House damp, insulate or damp proof?

[newtothis]

Dehumidifiers are great so solve a short-term problem such as drying out a house that has been flooded. However, running them full time is crazy. Regardless of efficiency, you're using (costly) energy to remove the symptom of a problem, a prime cause of which is inadequate insulation, which itself will lead to unnecessarily high heating bills. You’re basically paying cash to heat up the air surrounding your house and more cash to remove moisture from inside it. Better by far to keep the heat in (insulation) and have an adequate movement of air (ventilation) to avoid excessive build-up of moisture. You do not need huge holes in the wall with gales blowing through them: for example, we’ve vents built into the frames of large patio doors in our kitchen as the only ventilation for a large room and they’re more than adequate. I’d recommend you talk to an insulation and ventilation expert and go from there.

 

[priscilla]

Problem going to get continually worse as time goes on, insulating the walls will make it even more damp with all the condensation and drying the wet clothes on rads, etc. No doubt whatsoever you need to have a proper assessment done by a ventilation expert. Check with the sustainable energy Ireland guys in the Galway area for proper referenced people to do a detailed analysis on the house. Using de-humids only takes out water out of the air and are just a patchwork remedy as it'll be all put out there again by damp clothes being dried all the time. Another thing and very, very, important is the health problems all this is causing and will rear its ugly head before too long. For what it's worth, I would be thinking of getting vacant possession, getting a proper detailed study carried out and having the whole lot done. I'm guessing it may cost more than you think but by not doing it you'll be in serious trouble with time. Is it in the city? If so you'll have no trouble getting renters. Out the country I can understand your reluctance in keeping people in the place but remember, it's your house and if you don't do it properly it will deteriorate badly.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Noproblem, I missed your reply earlier somehow. I had a search for ventillation experts online in the Galway area but they all seem to be suppliers of MRV systems and the insulation guys seem to cover the insulation.
As I understand now, it seems I need ventillation and insulation to overcome my condensation problem. Do you think I will require a MRV system?
If so do you have any recommendations for brand or supplier?
I had a look at Aereco demand controlled system and thought they seemed a good option.
Thanks for all your input everyone, very much appreciated.

 

[priscilla]

Western Insulation seems to offer ventillation and insulation, has anyone any feedback on them please?

 

[noproblem]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Noproblem, I missed your reply earlier somehow. I had a search for ventillation experts online in the Galway area but they all seem to be suppliers of MRV systems and the insulation guys seem to cover the insulation.
As I understand now, it seems I need ventillation and insulation to overcome my condensation problem. Do you think I will require a MRV system?
If so do you have any recommendations for brand or supplier?
I had a look at Aereco demand controlled system and thought they seemed a good option.
Thanks for all your input everyone, very much appreciated.

I suggest you try Sustainable Energy Ireland for direction on this. Most of those supplying product are selling you a product and not really surveying your property for the work that's really needed.

 

[priscilla]

Thanks Noproblem, will give them a call in the morning.

 

[priscilla]

No joy with SEAI I'm afraid, they could only advise to have a look on their website for list of approved registered professionals in the area. Unfortunately, this list is divided into BER assessors and better home energy contractors which are the guys that insulate etc. Nothing about independant ventillation surveys at all really.

 

[TermsandRules]

A MRV will make the best long term improvement to your home and they also extremely cheap to run. They can be hard install in a old house and an expert might instead suggest DCV. There are several companies that supply and install them.

 

[Delboy]

What's an MRV?

 

[Leo]

What's an MRV?

Better known here as HRV or MVHR, Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery.

 

[bleary]

I think for a retrofit dcv would be the only option. Some details here.
https://www.aereco.com/technology/demand-controlled-ventilation/
I talked to this company and found them very helpful http://www.flynnheatrecovery.com/contact/
I saw them referenced in a project in a passive house build. Haven't progressed yet as I need to find a builder to do a larger project.
For dehumidifier, keep an eye out for black Friday sales they often discount heavily around this time.

 

[priscilla]

Thanks everyone, might have a chat with Western Insulation tomorrow, they supply aereco dcv in Galway.

 

[roker]

Any gas appliances not vented to the outaide generates moisture, such as gas cooker, superser heaters etc, do you have an extractor fan above your hob to take steam away when cooking?

 

[spondulix]

OP be careful about getting walls pumped etc. If they are cavity blocks certainly do not do it as pumping cavity blocks is a recipe for disaster. Get pro advice on this as you can totally mess up your house (really badly) and make the problem worse if you try to fix things without sound knowledge. Other posters are correct that it could be ventilation related - kitchen ventilation, shower ventilation etc.

 

[Sue Ellen]

Frightening stuff here about wrongly installed cavity wall insulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onya2rjqHdM

 

[terrysgirl33]

With damp, ventilation and heating solve most problems, if it's caused by people drying clothes inside, then provide a tumble drier, it may be cheaper than dealing with the damp.