Brand new - need MVHR unit in home we just bought - where to start and who to contact - Envirovent?

[MVHRhowthough]

Hi there,

 

My girlfriend and I just bought a home in the UK south of London. I have suffered from mould exposure and it led to bad health problems, its been hell to be honest.  Someone mentioned getting an MVHR system installed and retrofitted (a specialised damp person).  After doing research, it sounds great? My understanding is that it bring constant fresh air into the house right?  The home we bought has no one staying in it as we are looking to repair and fix all the issues going on, but I will not move in unless it has fresh air and an MVHR in.

 

Does anyone in the UK have good companies to use to install this, yes it will be retrofitted, we understand work will need to be done and a few holes in the property, but is there a company that you highly highly recommend?  The damp specialist recommended Envirovent, so that is who we contacted, however, they got approval on the design (we have two floors and one is an extension that has no rooms on top so it was tricky), they came back and said that it wasn't worth the work due to the manpower over a certain amount of days which is really dissapointing.  Does anyone have any suggestions here or companies, and advice?

One thing that scares me is some people reached out to me on reddit saying 'do not buy it, the system can leak and get corrupted and also cause mould to spread all around the house'... which terrifies me.  Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[SteamyTea]

There are a number of systems that can be installed from a simple fan (PIV), though single room distributed mechanical ventilation and heat recovery (dMVHR) to systems that are piped to all areas and have heat pump heating for space and hot water built in (EAHR).

What I would be more concerned about is why you are getting serious damp and mould in the first place.  Heating and normal ventilation cures this in most instances.

Are there and signs of water leakage i.e. roof, gutters, broken pipes, unexplained damp patches on floors/ceilings or around doors and windows.

There will always be scare stories about any technology, and some may have a grain of truth in them.  I am sure that if you ask for a cure for hay fever on Reddit you will get treatments ranging from local honey (no scientific evidence that it works) though going to the JW Meeting Hall, but very few will recommend a trip to Boots to get some pills.

 

How old is this house and has it been unoccupied and unheated for long?

[Deniance]

8 hours ago, MVHRhowthough said:

Hi there,

 

My girlfriend and I just bought a home in the UK south of London. I have suffered from mould exposure and it led to bad health problems, its been hell to be honest.  Someone mentioned getting an MVHR system installed and retrofitted (a specialised damp person).  After doing research, it sounds great? My understanding is that it bring constant fresh air into the house right?  

If you share some pictures using the add files buttons we can take a look and see what Sami issues you are having, get some zoomed out pictures of outisde the property showing drains on the floor that the drainpipes connect to etc

[Redbeard]

Hi, and welcome.

 

I read 'I have suffered from mould exposure and it led to bad health problems, its been hell to be honest. ' as being in a previous house. Am I right? I assumed that because you had suffered before you were anxious to avoid them in the 'new' house. Or am I wrong and we're dealing with an existing known mould problem *in this house*, in which case others' Qs about why the mould is happening are relevant. Can you clarify?

[MVHRhowthough]

5 hours ago, Redbeard said:

Hi, and welcome.

 

I read 'I have suffered from mould exposure and it led to bad health problems, its been hell to be honest. ' as being in a previous house. Am I right? I assumed that because you had suffered before you were anxious to avoid them in the 'new' house. Or am I wrong and we're dealing with an existing known mould problem *in this house*, in which case others' Qs about why the mould is happening are relevant. Can you clarify?

Yes, this is correct.  There is mould in this new house, we did an air test which shows more mould than the previous home.

[MVHRhowthough]

Basically - which are the best companies for installing an MVHR system?

[SteamyTea]

Initially contact https://www.bpcventilation.com/

They can design a system and probably recommend an installer.

[Redbeard]

Both of these firms are in the wrong part(s) of the country but they might be able to signpost you to an 'industry contact': Green Building Store, Golcar and Solarcrest, Macclesfield. I note that GBS's approved installer list includes 2 in 'the South': https://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/mvhr-installers/

 

You might also try RetrofitWorks in London who may be able to give you a contact.

[Novice Becky]

I'm in the process of having MVHR retrofitted in my bungalow. I've spent ages getting quotes. In the end I went with BPC Ventilation who design and supply MVHR and other ventilation systems. They don't install.  BPC gave me numbers for two installers who work in my area - So far I've only had the design done so can't yet recommend anyone but lots of people on this forum speak positively of BPC.

 

Because this is a self-build website lots of members would install MVHR themselves. If you want a one-stop shop then Total Home Environment were recommended to me and very nice to deal with and they offered installation (or DIY). The only reason I didn't use them was because BPC were about £2000 cheaper just on design and supply.  I'm having rigid metal ducting which is less popular and more difficult/expensive to install. There are lots of seemingly decent semi-rigid plastic systems out there. I think the scare stories you've heard may well be true - if you use flimsy ducting it will be prone to breaking and getting squashed. Not sure building regs even permit this type of ducting now.

 

I'm south of London. BLA Ventilation were quick to quote and included installation (semi-rigid plastic). I found them on Google. They also came up on NAPIT which I think might be like Checkatrade.  I don't know if they are any good.

 

As SteamyTea said, there are other (cheaper) methods of dealing with damp and condensation (if that is what's causing the mould). Annex D (p.168) of the LETI Retrofit Guide has a good easy to read explanation of ventilation options (https://www.leti.uk/retrofit).

 

Yes, MVHR brings a constant supply of fresh, filtered, warmed air into the house. Different MVHR units come with different grades of filters - if you are allergy prone then it may be worth noting that not all machines take F7 filters (some G4, M5).  PIV (Positive Input Ventilation) systems also bring in a constant supply of fresh filtered air but it's cold air, not warmed and there's a lot of debate about these systems too!