Wall vents - what to do with them?

Daniogroove

I've got 350- 400 mm insulation in the attic, upgraded windows and front door to get U values of 0.9 to 1.3.

I'm going to put backdraft shutters into the extraction ducting throughout next so what do i do with the wall vents?
Keeping in mind they don't exist in new builds anymore do we really need them??

I could put backdrafts in them to let air in and keep the heat from leaving or let air out but no external air in.
Block them up altogether
Replace them but whole new more efficient vents that can be open and closed to airtight when required but that's just as much work.

Hit me with it!

Lumen

Daniogroove wrote: »

Keeping in mind they don't exist in new builds anymore do we really need them??

You do need ventilation.

https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/building-standards/tgd-part-f-ventilation/technical-guidance-document-f-ventilation

Daniogroove wrote: »

I could put backdrafts in them to let air in and keep the heat from leaving or let air out but no external air in.

If the second suggestion was physically possible you would die in a vacuum.

Daniogroove wrote: »

Block them up altogether

Very bad idea. Unsafe, unhealthy, uncomfortable.

Daniogroove wrote: »

Replace them but whole new more efficient vents that can be open and closed to airtight when required but that's just as much work.

You can get passive humidity-sensitive vents and/or draught cowls, baffles etc. i.e. better wall vents that won't annoy you with draughts.

If you want fancy you can add centralised mechanical extract ventilation (MEV), which is basically one big fan attached to a load of ducts from the wet rooms that draws air from the non-wet rooms, which in turn draw air through their wall vents. But you'll need decent gaps under the doors of the wet rooms.

Daniogroove

Lumen wrote: »

You do need ventilation.

https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/building-standards/tgd-part-f-ventilation/technical-guidance-document-f-ventilation


If the second suggestion was physically possible you would die in a vacuum.


Very bad idea. Unsafe, unhealthy, uncomfortable.


You can get passive humidity-sensitive vents and/or draught cowls, baffles etc. i.e. better wall vents that won't annoy you with draughts.

If you want fancy you can add centralised mechanical extract ventilation (MEV), which is basically one big fan attached to a load of ducts from the wet rooms that draws air from the non-wet rooms, which in turn draw air through their wall vents. But you'll need decent gaps under the doors of the wet rooms.

The passive vents sound promising. A friend of mines new build (3000 sq foot) only has trickle vents for ventilation. I understand i need some but maybe 4 inch holes in the wall in everyroom is a bit much ha!

_Brian

Trickle vents in windows are a better option and block up those huge holes in the walls.

I’ve seen various low cost fixes.
Stretch fabric across behind the inner grill, it allows air move but not a blowing gale.
Saw some with 1 1/2 waste pipe left through and the rest fillled with expanding foam.

listermint

Daniogroove wrote: »

The passive vents sound promising. A friend of mines new build (3000 sq foot) only has trickle vents for ventilation. I understand i need some but maybe 4 inch holes in the wall in everyroom is a bit much ha!

All new builds have vents unless the house is passive.

A friend has these. Hates them. Can hear loads of noise outside (traffic, kids playing etc) I agree with her that they're a pain and I wouldn't ever have them on my house.

Was told you can get an internal fixing for them to block them out a bit. A chap I know said he is regularly filling them up for people (didn't actually specify how, but i presume expandable foam or something quick and easy). Seems a lot of people don't like them.

riemann

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A friend has these. Hates them. Can hear loads of noise outside (traffic, kids playing etc) I agree with her that they're a pain and I wouldn't ever have them on my house.

Was told you can get an internal fixing for them to block them out a bit. A chap I know said he is regularly filling them up for people (didn't actually specify how, but i presume expandable foam or something quick and easy). Seems a lot of people don't like them.

I wonder did those people experience damp or mould soon after?

riemann

riemann wrote: »

I wonder did those people experience damp or mould soon after?

I wouldn't imagine so?

The house still has windows and doors, in fairness.

