as contained in Bldg Regs Approved Documents e.g. natural ventilation - rapid ventilation by opening windows , background ventilation by trickle vents, mechanical extract ventilation to bathroom and kitchen ,ventilation of roof space , thermal insulation etc

Have tried the windows method, even assisting with a 16" metal bladed fan in upstairs window to pull air through the house from the shaded side at ground level in the evening... still can't get temp down to anything sensible..

Am taking a dual approach of prevention and extraction... unfortunately on a very limited budget..

PS.. Have started reading up on the potential condensation issues.. thnx for the heads-up on that!

 

[Leofric]

There is only one small window upstairs at rear of house (in said bedroom)

That sounds like the problem.

 

[fiskrond]

This afternoon.. (no heating on) mebe 4pm... room temp 14c... attic 18c... not a particularly warm day.

Is it possible that attic so warm in summer that heat is radiating downward.. hence mechanical attempts at cooling being futile?

All upstairs ceilings have a horrendous botch artex job on it anyway so would be looking at skim-over at some point - should I be thinking along the lines of thermo boarding on ceiling of entire upstairs.. 1 large bed, 1 small bed, stairwell..
If I'm gonna get a plasterer in anyway, then the material cost of boarding not that much extra outlay...

Thoughts..?

 

[Leofric]

What size opening windows are there on the first floor ?
What size are the bedrooms ?
What size ventilation openings are there to the roof space and what size is the house ?
Is it a mid terrace or is there a gable wall ?

 

[arkie]

His house sounds a lot like my current house, I ended up just sleeping with a noisy portable AC, I have 1sq meter window i can open but the first night i ended up with a Bat in my room! And screens to keep bugs/Bats out restrict the air flow so much its useless, even with a fan pointed at it. So window aren't always the solution especially in a heat wave.

First thing i did here was to install a vent on the gable wall, Im sure it helps the loft but it didn't really help me in the end. The op should defiantly add more vents anyway.

 

[fiskrond]

@Leofric

I'll 'acquire' some planning software and upload layout.. may take a little while for me to work out how to use it though.. will post back once I have done so

 

[fiskrond]

It's a bit like this... but I haven't got a porch..

 

[Ian H]

You do look very warm in that picture but at the same time you roof vent do appear to be working