Ventilation for Mould etc

[hannie0509]

Good morning all,

I need to add some ventilation to try to stop damp and mold in all the rooms in our bungalow. We moved into the house 5 years ago and it looks like the previous owner caked it in anti mold paint so it would sell and no issues could be seen. I have one room which i store my guitars in and also other things i collect. I had severe mould this past winter and i had to clean all the shelving units and one corner of the walls with a mold killing solution. I went in there again saturday and mould has started again so i would imagine i need to fit vents.

My question is should i fit brick sized vents, or would these small ones do? If i have to go for a brick vent im thinking of fitting the vent with a cowl on the outside to stop rain or anything coming in, and would also fit a hit and miss vent on the inside to help control the air.

Ive seen these small ones but not sure they would be good enough.

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Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[jeds]

A bit of info on construction and situation would help for context. Vents are important but from your description you may have more going on than ventilation will resolve on its own. Do you have trickle vents on your windows? What is the construction and age of the property? Do you have any dampness - other than condensation?

PS, forget those small vents, they won't help.

 

[^woody^]

You don't need input ventilation, especially when it will be introducing moist cold air at the times of year when you do not want moist cold air in the home.

You need extraction, to deal with the moisture that you produce in the home, you need to think about how you are heating your home (heating cycles) and you may (or may not) then need to introduce a very small amount of extra input ventilation.

Do not fit any random new vents, that's 1930's thinking.

 

[hannie0509]

Thanks chaps.

We have also had dampness and problems with condensation. We live in a 1940s bungalow so as you can guess its old. It does have modern soffits and fascias aswell as trickle vents on all windows.

I did think about an extractor fan but wasnt 100% sure. Im not sure which would be best but am i right in saying you can get powered and manual??

 

[jeds]

Condensation is caused by too much water vapour in the air for a given temperature. Cold air contains a higher density of water vapour than warm air. Too cold and too much vapour and you will get condensation. Old walls tend to be cold so the vapour condenses on cold surfaces - usually at night when it's coldest. Mould thrives on condensation because of the purity. To reduce condensation you need to raise temperature, reduce cold surfaces, and reduce water vapour in the air. Removal of water vapour at source is a good start. Do you have extractors in bathrooms/cloaks and kitchen? If not I would advise humidistat type fans - powered!

I often find people with condensation in unused rooms have turned off radiators and kept the doors closed during the Winter - to save energy. Own up, are you one of those?