Vent-Axia's Positive Input Ventilation- Mould & Condensation Reduction

Rob Ford, a DIY enthusiast is breathing new life into a classic 1930s, double-fronted, 4-bedroom home in Merseyside. However, facing energy cost surges, he dialed back heating, only to lead to condensation & mould challenges. The game-changer? Vent-Axia’s PureAir Home Positive Input Ventilation (PIV).
Watch the full video to find out more about the installation and solutions our PIV units provide.

[@sygad1]

really good simple explanation and extra points for taking the time and effort to create the mockup, very nice touch

[@johncone9516]

I have a Nuaire unit in my house, never needed to use the heater. I turn mine off between May and September. I hung mine from the joist, that stops any resonance through the joists.

[@michaelbriggs4853]

Helpful and straightforward explanation. Thanks

[@Acheiropoietos]

We also had a PIV fitted in our 1930s home, well worth it 👍

[@IanWilliams-l1i]

Great video. So much better than the instructions. Thanks!!!

[@paulwatts1704]

Also very useful for modern highly insulated homes - ours is part underground with insulated walls / roof etc but gets a bit stuffy and sometimes condensation from lack of ventilation - we fitted one 20 yrs ago that lasted 15 yrs then replaced it with a new one once it stopped working (so 15 yrs continuous run 24/7!) Originally fitted to a cold roof so had to turn off in the coldest winters for a few hours or at night (remote wireless switch). But now fitted to a warm roof (i.e. insulated the rafters) so no need to turn off but only run on lowest setting. Of course you have to leave your internal doors open... We also use continuous extraction fans in the bathrooms so stale air is expelled and new air enters. Our annual elec bill (no gas / oil) is £1k p.a. for 5 bed hse so no impact on heating cost and house air is always fresh with no build up of pollutants. If wiring is DIY note you can use the ceiling lighting circuits but not if you buy the version with electrical air heating as it needs more amps. Also our version hangs on a wire from the rafters to ensure no vibration of the ceiling which this version may give due to its legs.

[@Stubear22374]

I’ve installed one in summer this winter it’s nowhere to be seen mould and wet windows a thing of the past a great idea should have installed it a long time ago

[@jml189]

@@Stubear22374 so could you switch it off during the summer period for example as you only get condensation during the winter period.

[@Stubear22374]

@ it’s designed to switch off during summer cones with a temp setting does it all it self or you can have it send out cool fresh air during summer

[@jml189]

@@Stubear22374 oh ok thanks didn’t know that 👍🏽

[@Stubear22374]

@ it has settings to shut it down the heat for instance but it will still give fresh filtered air in summer making your houses cooler, I have wired it to a spur so I’m a. Switch it off anytime

[@jml189]

@@Stubear22374 yeh I think I would just put it on a smart plug so I can switch it on or off remotely if I ever wanted to.

[@24bellers20]

Took mine out because it made the rooms cold. It was pulling freezing air from the loft. I fitted a log burner and I’ve got no condensation now as the humidity is down to 40% when the burner is on.

[@paulf6517]

Fitted a Nu-Aire version about 18 months ago. They work well and reduce condensation but not entirely. Certainly removes around 90%

[@ThePhobicFlyer]

Really great review - thanks. Is yours the heated one or the non heated one? Have you noticed any increase in your electric bill?

[@richardlincoln886]

6:47 - so looks like you could attach the pipe, before putting the diffuser into the ceiling, i.e. more options if space is tight in the loft space/reach to the top side of the diffuser in its fitted position. Fit the giant jubilee clip while the difusser is in the room, then the 4x screw clips seem like they'll turn 90º as their screws are tightened in room. Question is - will this stop my wife opening all the windows a crack in the winter and letting the heat out of evert room? :) Thank you.

[@cfcyayaya]

The hot air inside your room away from the inlet diffuser is loaded with moisture. You need to let it out if you want to stop condensation on windows.

[@audrius.l4677]

Awesome content! any suggestions about settings and what program to use? Cant find any info online. Or just leave for preset setting. Thanks for any info!

[@triggsymalone9820]

I have recommended and then fitted quite a few off these units in old houses that had bad window condensation , customers never believe it can work..but i always say ring me next day and my customer are always shocked, works in 24hrs..

