Window trickle vents in Scotland, any alternative?

[kiwibloke]

Hi All,

We have a 1970's 3 bed detached house in need of a renovation. The windows will all be replaced, however the Architect says that trickle vents must be installed in the windows as per the Scottish building regs. We didn't want trickle vents due to external noise and pollution issues. Do we have any alternative in terms of ventilation system or is he correct?

I am pretty certain the current air tightness will be poor, although we will be improving it, though probably not to AECB retrofit standard.

Thanks in advance

James

 

Edited March 17 by kiwibloke
typo

[Mr Punter]

MVHR but it can be tricky to install.

[JohnMo]

15 minutes ago, kiwibloke said:

Architect says that trickle vents must be installed in the windows as per the Scottish building regs. We didn't want trickle vents due to external noise and pollution issues

You can get trickle vents with noise attenuation, so that's the noise issue sorted. You can also get them so they only open when required automatically, opening either on back pressure or on humidity rising. Add undercuts to doors and dMEV fans to each room with a tap. Something like a Greenwood CV2 or CV3 that automatically boosts also on rising humidity.

 

Window trickle vents can be replaced with through wall vents that do the same thing in every dry room.

 

With dMEV you would only have trickle vents in dry rooms not wet rooms. 

 

Your ventilation will be almost silent, no fan that makes a racket every time you switch the toilet light on. But your house will be pretty well vented but only when it needs to be.

[ProDave]

I wired a house next to an airfield and a planning condition was no vents in the windows facing the runway and instead sound attenuated vents were placed in the side walls.  But I did not do the work so have no details.

[Mike]

2 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

MVHR but it can be tricky to install.

Yes, for noise + pollution this would be ideal. It would give you a single air intake & exhaust for the whole house away from the traffic noise plus the option of a sound attenuators ('silencers') and can filter the incoming air very effectively.

 

There are plenty of threads about it on here and, as you're planning a renovation, now would be the perfect time to be installing it.

 

Edited March 17 by Mike

[ETC]

PIV system.

https://drimasterexpress.co.uk

[kiwibloke]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Got a few options to consider.

[JohnMo]

23 hours ago, ETC said:

PIV system

Still needs trickle vents

[ETC]

3 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

Still needs trickle vents

Nope. Does the same job. Just need to undercut the doors to allow for whole house BV.

[Mike]

23 hours ago, ETC said:

PIV system

They are a cheaper solution than MVHR but they do have some downsides:

• In winter, it's pumping cold outside air into the house
• They drive warm moist air to the outside through gaps in the fabric of the building, where it can cause condensation & mould
• You miss out on the other benefits of MVHR - air filtration, heat recovery, multi-speed control, sound attenuation, summer bypass, etc.

There really aren't any circumstances in the UK climate where I'd recommend them these days. dMVHR would be the preferable, if full MVHR has to be ruled out.

[ETC]

50 minutes ago, Mike said:

They are a cheaper solution than MVHR but they do have some downsides:

• In winter, it's pumping cold outside air into the house
• They drive warm moist air to the outside through gaps in the fabric of the building, where it can cause condensation & mould
• You miss out on the other benefits of MVHR - air filtration, heat recovery, multi-speed control, sound attenuation, summer bypass, etc.

There really aren't any circumstances in the UK climate where I'd recommend them these days. dMVHR would be the preferable, if full MVHR has to be ruled out.

Did not know that…….good to know about mould……

Edited March 18 by ETC