ᐅ Which Ventilation System is Best for Renovating Older Buildings?
Created on: 5 May 2018 09:58
S
SauerChHello,
we have just purchased an old building (single-family house from 1968, fully basemented, 150m² (1615 sq ft) living area). We plan to insulate it and upgrade the windows to KfW standard. The house has two children’s rooms, two home office rooms, two toilets, one large bathroom, as well as a kitchen and living room.
The question is what to do about ventilation. Relying on window ventilation only is not an option—for our current apartment (built in 2011, very airtight but only window ventilation), we find it extremely unpleasant.
At the moment, we are considering:
1. Decentralized ventilation. I’m unclear how many rooms should have fans installed here? Kitchen, the three toilets/bathrooms, bedroom, and children’s rooms? What about the home offices?
2. Exhaust air system for the bathrooms and kitchen, with supply air vents in the other rooms. This would have the advantage of minimal additional work, since all bathrooms and the kitchen are adjacent to the chimney which still has space for ventilation ducts. The core drilling for the supply air openings is manageable as it does not require chiseling.
I would prefer to install the system in the basement, as there is enough space, power supply, and so on. The attic is not suitable—no electricity, would need frost protection, and is difficult to access.
3. Exhaust air system like option 2, but with heat recovery.
While a complete supply and exhaust ventilation system would be nice, my problem is the very high cost and the enormous effort to install the ducts somewhere. So it is mostly off the table.
Where I am currently struggling is finding reliable information on the actual final costs of the different options, what parts can be DIY, and the advantages and disadvantages of the various products. I find it all quite opaque and difficult. Do you have any opinions or tips?
we have just purchased an old building (single-family house from 1968, fully basemented, 150m² (1615 sq ft) living area). We plan to insulate it and upgrade the windows to KfW standard. The house has two children’s rooms, two home office rooms, two toilets, one large bathroom, as well as a kitchen and living room.
The question is what to do about ventilation. Relying on window ventilation only is not an option—for our current apartment (built in 2011, very airtight but only window ventilation), we find it extremely unpleasant.
At the moment, we are considering:
1. Decentralized ventilation. I’m unclear how many rooms should have fans installed here? Kitchen, the three toilets/bathrooms, bedroom, and children’s rooms? What about the home offices?
2. Exhaust air system for the bathrooms and kitchen, with supply air vents in the other rooms. This would have the advantage of minimal additional work, since all bathrooms and the kitchen are adjacent to the chimney which still has space for ventilation ducts. The core drilling for the supply air openings is manageable as it does not require chiseling.
I would prefer to install the system in the basement, as there is enough space, power supply, and so on. The attic is not suitable—no electricity, would need frost protection, and is difficult to access.
3. Exhaust air system like option 2, but with heat recovery.
While a complete supply and exhaust ventilation system would be nice, my problem is the very high cost and the enormous effort to install the ducts somewhere. So it is mostly off the table.
Where I am currently struggling is finding reliable information on the actual final costs of the different options, what parts can be DIY, and the advantages and disadvantages of the various products. I find it all quite opaque and difficult. Do you have any opinions or tips?
G
garfunkel5 May 2018 22:49If a room only has supply air and the door is closed, overpressure will eventually build up. You will notice this effect.
I happen to know this because it happened to an acquaintance, but in that case, the system was just set up incorrectly.
If the doors have ventilation grilles, it would work. However, this is firstly expensive because it requires new doors, and secondly probably reduces sound insulation.
Look into options for introducing cooled supply air.
I’ve examined this more closely for my own project and found some interesting systems.
One more thing: is it even allowed to install ventilation ducts inside the chimney?
You wouldn’t want exhaust gases to be blown back into the rooms.
Decentralized systems, probably best to have one per room. But I’m always a bit skeptical about noise levels with those.
If you have a ventilated facade, properly insulated, you could also route the ducts there and thus easily reach each room from the outside.
I can’t say if this is ideal, though.
A central system doesn’t have to be expensive; you can do a lot of the work yourself (almost everything).
I happen to know this because it happened to an acquaintance, but in that case, the system was just set up incorrectly.
If the doors have ventilation grilles, it would work. However, this is firstly expensive because it requires new doors, and secondly probably reduces sound insulation.
Look into options for introducing cooled supply air.
I’ve examined this more closely for my own project and found some interesting systems.
One more thing: is it even allowed to install ventilation ducts inside the chimney?
You wouldn’t want exhaust gases to be blown back into the rooms.
Decentralized systems, probably best to have one per room. But I’m always a bit skeptical about noise levels with those.
If you have a ventilated facade, properly insulated, you could also route the ducts there and thus easily reach each room from the outside.
I can’t say if this is ideal, though.
A central system doesn’t have to be expensive; you can do a lot of the work yourself (almost everything).
Hello Garfunkel,
thank you for your reply!
The pipes in the chimney shouldn’t be a problem; we have several flues in the chimney, and they are separated from each other. It’s just a bit unclear whether the large pipes will actually fit inside.
We don’t have a ventilated facade, unfortunately – the building is solid masonry throughout.
Yes, it’s really not that difficult – it’s just that planning is a hassle, and I haven’t found many good contacts yet.
At the moment, I am leaning toward either installing two or three Blumartin Freeair units (one on the ground floor, two on the upper floor) or one central unit in the basement, if I can somehow route the ducts to all rooms without having to lower the ceilings everywhere. (I can get to the upper floor ducts from the attic, but the ground floor is problematic.)
thank you for your reply!
The pipes in the chimney shouldn’t be a problem; we have several flues in the chimney, and they are separated from each other. It’s just a bit unclear whether the large pipes will actually fit inside.
We don’t have a ventilated facade, unfortunately – the building is solid masonry throughout.
Yes, it’s really not that difficult – it’s just that planning is a hassle, and I haven’t found many good contacts yet.
At the moment, I am leaning toward either installing two or three Blumartin Freeair units (one on the ground floor, two on the upper floor) or one central unit in the basement, if I can somehow route the ducts to all rooms without having to lower the ceilings everywhere. (I can get to the upper floor ducts from the attic, but the ground floor is problematic.)
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