[@grapegirl]

are you london based? how much do you charge for installation? I'm a bit nervous to do it myself

[@sivarasarathnam2185]

Hi I installed this but the air it blows is quite cold. Any suggestion of how to resolve this? Thank you

[@smellypunks]

Have you noticed an increase in heating bills? As you are pumping in cold air I am thinking you would have the heating on more? Wondering if this is a better solution than a big dehumidifier. No need to empty a PIV (just change filter once a year). But cost wise which is better????

[@PaulCross-h5g]

what happens in the rooms if your doors to the room are closed,

[@johnw2758]

Usually there is enough gap for the air to go through

[@kaytierney3399]

How often do you replace filters please.

[@glynbell7443]

Im reading every 12 months

[@bimble7240]

What is the name of this man's (Rob Ford) channel? I would like to subscribe.

[@denisconor648]

Great stuff

[@amarjitbassan7310]

Did I miss the bit about the electrics? Do you just plug it in?

[@tonymariner5519]

He did say a spur is to be fitted, but yes you could fit a plug and plug into a nearby socket.

[@michaelagnew7825]

just a comment, did it start and stop working straight away or did it take a few days? and did you have any window or exit somewhere else in the for air to exit?

[@Group51]

In my old house I had an Envirovent PIV fitted and with it a bathroom extract set to continuous extract. A low and slow continuous extract and moisture detect for boost. In the city almost as important as less humidity was the air filter. It was black when it was serviced.

[@triggsymalone9820]

You fit these to rafters keeps noise down top tip, they work within 24hrs

[@hogg8888]

Do you need the specialist competent person scheme to fit this ?

[@jml189]

Does it blow out cold air into the house?

[@Stubear22374]

Two version heated and non heated

[@cfcyayaya]

@@Stubear22374 It is not a powerful electric heater sufficient to heat the air up to anywhere near comfortable level.

[@Stubear22374]

@ it’s not a heater in that sense it just heats the air from the loft to a warmer temp it’s not a heater to heat the house just make the air a little less cold

[@FellUpAndDown]

Great video thanks. Question for you. We've just moved into an oldish cottage that has quite bad mould and condensation problems, so we're looking at options. Would this be suitable for a brick cottage and what sort of running costs are you looking at?

[@cliveramsbotty6077]

this thing is a fad. get a dehumidifier or mvhr if you can afford it.

[@AlleyKatPr0]

So long as you have got a way for the air inside the property to be pushed out, such as brickwork ventilation / air bricks, you're good the running costs is roughly the price of a tin of tomatoes, a month.

[@eddwalch-homecraftproperty6613]

Suitable for almost any home. There are lost of varieties available which also have heat exchangers so will provide some heat recovery. The heat recovery units may require a condensate drain.

[@michaelagnew7825]

@@AlleyKatPr0 i agree, air has to circulate also not just pumped in

[@Wayfarer-Sailing]

@@AlleyKatPr0 ...but remember, that's just the cost of running the loft fan unit. It doesn't take into account any additional heating costs to bring the cool air from the loft up to room temperature, which would be hard to quantify. Presumably the better your loft insulation the cooler the incoming air, ironically.

[@syedrahman95]

Hi, I have the same unit but with heater I am getting cold air but I don’t know how to get the warm air as it is winter now. If you can help me please advise thank you.

[@TheJoker-u8w]

I am thinking getting one with the heater. I spoke to technical at Vent Axia and they told me that it increases the temperature of the incoming air by about two degrees. So if the air in the loft is + 2degrees then it would output into house at + 4degrees. So it's not exactly heating the air much.

[@swldn]

It's in the manual, the unit comes with standard settings applied. The heater should kick in when the loft is 5°c or lower. The unit should switch off when the air becomes hot (summer) at 18°c to stop the heat blowing into your home. But these can be changed to suit your needs

[@jablot5054]

It modulates the air. You won't really notice it much.

[@pspr33]

​@@TheJoker-u8wif that's the case it isn't worth the additional electricity in my opinion as they're quite high wattage from what I remember reading about them (the heaters).

