Reduce humidity in bedroom with just velux

[Benjseb]

Hi

 

Our master bedroom is fairly sizeable (8m x 4m), some exposes stone and a small set of stone mullion windows

 

when we moved in we realised there was very little ventilation and it smelt a bit musty. There was mould on the stone windows. 
 

 

we added 4 large velux windows to the ceiling, which means we can purge ventilate much better now and in summer often leave them open

 

However in the winter they tend to get closed (most I can manage is to keep one on trickle vent) and as such the humidity sits around 5% higher than other rooms (55% vs 50%)

 

I would like to get this down as I’m quite sensitive to mould spores so was thinking either:

 

1. Add a solar kit to the furthest velux from the bedroom door and automate it opening day 3 times a day for 15 mins. Approx £250

 

2. Replace the window panes within the million surrrounds to give an opening window and/or trickle vents. A few £100 for new panes it could DIY trickle vents but not sure how effective that would be. 

 

3. Remove the stone mullions completely as they are a massive cold bridge (they sit around 8c despite the room being at 18/29c 24/7) and replace with wooden frames as per other windows.  About £1000 for frames plus new windows, day £500. 
 

We don’t have any listed status so can do what we want. I guess we’re either removing the cold surfaces for the humidity to condense on, or ventilating more to reduce the humidity

 

Any preference on the above from people’s experience?

 

thank you!

[Ferdinand]

Do you have an en-suite?

 

Could you put a quiet trickle fan ie fan With a background say 6l per second setting in there and either leave the door ajar or trim the bottom?

 

Or trim 6-8mm off the bottom of the landing door and better ventilate that?

 

Just trimming the doors migh help.

 

Of your options 1 sounds the best.

Edited February 16, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Simplysimon]

put a small dehumidifier in the room

[Benjseb]

Already put the trickle extractor in. It’s a bit of a pain in that if it gets dirty, or the external humidity is high, it tends to stay in boost mode. So it works but it’s not ideal. 
 

I think I can definitely add a vent to the bottom of the en-suite door. The door into the landing is actually about 8” below the landing floor level so a vent would need to be halfway up the door which would look a bit rubbish (wouldn’t pass the MrsSeb test!)

[Ferdinand]

Just now, Simplysimon said:

put a small dehumidifier in the room

 

Perhaps set with a timer to run during the day only, or with a built in humidistat (perhaps with *that* on a timer).

[Ferdinand]

1 minute ago, Benjseb said:

Already put the trickle extractor in. It’s a bit of a pain in that if it gets dirty, or the external humidity is high, it tends to stay in boost mode. So it works but it’s not ideal. 
 

I think I can definitely add a vent to the bottom of the en-suite door. The door into the landing is actually about 8” below the landing floor level so a vent would need to be halfway up the door which would look a bit rubbish (wouldn’t pass the MrsSeb test!)

 

I wasn’t earning a vent .. I meant trim 8mm off the door.

[Benjseb]

1 minute ago, Simplysimon said:

put a small dehumidifier in the room

Due to the size of the room a small humidifier doesn’t really do anything unfortunately.

[Benjseb]

Just now, Ferdinand said:

 

I wasn’t earning a vent .. I meant trim 8mm off the door.

yep I can do this on the en-suite. Good idea. 

[Ferdinand]

Just now, Benjseb said:

yep I can do this on the en-suite. Good idea. 

 

But that will only help if you have better ventilation in the en-suite, which helps the bedroom whilst not generating intrusive noise.

[Simplysimon]

1 minute ago, Benjseb said:

Due to the size of the room a small humidifier doesn’t really do anything unfortunately.

put a large dehumidifier in the room ?

[Ferdinand]

3 minutes ago, Benjseb said:

Due to the size of the room a small humidifier doesn’t really do anything unfortunately.

 

But you only need a marginal difference ?

 

But running a larger dehumidifier on a timer during the day would leave you quiet at night. 

 

Or or you could fit a small dehumidifier and a small loft type heater - 20-40 ukp - heater which will make it work better.

 

F

[Benjseb]

There’s 6-8l/s extraction in the bathroom. The envirovent extractor we have is annoyingly easy to flick into boost so may address this, shave a bit off the bottom of the door then it should be a steady trickle of air out. 
 

The issue I guess is that the air needs to come from somewhere so ideally we need trickle vents inside the bedroom ( otherwise it’ll draw from the landing and bypass the bedroom).. so it’s a battle between keeping those velux vents open vs the mrs being able to hear wildlife through them ?

[Benjseb]

1 minute ago, Ferdinand said:

 

But you only need a marginal difference ?

 

But running a larger dehumidifier on a timer during the day would leave you quiet at night. 

