Hello everyone,
We have been living in our new home with a central ventilation system for just over a year now and are very satisfied so far.
The only issue is the temperature in the attic bedroom (north-east side) in the evening, which is not very comfortable. The room is not even facing south, yet the temperature reaches about 23°C (73°F) in the evening, even though we open the windows wide in the morning to ventilate with cool air and then close the curtains completely.
I suspect that the ventilation system continuously blows warm air from outside (logically) into the bedroom, causing the warm air to accumulate there.
How do you handle this? Is there anything specific to consider?
My ventilation system has been running at level 2 for several months now because I felt the air in the room was fresher, especially during winter. Maybe I could lower it again during summer?
Is there anything else that can be adjusted to improve the situation? Or is the only option to open everything wide for half an hour before going to bed to ventilate again?
I appreciate any advice, tips, or tricks.
We have been living in our new home with a central ventilation system for just over a year now and are very satisfied so far.
The only issue is the temperature in the attic bedroom (north-east side) in the evening, which is not very comfortable. The room is not even facing south, yet the temperature reaches about 23°C (73°F) in the evening, even though we open the windows wide in the morning to ventilate with cool air and then close the curtains completely.
I suspect that the ventilation system continuously blows warm air from outside (logically) into the bedroom, causing the warm air to accumulate there.
How do you handle this? Is there anything specific to consider?
My ventilation system has been running at level 2 for several months now because I felt the air in the room was fresher, especially during winter. Maybe I could lower it again during summer?
Is there anything else that can be adjusted to improve the situation? Or is the only option to open everything wide for half an hour before going to bed to ventilate again?
I appreciate any advice, tips, or tricks.
rick2018 schrieb:
Cooling or maximum buffering through the floor has many disadvantages. Cold feet, cold air stays low, dew point issues, no dehumidification, and so on.
A proper air conditioning system is better. More controllable, dehumidification, cool air is distributed correctly, powerful... I agree with you. But for us, it only cost a plug from Vaillant and works surprisingly well. However, so far only in dry heat.
What I find very interesting is how it will perform next week with the forecast for hot and humid weather.
Cooling can always be improved, and it works to some extent with an air-to-air heat pump. What absolutely does not work is cooling through a controlled ventilation system. All agreed on that.
H
HeimatBauer16 Jun 2023 08:20I have spent several decades living in various houses and happen to own an Art Nouveau villa that is perfectly designed for continuous air exchange, so it doesn’t need things like insulation, underfloor heating, or cooling.
Of course, people tend to criticize anything they are not familiar with. I don’t have cooling? No problem—just claim that means you always have cold feet. Old building stock? No problem—just say that modern houses always have a poor indoor climate. It’s like the fox who couldn’t reach the grapes and then said, “They’re probably sour anyway.”
For me, moving into a modern house with a central ventilation system and underfloor heating/cooling was such a huge step that I say: Never, ever anything else again. Of course, if I lived in a different climate, I would definitely add a proper air conditioning system—I know the humid and warm climate in the Rhineland very well, and there I would want the clear benefits of a real air conditioner. There, it works excellently, subtly, and you hardly notice it—in a positive sense—until you realize the difference.
For this climate: Never, ever anything else again. And I have several houses for comparison myself.
Of course, people tend to criticize anything they are not familiar with. I don’t have cooling? No problem—just claim that means you always have cold feet. Old building stock? No problem—just say that modern houses always have a poor indoor climate. It’s like the fox who couldn’t reach the grapes and then said, “They’re probably sour anyway.”
For me, moving into a modern house with a central ventilation system and underfloor heating/cooling was such a huge step that I say: Never, ever anything else again. Of course, if I lived in a different climate, I would definitely add a proper air conditioning system—I know the humid and warm climate in the Rhineland very well, and there I would want the clear benefits of a real air conditioner. There, it works excellently, subtly, and you hardly notice it—in a positive sense—until you realize the difference.
For this climate: Never, ever anything else again. And I have several houses for comparison myself.
W
WilderSueden16 Jun 2023 08:28Buschreiter schrieb:
I’m glad I don’t live in a submarine or a plastic bag. Detached house built in 1978, decent windows, properly insulated, currently 21.7°C (71°F) in the well-ventilated bedroom. I think too much insulation isn’t beneficial for a comfortable indoor climate. I believe insulation is less of an issue here. We are talking about relatively small temperature differences between inside and outside. During the day, it’s about the same or slightly warmer outside, and a bit cooler at night. A bigger problem might be that even in solid construction walls there is mostly air inside, so they hardly buffer temperature changes. And of course the large window facades common today. In new housing developments, there are no large trees to provide shade, and many extended patios collect heat directly in front of the windows.
