Do you install window in the passive house bathroom?

[romario]

I am in the process of planing the internal layout for the new selfbuild.

I am building towards the passive house and will definitely have MVHR

The layout of two bathrooms seems to fit better being located internally without having external walls and so the window.

Initially I thought the window in the bathroom would be important but then the more I educate about MVHR and passive house I can't see that this would be needed at all for ventilation purpose but I suppose aesthetically could be beneficial.

 

What are your thoughts?

 

 

[ragg987]

We have three bathrooms. 1 has a window which is nice, another has a rooflight which is ok, and the third has no windows which also works fine. I made sure there was plenty of light so windows would not be missed from that perspective. Being able to see out is nice but not essential.

 

The MVHR takes care of ventilation so windows are superfluous for ventilation purposes. The bonus of not having an window is that the bathroom cannot overheat in the summer.

[lizzie]

I have a wetroom with no window (has a sunpipe but that is not opening). We rely on MVHR for ventilation.  MVHR is fine on regular extract mode for normal usage but I feel it needs the boost when very powerful shower used.  I always use the boost for shower and its no problem, the only thing I wish I had done differently is to have a humidity sensor installed in there so it would boost automatically rather than me havimg to do it manually.  I am currently exploring a retrofit option on humidity sensor.

 

I also have a w..c with no window and that is fine on normal MVHR extract.  My other bathroom has a floor to ceiling opening window and that is usually open on the tilt setting....might be unnecessary though and just habit.

[Bitpipe]

All our upstairs bathrooms have non opening windows. The front bathrooms each have a 2m horizontal high level window, just below roof level and a vertical narrow window (with privacy film).

 

Our ensuite has a smaller window by the sink and the downstairs WC has no window at all. 

 

MVHR in all - while the unit has a humidity detector built in, we wired the MVHR boost trigger to PIR detectors and light switches in each bathroom (same circuit triggers the DHW return pump) so just walking into the bathroom ensures that the MVHR is in boost and there is hot water at the tap.

 

Non opening windows (we have a few) are cheaper and let in more light as they have less frame.

 

Friend has light pipes in some of their bathrooms and they are surprisingly bright. 

[joth]

The other thing to to keep in mind is fire escape requirements. At this point I understand kitchens and bathrooms are exempt from needing opening windows, but for anyone reading in future I expect it's worth double checking this with your local friendly building control ...  

[Jeremy Harris]

Both our bathrooms are on the North side of the house, and we had a planning constraint that meant we weren't permitted to put roof windows in (concerns over light pollution, our area is trying to gain "Dark Skies" accreditation).  One of the bathrooms has an internal window that looks into the hallway, make from glass bricks.  This works well at giving some light into the bathroom and also keeps sound out well.  The other bathroom just relies on artificial light.  Both are fine, and by not having external windows they no different to the bathrooms in a lot of hotels.