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@jegga said in Housing hornets' nest:
I've noticed a lot of variation in the quality of heating system installation and some of the guys actually doing the work so do some homework before you spend your money. Stuff like scratched up and dented roofs , penetrations that cause leaks in cladding and cutting holes in the ceiling that hit a rafter so have to moved leaving you with a mess to patch up and paint.
Our house is plaster clad so I am very paranoid about people causing leaks from making unsealed holes. I'm not educated in what is good or bad though so who knows. I have a few tradies that I've used for some time, hopefully this helps
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@taniwharugby Does HRV adjust flow rates using temperature and humidity sensors? Energywise say these are better, seems to say straight out flow units are no good because they can potentially pump humid air in and make things worse. Bunnings have a smartvent system that runs using both types of sensors
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@canefan nah just on temp as far as I know (unless there is a humidity sensor in the LCD unit, but this is only in a single location) not humidity, but then the air is put through the filter which cleans and dries it.
There are plenty of options out there, the only thing I wish HRV did was the heater attachment, which in winter would add a few degrees to the air would be huge.
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@taniwharugby Thanks mate. The fern is soooooo much better than Google!
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@canefan said in Housing hornets' nest:
@jegga said in Housing hornets' nest:
I've noticed a lot of variation in the quality of heating system installation and some of the guys actually doing the work so do some homework before you spend your money. Stuff like scratched up and dented roofs , penetrations that cause leaks in cladding and cutting holes in the ceiling that hit a rafter so have to moved leaving you with a mess to patch up and paint.
@canefan said in Housing hornets' nest:
@jegga said in Housing hornets' nest:
I've noticed a lot of variation in the quality of heating system installation and some of the guys actually doing the work so do some homework before you spend your money. Stuff like scratched up and dented roofs , penetrations that cause leaks in cladding and cutting holes in the ceiling that hit a rafter so have to moved leaving you with a mess to patch up and paint.
Our house is plaster clad so I am very paranoid about people causing leaks from making unsealed holes. I'm not educated in what is good or bad though so who knows. I have a few tradies that I've used for some time, hopefully this helps
You're right to be concerned on a plaster house, ask your tradies who they recommend and then when you're getting prices ask how they intend to seal any penetrations. Unfortunately if their work is dodgy it won't show up for a while and then it will cost
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While we are all tapping @jegga for advice I have a question
I bought a 3 story place ( Ground, first floor and renovated attic) here in France. The first floor is all the original wooden floor, not sure if its oak or pine. But its straight over the joists and has no insulation in it. I was thinking of carpeting the first floor. At the moment with 3 boys under 5 its like a thunderstorm whenever they are up playing in their rooms.
Whats my best bet here rip up the old floor and replace with a subfloor. Or thin subfloor over the top and use blown in insulation? Here are my thoughts on the two different methods
If I rip it up then at the same time I could throw down some really good insulation to try and keep the ground floor a bit warmer and a bit quieter. But is probably a shit tonne of work.
If I lay a thin subfloor, I am not sure if blown in will be as good as proper bats insulation for sound. Plus after the subfloor I need an underlay and a carpet so I will probably need to trim all the doors to get them to close. Which is a real ball ache.
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@mooshld it's a lot of work to batten the floor, insulate it, put down a new floor and the put down new skirting and trim the doors.
If it was my place I'd go for carpet and underlay first, there's underlay designed for apartments or offices that's designed to cut down the noise.
Or I'd go up from underneath, pull down the ceiling in the room under where the kids play, that gives you the option of insulation , upgrading wiring and lights (if it's the living room wiring your surround sound) and you can also get ceiling battens that further isolate the sound. -
@canefan said in Housing hornets' nest:
how does it stop condensation more than what our a/c units do already?
On ventilation - Maintaining constant positive pressure inside the home. Have a look at any of the ventilation system websites and they talk about it. HRV fixed the problem in our current home within a day and moisture levels in the walls dropped dramatically over time.
I did renovation on a 1960s single glazed place and put in full under floor and ceiling insulation - it made the condensation on the single glazed windows even worse. Stuck in a bunch of uno-vents and it is as dry as now. All of the ventilation systems will do the same thing but the Uno was designed by a kiwi for our conditions and doesn't need ducting, just stick them into the ceiling cavity. You can change the filters yourself (no ongoing costs) just need power in the ceiling. Most sparkies will install if you don't want to do it yourself. I have no connection to the company but they were half the price and seemed to do just as well as my HRV. I'm putting them in my 100 year old bach so that should really test them out.
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@jegga said in Housing hornets' nest:
@Snowy unovent is quite a clever system . What does it cost to run you reckon?
They say less than $1 a month, so way less than the ducted systems but I don't live there so can't give a figure.
I will know exactly in a month or 2 when I have the one in the bach installed as all I pay when it is empty is the daily charge so any usage will be the vent system. They have also just released a special solar system to run it for holiday homes if you want the power turned off. Great idea. -
Will have a look at that system - have noticed more condensation since we insulated a few rooms as part of our reno. We've got aluminium frames and only double glazing in one room. Might look into it for our bedrooms but I know there will always be some heat transfer via the metal.
Would be interested to hear how the costs go Snowy, always wonder how close it is to the advertised info.
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yeah in my old place when we had the wooden windows removed and single glazed aluminium we had loads of condensation, which is what prompted us to get the DVS.
We have the aluminium insert in our double glazed, which I guess affects the amount of warmth it retains or cold it keeps out.
the systems are pretty efficient, most using merely cents a day.
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Our place is about 15 years old, insulated for Africa so probably doesn't breath a hell of a well. We don't get much condensation downstairs, have a big heat pump there too, just in the 4 rooms upstairs. Will a vent system installed in the ceiling just servicing the upper floor be a useful addition or does it need to be throughout the house?
I'll check out Uno, also does anyone know about Cleanaire systems?
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@canefan said in Housing hornets' nest:
@Snowy Big ceiling cavity. I'm not comfortable with cavity air and would use outside air
@canefan O.K. Not the way any of them that I know of work (Uno certainly won't) so can't really help. Most of them move air from the cavity through a HEPA filter - cavity air being drier on a wet day maybe why they don't use outside...
Housing hornets' nest