@HeimatBauer I’m also familiar with houses using the technique you mentioned. It’s inexpensive to implement, but it’s not true air conditioning. Therefore, it’s not really comparable. You just shouldn’t install something like this with the wrong expectations. If you understand the limitations and disadvantages, it’s not a problem.
Currently, nighttime temperatures here are still almost single digits. Cooling doesn’t even need to run yet.
Our house doesn’t get that warm anyway. We have a ventilated cladding system, thick concrete, automated shading (transparent from the inside), roof overhangs, and a real cooling system. We operate with a coolant temperature of -4°C (25°F).
Currently, nighttime temperatures here are still almost single digits. Cooling doesn’t even need to run yet.
Our house doesn’t get that warm anyway. We have a ventilated cladding system, thick concrete, automated shading (transparent from the inside), roof overhangs, and a real cooling system. We operate with a coolant temperature of -4°C (25°F).
H
HeimatBauer16 Jun 2023 08:50IMHO, the real issue (and this brings us back to the topic) is that in new builds, more research often goes into choosing the perfect steam oven for the kitchen than into the construction method, heating, and ventilation technology. The infrastructure is usually just expected to be as cheap as possible. People prefer to invest their money in sleek Q3-standard walls and huge spa-like bathrooms. Of course, everyone can prioritize their own preferences, and if someone feels that a rough plaster finish looks like a "1990s rental block" or a "barn," that’s their choice—but then please don’t complain that there isn’t enough money left for other aspects. What follows, I have experienced myself: I lived for ten years in a mediocrely built apartment building that had these so-called “alibi vents” in the walls—installed just to meet the required air exchange rates but never to actually be used. My conclusion back then was: ventilation is rubbish. That was simply wrong, because poor ventilation is rubbish, but good ventilation is wonderful!
It goes on like this: a mix of “having seen one bad example and generalizing from it” and “speaking badly of things you don’t have or don’t know.” When modern houses are called submarines and plastic bags, all such criticisms end up being true at the same time. Only since I have lived in a house with good ventilation have I noticed how terribly poor the air quality is in non-ventilated houses or apartments.
Professionally, I spent an extended period in Southeast Asia, and during the monsoon season, the air conditioning runs continuously to keep indoor humidity at a tolerable level. Nobody there worries about the temperature of the outgoing air or draughts. Now, in the Alpine foothills at 550m (1,800 ft) above sea level, we don’t have a monsoon, so radiant floor cooling makes the difference between “uncomfortable” and “pleasant.” It’s not very noticeable; it just quietly does its job. No, neither in the Rhineland nor in Southeast Asia would I consider my radiant floor cooling a substitute for air conditioning. But if the choice is “no air conditioning at all” or “not always perfectly optimized air conditioning,” then my choice is clear.
It goes on like this: a mix of “having seen one bad example and generalizing from it” and “speaking badly of things you don’t have or don’t know.” When modern houses are called submarines and plastic bags, all such criticisms end up being true at the same time. Only since I have lived in a house with good ventilation have I noticed how terribly poor the air quality is in non-ventilated houses or apartments.
Professionally, I spent an extended period in Southeast Asia, and during the monsoon season, the air conditioning runs continuously to keep indoor humidity at a tolerable level. Nobody there worries about the temperature of the outgoing air or draughts. Now, in the Alpine foothills at 550m (1,800 ft) above sea level, we don’t have a monsoon, so radiant floor cooling makes the difference between “uncomfortable” and “pleasant.” It’s not very noticeable; it just quietly does its job. No, neither in the Rhineland nor in Southeast Asia would I consider my radiant floor cooling a substitute for air conditioning. But if the choice is “no air conditioning at all” or “not always perfectly optimized air conditioning,” then my choice is clear.
H
HeimatBauer16 Jun 2023 08:59rick2018 schrieb:
If you know the limits and drawbacks, it’s no problem.Does anyone really want to know that? Even if it gets complicated and popular generalizations (“submarine effect”) are challenged? Probably not. When I was building, I spent about a year consulting with structural engineers, building services engineers, heating specialists, and others to get up to date with the latest technology, and in the process, I had to discard many of my prejudices (“ventilation causes mold!”). Letting go of well-established biases is painful.
rick2018 schrieb:
Building projectionsAgain: who really does that? I looked at old farmhouses, and they all have wide overhanging roofs on the south side. Good shade in summer, plenty of sun in winter. So, I pestering my general contractor for weeks that I wanted a wide overhanging balcony above the windows on the south side. The result: in summer, no sunlight hits the glass surfaces; in winter, the whole living room is bright.
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