ᐅ House electricity consumption – what is your usage?

Mold is just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, most people only realize this once they are already living inside.

In the 1990s, ventilation was considered a nice-to-have, but today some form of mechanical ventilation must be installed. Unless you have plenty of free time to maintain proper airing intervals or, as guckuck2 is currently describing, you live with stale air.

Every time I enter a newly built house, I can immediately tell whether the house has a ventilation system or if the occupants ventilate manually enough.

Unfortunately, the latter is the most common situation.

kati1337 schrieb:

We were also advised to ventilate additionally during the first few months (preferably within the first year) because the new building is still damp and the mechanical ventilation system alone is not sufficient to fully dry the building.

I am a neurotic fresh air enthusiast (quote from my wife) and have a strong fear of mold. But even I find that statement exaggerated. Simply run the mechanical ventilation system on level 2 throughout the first winter, and the moisture steadily leaves the house. Due to the very short construction period, we still have a lot of moisture in the solid construction, but thanks to the mechanical ventilation, the humidity levels always stay within the safe range.

To be on the safe side for drying the building, I am now setting the heating one degree Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer this first autumn/winter and have so far not installed an enthalpy exchanger in the mechanical ventilation system. However, the windows have basically remained closed since mid-September, except for the warm roof space, which is not connected to the mechanical ventilation. There, I notice that building moisture increases humidity levels when I don’t ventilate regularly.

Mycraft schrieb:

Mold is just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, most people don’t realize this until they are already living inside.

In the 1990s, ventilation was considered a nice-to-have, but today, some form of mechanical ventilation has to be installed. Unless you have enough free time to maintain regular airing intervals or you live with the stale air, as guckuck2 just described.

Whenever I visit a new build, you can immediately tell upon entering whether the house has mechanical ventilation or if the occupants ventilate manually enough.

Unfortunately, the latter is the most common case.

At least you got us thinking. Since we are skipping cooling through the underfloor heating (3,800 €), we are now considering installing a controlled mechanical ventilation system. With around 12,000 € cost minus 35% government subsidies, it’s not a significant additional expense.

Ybias78 schrieb:

Well, you at least got us thinking. Since we are skipping cooling via underfloor heating (3,800 €), we are now considering installing a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery. At around 12,000 € minus 35% in subsidies, it’s not a big additional expense.

Welcome to the Jehovah’s Witnesses! The more stubborn the unbeliever was before, the more blissful the conversion brings us upon entering the eternal (fresh air) paradise.

Ötzi Ötztaler schrieb:

Welcome to the Jehovah’s Witnesses! The more stubborn the unbeliever was before, the more blissful we feel about their conversion and entrance into the eternal (fresh air) kingdom of heaven.

Don't say that. My father was a Jehovah’s Witness. I definitely do not want to be in their "kingdom of heaven."

Ötzi Ötztaler schrieb:

I am a neurotic fresh air fanatic

Same here. For that reason, I have a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery. This ensures peace of mind and consistently fresh air throughout the entire house, not just in specific areas.

In contrast, some neighbors have to keep their windows constantly open (not just tilted but fully open) because they don’t have any other option. Just last month, one of them approached me asking if we could do something about that. But they also wanted air conditioning since it gets too warm in summer.