Lumen

Anyone receiving payment for blocking wall vents without
providing alternative ventilation e.g. trickle vents or MEV ought to be put out of business.

listermint

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I wouldn't imagine so?

The house still has windows and doors, in fairness.

Well you'd be wrong.

Vents arent for the crack.

There is a serious health risk blocking them up. People are bloody clueless sometimes .

Litany of respiratory problems in council estates from bad ventilation or tenants blocking vents with tape.

0lddog

Anyone come across the AirO units that are on page 104 of http://aquatech.ie/product-catalogue/ ?

Not cheap & a bit of a PITA getting power to the location but if they work then might be good for some retrofit applications

Charlie 08

Is there a good/happy medium between hole-in-the-wall draughty vents and the expensive Lunos/Aereco type ventilation?

Lumen

Charlie 08 wrote: »

Is there a good/happy medium between hole-in-the-wall draughty vents and the expensive Lunos/Aereco type ventilation?

Aereco passive humidity-sensitive vents can be used without the central mechanical extract. They're not that expensive.

Haven't used them myself but they're on the list.

fiacha

The house would have been designed to use the vents. So unless you replace them with something else you will have issues.
Extractor fans will struggle to pull air, same for fires. Common to see a chimney being used as the source of air resulting in smoke from adjacent chimneys being pulled down into the room.

Condensation will build up on cold walls and windows. Can be a major issue if you have to hang clothes up inside during winter.


You can get baffles to help reduce noise and drafts from outside, but vents are a necessary evil in many of the older houses in our climate.

Sleepy

Lumen wrote: »

Aereco passive humidity-sensitive vents can be used without the central mechanical extract. They're not that expensive.

Haven't used them myself but they're on the list.

Do they have to be wired into a power source? or are they a straight forward replacement for existing vents?

And where the hell can you buy them? Can't find them for sale via Google? Only pdf brochures etc.

Lumen

Sleepy wrote: »

Do they have to be wired into a power source? or are they a straight forward replacement for existing vents?

And where the hell can you buy them? Can't find them for sale via Google? Only pdf brochures etc.

No, they're passive. Yes, in theory. Go to one of the installers, I guess.

https://www.aereco.ie/irish-distributors-installers/

The quote I got from one of those installers included this item:

"EHT780 Humidity sensitive wall vents inc airflow limiters"

This seems to be the product page:

https://www.aereco.ie/product/eht/

The list for the whole system was:

listermint

listermint wrote: »

Well you'd be wrong.

Vents arent for the crack.

There is a serious health risk blocking them up. People are bloody clueless sometimes .

Litany of respiratory problems in council estates from bad ventilation or tenants blocking vents with tape.

Litany of problems from people smoking, etc. Perhaps. I wouldnt be at all quick to blame the houses themselves.

None of my family (nor anyone I know) that's not a smoker, that grew up in houses without vents have respiratory issues.

I'd block them up myself, if I had them.

Lumen

KKV, those houses were probably leaky as hell.

Modern houses are airtight before ventilation, and the fabric is not breathable. If you block up the vents in a modern house you will be living in a tupperware container.

Take the advice!

listermint

Deleted User wrote: »

Litany of problems from people smoking, etc. Perhaps. I wouldnt be at all quick to blame the houses themselves.

None of my family (nor anyone I know) that's not a smoker, that grew up in houses without vents have respiratory issues.

I'd block them up myself, if I had them.

Jesus , its been a while since ive read some uninformed nonsense in DIY forum.

If anyone takes your advice on construction they need to take a bat and smack themselves on the side of the head.

Sleepy

The vents in our house were all blocked up when we bought the place.

The result was that the plaster in the front of the house (the back was a later build extension) had boasted, so we got some plasterer friends to chip off the skim coat and re-do the walls. When we got the skim coat off, we realised the bonding was utterly shot too (you could literally chip off chunks of it with your fingernails). We had to take the walls back to "the brick" or in our case, the mass poured concrete.

Blocking up vents can literally result in the walls of your house crumbling from damp.