Nickw1982

Great discussion guys, please find below the sanitised response I received from the installer on Friday which also had a signed accompanying letter from Vent Axia. I have also sanitised and posted the letter wording below. Happy to hear your thoughts..... ----------------Email Start---------------- Good afternoon, We acknowledge receipt of your emails dated 25 October and 11 November in which you set out your concerns. I have concluded my investigation into your allegations and will respond to each of those points in turn as follows:- 1. Supply\Exhaust External Grille boxes The installers have damaged my gable wall work whilst stitch drilling and chiselling the stone. The stone has been over chiselled above one box exposing the inner and creating an area that will hold water. This will accelerate weathering and the wall area will weaken over time. My builder has advised that this stone needs replacing as soon as possible. There is also cracking around both grille box areas and the silicone used to seal both grilles has collapsed allowing water to penetrate. The grille boxes are not installed as per the manufacturer’s installation and commissioning manual which clearly stipulates on page 3, point 9 that the external grille boxes should be a minimum of 1500mm apart. I have measured mine and they are 900mm apart. Installer Response: We acknowledge from the photographs that you forwarded to us that there appears to be superficial damage to your external wall at the site of the grille. We have been liaising with several builders who have recommended that we approach a specialist masonry contractor and have we requested a price to repair and colour the stone to match the surrounding stonework, these will follow within the next few days. We will be prepared pick up the cost of this repair. 2. MVHR System Unit Mounting The MVHR unit has not been mounted as per the manufacturer’s installation and commissioning manual which clearly stipulates page 16, point 2 that there should be a minimum of at least 0.7m of straight pipe in line with the spigots. I have measured mine and there is 0.2m of straight pipe connected to the unit. There is also 0.6m space underneath the unit. The unit has not been mounted as per our agreement using the plywood board. It still exists on the short wood with single screws. Installer Response: We have consulted Vent-Axia on the two installation queries regarding the required distance between the two grilles and the straight run pipe in line with the spigots. Please refer to the “installation clarification letter” attached from the XXXXXX Director for Vent-Axia who has given you clarity on those points. I confirm that you do have an adequately sized plywood pattress which is the same size at the unit itself that in turn is secured to the two pieces of wood you can see in the photo which spread across the trusses. This was also discussed with Vent-Axia who concluded this was acceptable. 3. Ceiling plenum Installation Most ceiling plenums have not been fixed at both sides in the loft space, loose bits of wood have been wedged underneath them adding weight on top my ceiling boards. The added weight has popped a screw and damaged my decorating in a bedroom. Installer Response: I don’t have all the information I require to respond accurately to this issue but I will respond to you by the end of the business day on Monday 15 November. ----------------Email Finish---------------- LETTER FROM VENT AXIA: Dear XXXXXXX, Further to your email of 09 November 2021 regarding the site installation questions raised by your customer we can confirm that from the information provided the units have been installed to an acceptable standard and there will be no detrimental effect on the performance of the unit or its service lifetime. To answer the specific points raised: 1. The inlet and discharge grills must be a minimum of 300 mm apart to comply with the Building Regulations. As an industry we would prefer to see greater separation which has been achieved on this installation. We will be looking at our instructions to soften the wording from ‘Must’ to ‘Recommend’ this larger dimension. 2. The 0.7m straight run does not apply to the standard Advance S, this requirement applies only to the Constant Volume SX product variant which has pressure sensors installed in the factory. Therefore the straight length of ducting of 200 mm will not adversely affect the performance of the unit and is fully acceptable to Vent-Axia. We will look to clarify this in our instruction manuals moving forward. I trust the above satisfies your concerns and reassures you that the installation that has been carried out by yourselves is acceptable to Vent-Axia. I would also like to thank you for pointing these issues out in our installation instructions. Yours Sincerely XXXXXXXXX Vent Axia Director

Appreciate your response and reading - I was also drawn to the same table, i believe they have used this document to highlight the associated Supplementary Information in this table 7.0 Section 5c. Where it states that a minimum of 300mm horizontal distance is required. That said, I have requested that they seek a formal response\statement from the Vent Axia business for the points raised. Let's see what they come back with ?

Here is the MVHR installers response with link (rather than attachment) to my email sent (See my previous post for original email). I would really appreciate your help and supporting comments. Thank you. ---------- Email Start----------- With reference to the communication, you sent to me on the 25th October and the communication you sent to XXXX earlier this week. We have every intention of answering your queries and issues raised correctly and accurately based on the information you attached and forward to me. However, despite the length of time that has passed there are some questions you have raised that XXXXXX can only answer correctly once we have received the clarification from the manufacturer of the unit we have provided and installed in your property. The Technical Director of VA has been handling your queries on the installation guide detail you have referenced to us. VA have done their best to get these answers sent to us by today and may yet arrive later this afternoon. I will attend to the response you have requested once that information is in my possession along with all installer issues raised. This may not arrive with you until tomorrow morning but as XXXXX requested a small extension was to give VA more time to respond to ourselves. Please find attached the compliance guide (domestic_ventilation_compliance_guide_2010.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) that all systems should be installed by as a minimum standard. You may find conflicting points within it that answer some points you have raised. You may even find more questions to raise against your previous email. ---------- Email Finish-----------

