Lack of vents in kitchen and bathroom

[phil1963]

I have a Victorian terraced hosue built in 1884 and the walls are NOT cavity style. The previous owners installed a pump-fed shower in the first floor bathroom, but the fools did not install any way for the hot air to escape the room. The windows are sash style so I guess some of the warm air/heat escape through that but what is the best improvement - an air-brick or an extractor fan? Or would is be safe to leave as it is, or is it a recipe for damp?
In the kitchen underneath the bathroom they installed two double-glazed windows (with no little air-filter built into them) and also hung some cupboards on the wall in front of the air-brick, so again there apears nowhere for the hot aire generated from the oven to escape ... is this a potential causer of damp too and would an air-brick suffice to offset the threat of such?

 

[Richard C]

Moisture laden air rather than just hot air is the problem but both showering & cooking will produce it in large amounts so, yes, you could have potential problems unless you keep the rooms well ventilated. Open air bricks/vents are now compulsory in rooms with a fuel burning appliance over 5kw (boiler, gas or open fire etc) but for bathrooms & kitchens, forced extraction (a fan) is best & is also now a Building Regulation requirement on new builds or major refurbishments.

An extractor hood over the cooker is best (30 litres/sec), you can use a wall fan mounted elsewhere but these need a higher extract rate (60 litres/sec). Other rates are;

Bathroom is 15 litres/sec
Utility room is 30/lites/sec
Cloakroom is 6 litres/sec

Unless your carrying out major refurbishment work your not obliged to fit fans but if your plan on doing so it would pay to fit something that meets current regulations. The above are minimum rates but in the bathroom & kitchen it pays to go a higher.

 

[phil1963]

Many thanks - most informative.