Kitchen smell transfer via MVHR fresh air vents

[Russdl]

Can you reject it under the sale of goods act as ‘…not being of merchantable quality…’?  

[JohnMo]

I was thinking "not fit for purpose" it's not a ventilation unit as required by building regulations. So therefore not compliant with BR or manufacturer installation instructions.

 

Several reasons as you have detailed before, recirculation of smells, high humidity etc.

[Jolo]

Exactly right @Russdl and @JohnMo!

 

I've gotten a template letter from the government's consumer authority, and I'm going to send it shortly.

 

It gives them two weeks to repair or replace it, and if that doesn't happen then I can terminate the purchase agreement unilaterally and they have to give me the money back.

 

I'd really prefer that it didn't have to come to this, but I don't see any other option as nothing is happening.

[Russdl]

19 minutes ago, Jolo said:

and I'm going to send it shortly.

Hopefully that will be sufficient to concentrate their minds. Good luck. 

[Mike]

6 hours ago, Jolo said:

On 20/11/2025 at 13:43, torre said:

You mentioned a smoke test earlier, has this been done? It sounds the obvious next step.

Not yet!

Why not get some smoke pellets & test it yourself? Take a video of of any problems. And disable your smoke detectors...

[Jolo]

15 hours ago, Mike said:

Why not get some smoke pellets & test it yourself? Take a video of of any problems. And disable your smoke detectors...

 

I might try this, though I'm not sure if it will hurry Brink up at all. I feel like I've dotted every i and crossed every t, and asked here and elsewhere to test my sanity!

[Adsibob]

On 20/11/2025 at 12:28, Jolo said:

we're running the unit at around 0.45ach

This sounds very low to me, but I may well be wrong. If you increase the ventilation to at least 1 ach you will drop the humidity. You might also improve the smell issue.

[Adsibob]

Actually, ignore me. I’ve just checked approved doc F off the Regs, and that only requires 0.3ACH so 0.45 is fine.

 Have you had works done recently (eg poured slab or screed or plasterwork which could still be wet, that would explain the excess humidity?

[Jolo]

Nope nothing like that! I'm very sure that the high humidity is because of a leak inside the MVHR unit, so there's extracted moisture being blown into the house along with the smells.

[Jolo]

Well I said I'd provide updates, but there's nothing much to update other than to say I'm really disappointed with the customer service I've had from Brink.

In early December they sent an installer who swapped out the whole unit with a new one which, to our amazement, behaves in exactly the same way. I know you'll think I'm mad, but there is definitely strong odour transfer between the extract and supply ports. We tested this new unit, again just via the ports on the top (to exclude any internal ducting issues) and the problem is the same. I wonder now if Brink have a design flaw or manufacturing issues with the Flair 200/225.

The technician from Brink who came checked out our ducting and external connections, and said it all looked very neat and well-installed. I also got him to smell-test the old unit, which he did reluctantly (not sure why, it only takes a minute), and he acknowledged the problem. I didn't do another one on the new unit before he left, as it never entered my mind that the replacement unit would have the same issue. I clearly trusted them too much!

So I emailed the supplier and Brink, explaining that this new unit had the same problem, and they wrote back telling me they were going to thoroughly inspect the returned unit, and would get back to me hopefully by the end of December. Well it's now February, and I still haven't heard anything at all. They even seem to ignore the supplier when he emails them (at least, they don't include me if they do reply!).

So I've had to send a legal email to the supplier, cancelling the purchase contract due to defective goods. I didn't want to do this, I'd much rather they fixed the issue but they just don't seem interested. I'm not sure how they'll respond to this, I hope they just take it away and refund the money, I have no trust in Brink any more.

[Mr Punter]

How very odd.  This sounds like a fundamental design issue as the two flows should not meet.  Get a refund and maybe try another brand, like Vent Axia.