Best way to freshen the air in my flat.
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 11:14 am
Hi,
I live in a flat by an urban motorway, and don't like opening my windows.
There's plenty of air in the colder months, but it gets stuffy in the summer, especially my south facing bedroom.
All rooms have passive wall vents, or fan in the bathroom, except my bedroom.
I've puzzled for months whether to have PIV installed, a couple of single room MVHR units, or another passive vent in my bedroom.
PIV is tricky because internal ducting would be difficult. The only suitable place for an intake would be my west wall, and I think the wind could seriously howl down it.
PIV would be good though to let filtered air in without ever opening a window.
So I think single room units are the thing, either Blauberg's mini vents, or a Mitsubishi Lossnay. Even this isn't simple though as I have limited wall space in the bedroom, and the only place would be under the window, at the side of the radiator.
I could put a more powerful Blauberg Freshbox in the lounge, and let it ventilate the whole flat, as Blauberg has assured me it would.
Or I could just fit a passive airvent in my bedroom.
This though, would still need a core hole drilling, so I'm wondering if a good fan in the bedroom would clear the stuffiness. I don't think the flat is airtight as I have no problem in the winter, and no condensation issues.
I can deal with the heat, by keeping the curtains closed, but the stuffiness is suffocating.
Greenwood told me that MEV is a superior system to PIV, but I don't fancy it, as I assume it would pull pollution in through the various cracks in the building. (Maybe not an issue in the evening, though)
I think the ability to purge the flat would be useful, as it's difficult to get a throughput of air with two or more windows open.
So....any advice please at getting rid of the stuffiness?
I'd like it as simple as possible, so a better fan than my current small one might do the trick, with the windows open for twenty minutes at night.
But I could get one or two cores drilled if anyone thinks that PIV, MVHR, or MEV are worth it. (Ducting would only be possible with PIV in the hall, with three metres of ducting straight to the west wall in my dining room)
(I've thought of improvising some PIV for the summer with an inline fan, filter, and some flexi ducting to an acoustic airbrick in my spare room. A few minutes a full blast could bring some fresh air in.)
I hope that isn't too muddled, but the situation isn't straight forward.
A simple solution please.
I live in a flat by an urban motorway, and don't like opening my windows.
There's plenty of air in the colder months, but it gets stuffy in the summer, especially my south facing bedroom.
All rooms have passive wall vents, or fan in the bathroom, except my bedroom.
I've puzzled for months whether to have PIV installed, a couple of single room MVHR units, or another passive vent in my bedroom.
PIV is tricky because internal ducting would be difficult. The only suitable place for an intake would be my west wall, and I think the wind could seriously howl down it.
PIV would be good though to let filtered air in without ever opening a window.
So I think single room units are the thing, either Blauberg's mini vents, or a Mitsubishi Lossnay. Even this isn't simple though as I have limited wall space in the bedroom, and the only place would be under the window, at the side of the radiator.
I could put a more powerful Blauberg Freshbox in the lounge, and let it ventilate the whole flat, as Blauberg has assured me it would.
Or I could just fit a passive airvent in my bedroom.
This though, would still need a core hole drilling, so I'm wondering if a good fan in the bedroom would clear the stuffiness. I don't think the flat is airtight as I have no problem in the winter, and no condensation issues.
I can deal with the heat, by keeping the curtains closed, but the stuffiness is suffocating.
Greenwood told me that MEV is a superior system to PIV, but I don't fancy it, as I assume it would pull pollution in through the various cracks in the building. (Maybe not an issue in the evening, though)
I think the ability to purge the flat would be useful, as it's difficult to get a throughput of air with two or more windows open.
So....any advice please at getting rid of the stuffiness?
I'd like it as simple as possible, so a better fan than my current small one might do the trick, with the windows open for twenty minutes at night.
But I could get one or two cores drilled if anyone thinks that PIV, MVHR, or MEV are worth it. (Ducting would only be possible with PIV in the hall, with three metres of ducting straight to the west wall in my dining room)
(I've thought of improvising some PIV for the summer with an inline fan, filter, and some flexi ducting to an acoustic airbrick in my spare room. A few minutes a full blast could bring some fresh air in.)
I hope that isn't too muddled, but the situation isn't straight forward.
A simple solution please.