Venting

[mike. buckley]

1938 semi, front upstairs bedroom and a rear bathroom both have air bricks in place which enter the room directly, as a result both have a healthy airflow. The bathroom has a tacky plastic sliding vent cover and is due to be sorted as part of an upcoming decoration.

What was the reasoning behind these[1], and is there good reason to keep them in place? SWMBO is pushing for them to be removed because these are usually the coolest rooms in the house as a result.

[1] Other than the obvious air flow, why have 2 rooms got them and not the other two bedrooms?

[Andy Hall]

The reason is to provide some level of ventilation - one front and one back.

The risk if they are removed, is of condensation and stale air, mould etc.

Condensation will happen if there are cold enough surfaces such as uninsulated walls (are they cavity? if so are the cavities filled with insulation? Are the windows single or double glazed?

For a bathroom, you do need to get rid of the moist air. If the vent is removed, then an extractor fan is a good idea.

Recent double glazing has trickle vents so that a minimum of ventilation can be provided.

[mike. buckley]

In message , Andy Hall writes

Ta for that. We get a lot of condensation in the main bedroom, this has a vent, but it doesn't make any difference.

The windows in the bathroom are approx 15 years old double glazing, and as a result are pretty crap. We only get condensation during baths/showers and we're happy to open the window to cure that. I've only seen the trickle vents on wood double glazing, not on uPVC, but that's not to say it's not available! Might go for an extractor fan, but when it's off don't you get a draft anyway, I'll have to look into that.

The walls are double brick, from what I saw of them when we had our conservatory done, the cavity if there is one, is tiny, less than an inch, so insulation is probably a waste of time.