The challenge with opening the window isn't even the cost - which is substantial - from about £250/month to £400/month if I have my windows open even a little bit.
The bigger challenge is with my windows open, my heating just can't even keep up! It'll be maxed out and only 18c.
I do the German-style luften twice a day, but if our interiors are just absorbing the compounds and releasing it when the windows are shut, then that's not even going to help much.
It is called recuperator. If it is possible to retrofit i suggest to use mounted in attic (it will be silent). Otherwise, if you want higher quality not and these `breathing` types the box will have similar size like air conditioner (search: mitsubishi vl-100eu5-e)
Indeed, but a traditional MVHR would require ductwork which isn't common in the UK and often there isn't really any space to route it.
I have been investigating easier to retrofit decentralised MVHR systems such as the Prana Recuperator, Ventaxia Tempra and the Blauberg Vento. They can be noisy (not a problem for me, I don't mind noise) and quite expensive as you have to fit a number of units in different rooms, but still easier than retrofitting ducting.
We have low-voc foam in the attic, which outgasses voc’s slowly and constantly. (They measure voc release at application time, not over the product lifetime).
I started actively venting the attic a two months ago. The whole
house reeked of foam for a week or so whenever the windows were closed.
It’s fallen off a lot, even though the attic foam is 5 years old.
I think the sponge analogy is correct. If the house is sealed, the VOCs accumulate in the atmosphere, and are reabsorbed into the foam at the rate they are released into the air.
If you leave the house completely open, the outgassing will not be offset by reabsorption.
I think the CO2 in our place accumulates faster than the VOCs I can smell, so opening the windows when the meter tells us to keeps the net rate of outgassing high, and the indoor pollution low. It seems like the outgassing is slowing down now.
You’re replying to somebody from the UK. They want it warmer than 18C inside. In winter it is typically much colder than this outside so they’re saying their heating won’t get the house warmer than this even if windows are only cracked open.
> The minimum house temperature your home should be kept at to avoid damp, mould and condensation is 18°C, according to health and energy experts.
That article and the supposed experts are idiotic. Condensation is a function of relative temperatures and humidities. If your house is warmer than outdoors, then you're not going to get condensation from outdoor air.
The outdoor air isn't really relevant, the issue is human activity (breathing, showering, laundry, etc.) raising the indoor humidity when combined with low indoor temperatures causing surfaces to approach the dew point. Particularly external walls or windows that will be a lower temperature than the room as a whole.
At 70% RH and 15C air temperatures, the dew point is 10C - which could easily be achieved along the exterior walls of an older more poorly insulated house.
Spindly old grandmothers can crank the thermostat. Everybody else who cranks it then proceeds to whine about the cost and air quality is being an idiot. Put on a sweater.
The bigger challenge is with my windows open, my heating just can't even keep up! It'll be maxed out and only 18c.
I do the German-style luften twice a day, but if our interiors are just absorbing the compounds and releasing it when the windows are shut, then that's not even going to help much.