Help! How can we avoid trickle vents on a Jacobean cottage reno?

[Amberella]

Gosh! Turns out I'm a bit nervous about posting - never having done it before - but I really hope that some of you lovely people can help me. Please be patient if I don't give all the right info! 🙂 Basically, my husband and I have a tiny cottage built around 1650. It is not listed. The current windows are UPVC double-glazed units (without trickle vents). Ever since we moved in 20 years ago, we've longed to be able to replace the windows with timber windows that would be more in keeping with the cottage, but we simply couldn't afford it. Now at last we can, but now trickle vents are required by building regs and I hate them with a passion (as well as not really wanting to pay the additional cost of having them). Even our local conservation officer agrees that they are utterly unnecessary for a cottage like ours, given that it's very old and very draughty, but building regs aren't very nuanced and they state that all replacement windows have to have them! If our cottage was listed or in a conservation area we would be OK, but it isn't either of those things and my husband is dead against listing it. So here's the question - is there any way we can avoid the dreaded trickle vents without going rogue and falling foul of the building regs? Or are we doomed? Any advice/help would be very welcome. Thank you!

[Redbeard]

51 minutes ago, Amberella said:

but now trickle vents are required by building regs

 

Hello! I am not sure that is true. Decent (intentional, not accidental) ventilation *is* required by the Regs. Ask anyone on here with MVHR whether they have trickle vents!!

 

You will, however, have to have some vents somewhere if not in the window frames. Search on here for decentralised mechanical extract ventilation (dMEV).

 

I have not got chapter and verse to hand for my assertion, but if no-one comes up with it in the next few hours (I bet they will!) I will have a look for a source.

[Spinny]

I typed 'who can authorise a deviation from building regulations into google' and the AI said...

Quote

A local authority can authorise a deviation from building regulations through a determination process, where they consider whether a requirement can be relaxed or dispensed with for your project. If the local authority refuses, you can appeal to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for a final decision. 

 

[Redbeard]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/appHelp! How can we avoid trickle vents on a Jacobean cottage reno?roved-document-f-volume-1-dwellings-frequently-asked-questions#can-background-ventilators-be-installed-through-a-wall-to-meet-the-part-f-requirements-instead-of-installing-trickle-ventilators-in-windows

Can background ventilators be installed through a wall to meet the Part F requirements, instead of installing trickle ventilators in windows?

Ventilation can be provided through any appropriate means. Installing a background ventilator through a wall that provides the equivalent areas described in Approved Document F, volume 1 can be an acceptable route to compliance.

 

I realise your thread is entitled 'Help! How can we avoid trickle vents on a Jacobean cottage reno?'  but as it goes on to talk about windows I assumed you meant 'trickle vents *in windows*. Maybe I'm wrong. Can you confirm?

 

If you'd be happy with 'trickle' vents in walls then you don't need anyone to authorise a deviation 'cause there wouldn't be one.

Edited 8 hours ago by Redbeard
Cross-referencing to thread above

[ETC]

PIV.

[Iceverge]

Welcome, welcome. It's a nice bunch in here, hope we can help. 

 

You should have some proper continuous ventilation. A couple of dMEV fans would be cheap and tick the box. People often forget that these old houses had a fire going 20hrs per day pulling fresh air through the house. 

 

Trickle vents may not be the only option. You could have wall or ceiling vents. 

[Redbeard]

2 minutes ago, ETC said:

PIV.

 

Does that not depend on how air-tight the house is? It may be reasonable to assume 'not very', but AIUI PIV (Positive Input Ventilation) relies on drawing air in the loft and pushing it out through 'gaps'. No gaps, no functioning PIV?

[Iceverge]

 

 

Just swap out the old rattly bathroom extractor for one of these. I have one in my office. 

 

The only thing that's wrong with them is that they're too cheap. If they cost 10 times as much people would think they were excellent. 

[Mike]

2 hours ago, Amberella said:

is there any way we can avoid the dreaded trickle vents without going rogue and falling foul of the building regs?

Find a an installer who is a FENSA / CERTASS / Assure member who agrees that you don't need them because your cottage is drafty enough.

 

However, adequate ventilation is necessary to maintain a healthy internal air quality and to avoid condensation & mold; the dMEV fans mentioned by @Iceverge would also be my choice if there is any doubt about that.

 

It's also vital that any solid fuel fires / wood burners have proper dedicated ventilation or you risk carbon monoxide poisoning, or worse.