 

Or or you could fit a small dehumidifier and a small loft type heater - 20-40 ukp - heater which will make it work better.

 

F

Yes very true. I guess my preference is to incorporate some more fresh air, rather than remove humidity from the air that isn’t moving much. Better health gains from the fresh air. 
 

I did look at PIV but with no loft it’s a PITA to fit and a bit of an overkill. 

[Ferdinand]

32 minutes ago, Benjseb said:

Yes very true. I guess my preference is to incorporate some more fresh air, rather than remove humidity from the air that isn’t moving much. Better health gains from the fresh air. 
 

I did look at PIV but with no loft it’s a PITA to fit and a bit of an overkill. 

 

Remember that eg Nuaire do a PIV unit designed for  flats that goes through the wall, or various companies do single room Through The Ball units.

 

But it is a stone cottage which makes it difficult and obvious outside, and you would perhaps want that out of the bedroom for noise rasons, and you do not want an HR unit in the ensuite because it gives a slightly cooler than room temperature draught when you and the boss are naked and dripping for which you would be held responsible.

 

F

Edited February 16, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Benjseb]

Things would certainly be easier without a boss who’s super sensitive to noise, light, etc!

 

ill try ensuring the trickle extractor stays on (disabling the spur switch ?) and opening up the bottom of the en-suite door a little, in combination with velux on trickle and see how things go. 
 

I think it’s pretty unrealistic to live in an old house and not be willing to live with some form of compensation!

[Ferdinand]

2 hours ago, Benjseb said:

There’s 6-8l/s extraction in the bathroom. The envirovent extractor we have is annoyingly easy to flick into boost so may address this, shave a bit off the bottom of the door then it should be a steady trickle of air out. 
 

The issue I guess is that the air needs to come from somewhere so ideally we need trickle vents inside the bedroom ( otherwise it’ll draw from the landing and bypass the bedroom).. so it’s a battle between keeping those velux vents open vs the mrs being able to hear wildlife through them ?

 

Shave a bit off the bedroom door and it will come in from the landing.

 

Being an old house it may permeate through the gaps in the wall, the skirting, through the ceiling or the floor, or round the windows etc.

 

F

[Ferdinand]

17 hours ago, Benjseb said:

Things would certainly be easier without a boss who’s super sensitive to noise, light, etc!

 

Thinking laterally about this, I am reminded of a column by a characterful writer of pungent (provocative?) opinions called LJK Setright who wrote for Car Magazine for 30+ years, and was right often enough that disagreeing was slightly perilous. I remember him noting that he had kept a TV out of his house for years until one came in non-negotiably with the wife.

 

In one column he pointed out the full width "touring" screen option for a sports car, then aero screens, then that windscreens could become so small that they could just be driving goggles.

 

If you proposed that the boss embrace ear plugs and a sleep mask, rather than windows and curtains, it would make your ventilation problem much simpler, in that you could use a small jet engine should you wish.

 

If an intermediate solution were required, you could propose that she follow the Buffy the Vampire playbook, and make like Dracula (lid down option). 

 

However, either of those may be more perilous than disagreeing with LJK Setright.

 

Ferdinand

—————————————

Found a bit. LJKS on how the proliferation of car safety equipment also threatens safety:

 

Quote

Airbags were introduced, and spread into the most unlikely places: today, they aretucked into windscreen pillars, thickening them and so reducing the field of view, making the car potentially more dangerous. To protect pedestrians, new regulations call for sloping pillars that have to be thickened for strength, reducing the view even more.

...The car most likely to survive an accident was the car most likely to have one.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/comment/ljk-setright-safety-features-can-be-downright-dangerous-486124.html

Edited February 17, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Benjseb]

Hahaha love it ?

[matt_bag]

On 16/02/2020 at 12:16, Benjseb said:

Already put the trickle extractor in. It’s a bit of a pain in that if it gets dirty, or the external humidity is high, it tends to stay in boost mode. So it works but it’s not ideal. 
 

I think I can definitely add a vent to the bottom of the en-suite door. The door into the landing is actually about 8” below the landing floor level so a vent would need to be halfway up the door which would look a bit rubbish (wouldn’t pass the MrsSeb test!)

 

Change your fan for a Vent Axia Svara! Super quiet trickle flow with boost but most importantly - it is controllable by a smartphone app so you can easily adjust whether it boosts due to humidity or PIR and it is really quick to adjust sensitivity and over-run timer lengths etc! You could over-ride the humidistat when you go to bed so that it doesn’t boost in the night to keep you awake!

 

Here’s a good video I found on YouTube that shows it’s functionality:

 

https://youtu.be/xN_xPbYawYM