I would like thank everybody for your help and supporting comments. Based on your feedback, I sent the MVHR company the below email and attachments on the 25th October 2021. Today, 17 days later, I received their response and I will post a sanitised version below this post and would appreciate once again your valuable feedback ..... I don't think its much to ask for things to be done correctly by the professionals ---------- Email Start----------- I would like to make you aware of my disappointment and dissatisfaction regarding the installation of a MVHR system at my property by XXXXXX which took place over the 19th & 20th of October 2021. Due to the long lead time on materials and prior site visits, I would have expected that there was enough time to thoroughly plan my installation to ensure a high quality installation. However, there are multiple major issues and I have now had the time to seek independent advice to which I would request your written response on the points raised below. I have attached a copy of the Vent-Axia Sentinal Kinetic Advance Installation and commissioning manual for your reference. 1. Supply\Exhaust External Grille boxes (see attached pictures with prefix 1) i. The installers have damaged my gable wall work whilst stitch drilling and chiselling the stone. The stone has been over chiselled above one box exposing the inner and creating an area that will hold water. This will accelerate weathering and the wall area will weaken over time. My builder has advised that this stone needs replacing as soon as possible. There is also cracking around both grille box areas and the silicone used to seal both grilles has collapsed allowing water to penetrate. ii. The grille boxes are not installed as per the manufacturer’s installation and commissioning manual which clearly stipulates on page 3, point 9 that the external grille boxes should be a minimum of 1500mm apart. I have measured mine and they are 900mm apart. 2. MVHR System Unit Mounting (see attached pictures with prefix 2) i. The MVHR unit has not been mounted as per the manufacturer’s installation and commissioning manual which clearly stipulates page 16, point 2 that there should be a minimum of at least 0.7m of straight pipe in line with the spigots. I have measured mine and there is 0.2m of straight pipe connected to the unit. There is also 0.6m space underneath the unit. ii. The unit has not been mounted as per our agreement using the plywood board. It still exists on the short wood with single screws. 3. Ceiling plenum Installation (see attached pictures with prefix 3) i. Most ceiling plenums have not been fixed at both sides in the loft space, loose bits of wood have been wedged underneath them adding weight on top my ceiling boards. The added weight has popped a screw and damaged my decorating in a bedroom. I only have to look on your website to understand that XXXXXXXXX puts the customer at the heart of its business by providing a professional service. I therefore would like to give you this opportunity to turn these issues around and I look forward to your response. ---------- Email Finish----------- Sentinel Kinetic Advance MVHR - Installation & Commissioning.pdf

@Roundtuit - there is a mixture of ducting to be honest, all fully insulated. Let me share the design that the company did below; that being said it has not been followed to a tee.

@IanR - thanks for the information, really useful. I have just measured the distance between the exhaust and intake vents and it is 0.9m, also the straight length ducting connected to the machine is 0.2m (see picture below).

The system itself is quiet even on boast mode (60%), it is not near any of the bedrooms. Is there any official documentation available on the 1.5 m rule between exhaust and intake vents? @riboid - not quite sure what you mean by extending? If you could elaborate it would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks again. I would like to add that the house is built against a hill, the upstairs back of the house is at ground level. I don’t like the thought of opening windows through the night with my young family in the house. There is no ventilation or fans in any of the rooms and the windows do not have trickle vents. It would be interesting to get a test done. However the MVHR system is in now, even if it’s to a poor standard. I now have the joy of speaking to the company about these issues. I am still waiting for their invoice. It will not be cheap to replace the stone for issue 1.

Hi All, Thanks for your quick reactions and comments. I have never had an air tightness test done, there are no trickle vents in my windows, the way the house holds residual heat is remarkable, even on a night when the temperature outside is much cooler. My rational behind the MVHR was that it would bring in this cooler air on a night and take out the stale heated air. I am not expecting air conditioning, i just want fresher air

Hi, I have joined this forum for help and advice on a recent MVHR system installation in my family home. I am not in a related trade\profession and until recently my knowledge about MVHR systems was non existent. I live in a relatively new home that for some unknown reason was built air tight and the upstairs living was very uncomfortable during periods of hot weather. After some research, I decided to retro-fit a MVHR system into the upstairs living area only and mount the system in the loft space. Due to my lack of free time and missing knowledge, I thought I would have it professionally fitted using a reputable MVHR design and installation company. I knew this would increase my costs but i thought that I would have piece of mind knowing the system was installed correctly. The system was installed last week, it took the company approximately 2.5 days in total at a cost to me of around £816 per day (£2,040 total). Over the weekend, i have had chance to check the work and unfortunately I am not happy with 3 particular areas and i would like the forums support to understand if my system has been installed correctly. My 3 issues are the following: Supply\Exhaust Vent boxes - The installers have damaged my Gable wall brick work whilst stitch drilling the stone for the vent boxes. Please refer to the "Issues 1" pictures below, you can see that above one vent too much has been taken off the stone and it is now holding water. The silicone seal has collapsed on both vent boxes. Ceiling plenum Installation - The ceiling plenums have not been fixed at both sides in the loft space, loose bits of wood have been wedged underneath adding weight on top of the boards. Please refer to "Issue 2" pictures below - the added weight has popped a screw and damaged my decorating in my bedroom. MVHR System Unit Mounting - The MVHR unit itself has been mounted on my trusses. Please refer to "Issue 3" pictures below. The wood used seems to be too short with only one screw in each. I would of thought that high duty plywood board should be used and screwed multiple times to each trusses to reduce resonance. I have not yet paid for the installation and I would just like to seek help and advice from the experts to understand if my highlighted issues have substance and how they would compare to other professional installations. Since this is my first MVHR experience, I have no other situation to compare to nor do I have a view of the professional standards for a MVHR installation. Happy to answer any questions, thanks in advance Nick