Fly/ bug screens

[Russell griffiths]

Ok, so in the back garden we have a lake, but it has a bit of a downside which is the flying creatures, everything you can imagine buzzing about. 

So we need windows capable of having bug screens fitted. 

We also need these on a couple of large sliding doors as well. 

All I keep coming up with are the couple of American companies. 

Anybody got any experience. 

Cheers russ. 

[Roundtuit]

Not sure why you'd need them open unless you're actually going through them, as mvhr will limit the need to open windows & doors for ventilation. We're rural, and have got a set of bifolds and plenty of bugs; when they're open, I'll turn off the mvhr and I think we'll just have to accept a few flying visitors.

[le-cerveau]

Internorm do fixed, turn, sliding and pull down bug screens!

[Russell griffiths]

8 hours ago, Roundtuit said:

Not sure why you'd need them open unless you're actually going through them, as mvhr will limit the need to open windows & doors for ventilation. We're rural, and have got a set of bifolds and plenty of bugs; when they're open, I'll turn off the mvhr and I think we'll just have to accept a few flying visitors.

This is probably going to start another question I will need to ask. 

Is mvhr going to work in our situation. 

 

[PeterW]

It will work fine but I would put an additional filter on the front of the intake ducts to stop too many of them getting in in the first place. 160mm filter boxes are less than £30 and have easily changed filters. 

[Gone West]

Do you get that many flying insects in the winter? The MHRV is unlikely to be on in the summer so it's only going to be a problem for a couple of months a year. MHRV is worth it.

[Jeremy Harris]

I'm interested in a workable solution for this problem, too.  We have a stream along the front of the house and a lake just behind the hedge opposite, and bugs fly in the moment a door is opened, let alone a window.  For some reason the bugs all end up in the bedrooms upstairs, where they die on the window cills................

 

We also have lots of cluster flies, and at certain times of the year hordes of them will fly in when any door is opened, even for just a few minutes.  I'm in the habit of always quickly closing doors when I go in an out to try and minimise the problem.  It's a bit like a house we had years ago that was next to a farm, and where we had cattle grazing right up to our garden fence.  That house was similarly full of flies in summer.

 

We were in a cafe recently that had some aluminium chains dangling down like a curtain across the door, and they seemed pretty effective, but didn't look that great.

 

MVHR pre-filtering is a good idea.  The intake filter box on ours is always full of flies, every time I change the filter I have to clean it out, although very few end up on the filter itself; it seems they die and just drop to the bottom of the box that the filter slides into.

Edited November 6, 2017 by JSHarris

[jack]

I also wish we'd thought about this at the planning stage. MVHR is great, but during hot periods in summer, the only way to keep the house cool is to leave windows open overnight. While we're not near any significant watercourse, we do seem to get a few mosquitoes in overnight. 

 

There are roll-down and magnetic screens available, but they look a bit cack in my opinion. Perhaps if you plan to integrate roll-down screens from the start, you can conceal them so they're aren't so obvious.

 

You also have to consider whether your windows open in or out. If they're inward opening, you really need an external screen setup, and vice versa.

[Russell griffiths]

Having lived in Australia for a few years I know that good quality bug screens are available for windows and doors. 

Im not interested in any aftermarket  looks like a dogs dinner load of poop, 

i can find exactly what I need in oz the problem seems to be the windows and doors they fit to are single glazed ?

So not exactly any good over here. 

Anybody got any experience with American or Canadian made windows. 

[reddal]

I've also struggled with this. In the summer we sometimes have to open windows to help cool the place - but bugs get it - particularly at night if we have lights on in the house.

 

A while ago I bought a load of thin mesh material and intended to build some screens that could be removed - i.e. attached with magnets or velcro or something. However that project never got done - and now I don't even know where all the stuff I bought got put. Sigh...

 

Americans seem to have solutions to this problem which are cheap and easy. I don't know why they aren't available here.

 

By the way - what I would really like is a window / vent system that could automatically open based on internal/external temperatures - and had built in screening against bugs. I think if a system like that was carefully designed into a house it would have more impact on controlling cooling than all kinds of expensive AC or other cooling tech.

[Russell griffiths]

9 minutes ago, jack said:

 

 

You also have to consider whether your windows open in or out. If they're inward opening, you really need an external screen setup, and vice versa.

• aha. You hit the nail on the head. This is where I get my dislike for all the fancy European windows the opening configuration seems crazy (to me) 

does anybody make a good sliding window. 

All our previous windows where sliders so allowing external fly screens which also double as a security screen so a window can be left ajar a bit if needed. 

[le-cerveau]

If you have European Tilt and turn (inwards) then external screens are not an issue, and the fact that hen whole pain tilts/turns gives you access to the screen.

Below is a page out of the current Internorm catalog showing various options, yes they are nor cheep but worth it.

I would question how well sealed you could get sliding windows like the ones they have in the USA!

[Dreadnaught]

Sorry to ressurect an old thread. This thread has been an interesting read for a beginner like me.

 

One note to add. When I met Janet Cotterell (she of the Passive House Handbook) she mentioned that external fly screens can also be useful in providing a degree ofwindow shading in the summer. She usually recommends them for this reason and for the reason already mentioned, that it more easily allows the opening of windows in the summer at night to allow hot-air purging. As we all know, summer overheating is perhaps the greatest risk with a passive house.

 

I think she implied that the extent of shading is not enormous but better than nothing. I think she also mentioned that she had developed a way to model it in PHPP.