EasierVentilation

The weather we’ve had over the last few weeks has been great with cold nights, frosty mornings and fantastic days.

These conditions give us lovely fine days but also perfect conditions to produce bad condensation on windows including some double glazed window frames.

On these cold nights we heat our homes more, this in turn draws more water out of our carpets, curtains and all other porous surfaces. Heating the air enables it to hold more water vapour, this we don’t notice as we are warm and cosy – and what we don’t realise is that it costs us to keep the water as vapour. While the air is kept warm the water vapour will stay suspended, once the air cools the water falls out of the air, back into our carpets and furniture and condenses on all non porous and cold surfaces which is generally our windows (I have seen condensation on marble/granite coffee tables). This water stays in our fabrics and carpets until next time we heat the room sufficiently enough to draw it into our home atmosphere, increasing the cost of heating our home   

In these conditions even double glazing can have condensation appearing on the aluminium joinery in far greater quantities (again water that still needs wiping up along with possible damage to your window sills). 

To reduce or most likely remove condensation completely we need to remove the cause not just put a Band-Aid over the results of having a damp or humid home.

Many people believe that completely insulating our homes and installing double glazing will fix our condensation problems but all they do is mask the appearance of condensation on our glass or even our walls.

In insulating and double glazing our homes we reduce the heat loss, which is great, but we also reduce the breathing of the home and therefore reduce the ‘ventilation’ of the home. In doing this we will increase the moisture which will in tern make the home less efficient, colder and more costly to heat. Feel colder, because the home will be damper and more costly to heat because the dampness has to be heated first.

To make your home more efficient you need to remove moisture and lower the relative humidity in our home. Doing this will make your home easier to heat, more comfortable to live in, healthier and reduce overall maintenance.

It is two story with exposed beams in both the lounge and the master bedroom,

Downstairs we have the lounge, kitchen, dining room, bathroom and two very cold and damp bedrooms. Upstairs is the master bedroom, ensuite and an office, these cover less than half of the downstairs floor area.

In the lounge is a large wood fire which heats up the lounge quite easily, some of this heat goes up the open stairwell to the upstairs rooms and helps keep these rooms  warm, but as they still get condensation the windows are left open to ‘ventilate’ these rooms.

 The home owners want to move heat from the lounge to the two cold damp bedrooms.

Now a couple of things to note:

Firstly:

When a house is heated with a wood fire (or any type of heater) the warm air in the room will be able to hold more moisture and as this occurs the warm air draws moisture out of the fabrics, carpets and furniture in the room, now this is how the room will feel both warmer and dryer, it is also the reason we get condensation, as all we are doing is pulling the moisture out of the room then as the room cools it falls out of the air on to our chairs carpets and condenses on our windows. This heated moist air takes up more space and is effectively expanded into the room next door and down the passage if it can as there really is not much airflow as such through a house unless we force it.

If the wood fire is continuously stoked 24 hours a day it may over time dry out our home, but as soon as the wood fire goes out the moisture will immediately be absorbed back into all surfaces and fabrics, all waiting to be heated next time the wood fire is lit allowing the cycle to begin again with the bedrooms becoming colder and damper as the moisture stays there even when you open the windows.

Secondly:

When you transfer heat from 1 room to another through a heat transfer system into bedrooms you are actually pushing moisture laden hot air into a room that is already cold with damp carpets and a damp bed ( many people tell me that the bed is not damp - yet once the ventilation system is installed they tell my how they love their dry bed).

If there is any mould in the bedroom you will at this point be feeding the mould with warm moisture - ideal for growing more mould. The room will initially feel warmer, yet over time will become harder to heat, feel colder, damper, get more condensation and grow mould, and the cycle will continue over and over.

SOLUTION:

Keep your home dry on a continuing ongoing basis (the reason for this is that any family continues to make moisture at all times of every day), by using mother nature to vent filtered fresh dry air from your roof cavity into all bedrooms and lounge this will kill off all mould spores, warm up and dry out your beds, dry out your carpet and stop condensation, doing this, will make your whole home much healthier and easier to heat. 

This is done by installing a well designed home ventilation system in your home, in this case one with a heat transfer as part of the design and configuration to heat the cold rooms with the excess heat from the lounge wood fire. In doing this the home will have dry natural fresh air pumped into the entire home on an ongoing basis (at variable speeds automatically to suit the conditions) and when the wood fire heats the lounge the excess warm air is taken into the bedrooms to keep them comfortable. Then when the wood fire goes out the system will continue to circulate dry air to remove moisture and stop condensation.

Drying out a home is a year round continuous process, make your home fresh and cooler in the summer and warmer drier more efficient and cheaper to heat by installing a well designed and adaptable home ventilation system.

Yesterday I was asked to go to a clients home who has a flat roof.

He had been told that he can’t have a forced air ventilation sysyem because of his flat roof, but wants one as his son has a well designed forced air ventilation system in his home and my client saw the changes in the home in 3mths, but has been really impressed with the improvement in the health of his grandchildren, so he want’s this change for both himself and his wife.

The house  has a 500mm gap between the roofing iron and the ceiling so there is plenty of room to install the fan units in this space. The client has been checking his roof cavity for both humidity and temperature over the last week and found that it was definatly both dryer and warmer than inside his home, it’s suprising what solar energy can do. So he in now happy to install a ventilation system designed for his home, I am taking into account the volume of the home, the number of rooms to be ventilated, his existing home heating (which is a heat pump) and advising on bathroom fans and range hood changes. This way we are looking after all the family needs and the best for the home.

What is the best way to stop condensation?

Some people believe Double glazing will stop condensation (the water or mist on the glass) - All double glazing does is stop the impression of condensation on the glass, it does not stop the moisture levels inside the home. If all you have done is add Double Glazing to your home, the water that used to run off your windows will now be soaking into your carpets, fabrics and beds even more.

The best way to stop Condensation is to dry out your home on a daily basis, and the best way to do that is to install a good home ventilation system designed for your home.

Solar Energy Available in New Zealand.

I’ve added an interesting page on Solar Energy, New Zealand gets an average of 1400 KW’s per meter Sq per year where as Germany only gets 1000 KW’s per meter Sq per year.

And we waste it each and every day. Why not use it?

Today I looked at an 80 year old double brick house, 3 bedroom with bad odours from both cooking and mould.

This house has a heat pump installed in the lounge.

The owner says, it gets warm in the lounge, but the heat pump guy’s say it is big enough to heat the lounge and 2 bedrooms but does not seem to do it. His wife does not like to use electric blankets, but at present feels like she has to.

By using a Home ventilation system the house will become drier, the beds will dry out and the heat pump will be more efficient.

Have a read of the page on condensation it’s causes and some cures.

How a modern well designed  Home Ventilation system will benefit you and your family.

HRV - Heat Recovery Ventilation

easier ventilation