[@cfcyayaya]

Assuming the air input flow of PIV is 60L/s. The input ait temperature is 5C. The cost of gas heating to warm the air to 20C is 6.3p/kWh. The fan in the PIV is 17W. The cost of electricity is 28p/kWh. The running cost to heat the cold air up to 20C including the fan running cost is 7.5p per hour or £50.4/month. Majority of the cost is in the additional gas central heating load to heat the air from 5C to 20C. As a comparison, the cost of running 2 20L dehumidifier would cost about £81/month. So direct the cold air from the PIV towards a hot central heating radiator is your solution. I intend to put the diffuser in my airing cupboard with slated doors where I put my gas boiler to cut the chilling effect.

[@edhunter84]

Is there anyway to supply the unit with an external air source rather than the filters from the loft air. My loft is boarded out as room.

[@eddwalch-homecraftproperty6613]

You can get wall mounted units which require ducting or I believe there are small self-contained units which also do heat exchange so they recover some heat that would be lost in the winter.

[@paulmerryman5149]

Its only 9 db it’s that quiet you cant hear it

[@mic24]

Get a diesel heater for £100 and spend the other £300 on fuel . House will be warmer and free from condensation. There is no way that's not bringing loads of cold into the house and if you're gonna heat it with electricity it's going to be expensive.

[@cfcyayaya]

mic24 has hit on a very interesting concept. If you take the input air of the diesel heater from outside instead of recirculating air inside the house, you are actually doing positive input ventilation and the fresh air delivered into the room is hot and really dry. (Recirculated air is wet).Try it out mic24 and tell us if it solve the mould problem. But be careful not to suck the exhaust gas of the diesel heater into your room though. The cost of running the diesel heater would be about £1.5 per day if you use red diesel for non-commercial heating. You save a lot in electric or gas heating. Diesel heater kills 3 birds with one stone: cost, warmth and dry.

[@HappyTyke25]

​@@cfcyayaya Diesel heaters are good, I've used one in the winter months for a couple of years now. But you'd have to crank it on full power to heat a standard size house, and then it's probably more expensive to run than gas. They're ok as a backup heat source to take the chill off. Not convenient for everybody though. I'm lucky, I have a cellar where mine is fitted and I can vent the exhaust outside, but not everybody could do this. They do cut down on the condensation though that's true, because it's warm dry air being sent in. I certainly don't have condensation problems, and mine is a Victorian terraced house, it's quite common for this type of property to have damp issues.

[@Woodkin007]

Only a one year warranty for such a big spend. Not convinced.

[@cooliocrib4409]

The fan as you say costs a few pence to run. And guess what. You have this cold breeze in your corridor. Now in winter you tell use how the freezing wind feels. You probably just run your heating more but wait till your gas bill comes..

[@robjw77]

How do you stop it dragging in all the pollution that selfish people produce with their dirty fuel burners? Wouldnt like that pulling in all that near my kids bedrooms.

[@pikeburner919]

Buy a meac arete dry two dehumidifier for £300 makes more sense and will solve all your damp and condensation issues plus has a hepa air filtration system as well as a standard filter it's a super unit costs 7 pence an hour on full power can take 25 litres of water out of your house in 24hrs and has a 5 litre holding tank .Wi Fi controllable via phone app or voice activated via alexa or Google home hope this helps . Air con centre and appliances direct are good to buy from or chose a smaller unit this one is a big unit .

[@NeilTrevenna]

waste of money dehumidifer works way better

[@Stubear22374]

Sorry Disagree and I fact I’ve fitted one had several,years of mould and water on windows in winter, a dehumidifier only removes the moisture in the air once it’s there and it’s costly trust me when I fitted mine it’s totally gone my dehumidifiers worked too slowly and only worked for a small time it came back, this is a constant pressure it’s totally eradicated my moisture rich house

[@cfcyayaya]

@@Stubear22374 Have you sized your dehumidifier correctly? In my 100m^3 kitchen and dinning room, I installed a 20L Meaco dehumidifier. All windows are now free of condensation while before the dehumidifier is installed, all the windows are wet every morning. Yes dehumidifier is costly to run but it stopped condensation and window sills are now dry.

[@nadznadz5630]

Can't u hang it to the rafters? It'll make noise by screwing legs into joists?

[@johnw2758]

yes, in fact it comes with 'rope' and a hook. (well the Nuaire one does anyway)

[@tonymariner5519]

Comes with rubber mounts to minimise vibration