Can ventilation systems tackle damp in homes?

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 23/04/2024 – 15:32
I have included tenants responsibilities towards avoiding excessive condensation and ensuring adequate heating and ventilation in my tenancy agreements.

Tenants are responsible for ventilation as it is they who need to open the windows! We provide the windows. Same goes for the heating system! I agree that the rhetoric leans always against the Landlord and it is incredibly frustrating.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 23/04/2024 – 11:02
The ‘well-insulated’ is one of the causes of condensation.

Another is that people used to have a bath once or twice per week. Moisture from the bath wouldn’t be a problem because houses had chimneys, vents, single glazed windows etc.. Moisture would either escape from the house or be attracted to the windows.

Nowadays, house are almost hermetically sealed. Moisture cannot escape. Also, windows are double or triple glazed. Condensation forms on walls and ceilings as these are the colder areas. Also, people tend to have showers which create much more steam. Many people have two showers every day. And yes, people dry clothes on radiators.

Tenants can be to blame. They are not always the only cause of damp and mould.

Landlords own a higher percentage of older housing stock than any other group. Cheap housing that was built post wars and subsequently bastardised to reflect modern energy performance requirements is unlikely to be the suitable for modern ways of living.

Vast swathes of the UK needs to be demolished and re-built to higher standards.

Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 23/04/2024 – 17:03
I agree with much of what you say..in the decade in which I was born a lot of our stale air used to go up the chimney along with the fumes from the coal that we were burning. But demolishing vast swathes of the UK would itself have a vast environmental impact and an even bigger short term impact on rents.

In the meantime I accept my responsibility as a landlord to ensure that my property can be heated and can be ventilated but I still think my tenants should have some responsibility to do it.

With a of bit of ingenuity, one can install an ventilation system that will be cheap, can recover most of the heat from the exhaust air doesn’t need to be connected to electricity, so no expensive tradespeople, free to run, slim enough to fit between joists or boxed-in in a corner, vertical or horizontal, and can have whatever automation you like.
Have one and it works like a charm.

Reply to the comment left by Minu Alunel at 23/04/2024 – 17:31
Any details on this intriguing bit of kit?

Reply to the comment left by Matthew Jude at 23/04/2024 – 20:10
Same question. How can it not be connected to electricity? Where does the power come from?

We had a property which was suffering from condensation/damp issues. We installed a Nuaire Drimaster PIV system and it significantly improved the situation.

Reply to the comment left by Ann at 24/04/2024 – 10:52
condensation/damp down to tenant or building?

I completely agree with the comments about cause, unfortunately with tenants not allowing access it’s often too late. Particularly in winter with the heating on, the washing drying and lack of ventilation because Windows and doors are kept closed. Providing a dehumidifier is no good if not used because of the cost.

Reply to the comment left by Paul at 27/04/2024 – 18:18
The irony is that the cost is minimal because the power used contributes to the heating. Law of conservation of energy – try expalining that to a tenant.