To think more cold houses will mean more damp houses?

[NamelessNancy]

Lots of talk about delaying turning the heating on, dropping thermostats, heating people not the home. Whilst to a degree (no pun intended) that's all doable, if combined with things like drying washing indoors, won't it cause a lot more damp? Obviously I don't think we need to heat out houses so much we're wandering around in t shirts with snow on the ground outside but it's still going to be necessary to heat the buildings rather than just the inhabitants. I'm a bit worried that people are going to not only suffer with being uncomfortably cold this winter but it will mean more are exposed to damp, mouldy living conditions. No answers I'm afraid (would appreciate some if anyone else does?)

Sorry and get mold every year just having furniture close to walls causes it. I was told to heat and have windows open a few hours a day. Seems a waste to put

Those who have voted IABU how come? What's the answer? (Genuinely, not having a go!!)

My dad was very stingy with the heating growing up and our (interwar) house was very damp in some rooms. The ceiling over my bed actually caved in with it in the end (while I was in bed, so that was nice). Our house was always very cold.

I also remember my sil thinking she was doing us a favour and turning our heating completely off while we were on holiday for 3 weeks in December (honeymoon, not always this indulgent) - when we got back the house was astonishingly cold and we went to bed in coats. This was a small, modern mid-terrace too, so not the sort of house generally associated with being cold and difficult to heat. I don't think people realise that the cold almost accumulates - it won't be that bad to start with, but will get worse and worse if the house is never heated at all.

Sorry phones playing up I had a vent put in attic what blows cold air into the house all the time. It makes the upstairs really cold and then heating needs to be on more due to how cold it is upstairs. I still get mold and it's like having a window open all day. These houses are prone to it a neighbour had to be moved out due to how bad they had left it to get.

Sal

I had never heard of a positive input ventilation system and googled it. The main point that struck me was this:

The average family produces up to 10 litres of water daily through simple everyday tasks such as cooking, washing, bathing and drying clothes indoors.

Fortunately the previous owner of our house who had our house built had windows with trickle vents installed. Also, I am meticulous about airing bedrooms and bathrooms rooms by opening the windows every morning.

I think most people underestimate just how much damp is created during the day. When I use the tumble dryer for towels I throw away three litres of water when I empty the tank. If I dried them in the house with no ventilation where do people think the water goes?

Previous living standards were unsustainable for the size of the human population. We need to consume less and use less fossil fuels.

I did read someone suggesting putting heated airers in the bedrooms and drying clothes overnight to warm the rooms. Not a criticism, as I say, if you've never lived with it you wouldn't know, but worrying consequences for respiratory health imo.

Running a dehumidifier is cheaper than heating. Mine runs 24/7 and the heating still isn't on.

Much of the housing built with no central heating… but don’t most old houses suffer with damp?! We lived in an 1850s cottage once and it was constantly damp. Such a battle. And I know a few people who live in similarly old houses that have the same problem. All anecdote though obviously…

Fair enough! I do agree with you that we need new solutions. Our heating system is an air source heat pump. It is potentially able to be powered from renewables alone (yes, I realise the capacity is not there yet, and may not be in the future either). Since having it installed our total energy usage has dropped from about 18kw/year for a 4 bed house to under 12kwh/year. Sadly as the cost of electricity is four times that of gas we have been penalised with way higher bills - go figure! Hoping to get solar and battery system fitted to give us some generating capacity but obvs spending £££ isn't an option for all. Anyway, back to damp!

That's why a lot more people died of TB and respiratory diseases several hundred years ago. The houses were inadequately heated, ventilated and were always damp. Active cases and deaths from respiratory diseases will be on the rise in the next few years due to the heating crisis.

positive input ventilation system. @Blughbablugh what's that then. Is it expensive to fit and run?

There’s nothing to treat in a lot of houses, it’s just living that causes it.
e.g drying a wash load of clothes in the house can add 5L into the air, having showers, cooking. It all adds up and sits in the house if not heated or removed.

ever got in the car with wet coats and 5 mins later it condenses up? It’s the same thing.

I've also never heard of a positive input ventilation system before. A previous owner had cavity wall insulation put in our house. When we were having rotten floor joists replaced we discovered that the cavity wall insulation was soaking wet (hubby pulled out a handful squuezed it and water came pouring out, it was some sort of fibreglass type material), so I wonder if the rain soaks through our outside bricks, into the "insulation" which get trapped/doesn't evaporate very well and then to the interior walls hence even walls with nothing anywhere near them show some signs of mould. We'd have to knock the house down to remove the insulation. Got a dehumidifier already maybe need to look into a ventilation system too...

Round 'ere it's called opening t'window 😁

This link explains it well www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/positive-input-ventilation

We had ours put in our 1940s house 2 years ago and cost £600 ish. We had terrible mould upstairs and it has all gone. Although we did have the worst rooms re plastered as well.
However we do make sure that the rooms are heated as well.

It’s a lovely sunny day here in the NW so on the back of this thread I have opened up all the windows to ‘air the house out’. Does anyone know how long the windows should be open per day to make any difference? Would 10 minutes say make any difference at all? I’ve never considered this before.

Yes, I use a dehumidifier rather than heating my flat very warm. Costs less and keeps the place healthy.

For the rooms furthest from the dehumidifier, I open windows for a few minutes every day. Bathroom window open and fan on after showers; kitchen fan also well used.

You really do need to have windows open for a least an hour a day, and ideally over night in rooms you sleep in or dry washing in. You will not have damp if you ventilate.

Yes it will then be cold while the window is open, but I’d rather be cold for that then than have damp.

Definitely worthy trying 10 minutes. If the windows are all open at the same time, you should get a decent air flow and "change of air" inside the property.

Suck it and see!

Yes it will.

We have halved our time in the (gas heated!) shower from 6 to 3 mins. And now have the heating on most mornings for 20 mins.

Our gas usage hasnt increased too much as we take meter readings every Sunday and it's still only £5ish a week!

What is this?

www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/positive-input-ventilation

Yes - I like a cold house but you do need it at least 16*C in my experience. I also worry about people drying clothes in the house! In our old house I used to dry washing inside on radiators etc, and we ended up with the most horrendous damp problem which cost a fortune to fix! It would have been significantly cheaper to have the dryer on than having to repaint the entire house in special paint to stop mould spores!!

I think people need to re-learn “old ways”. When I lived with my husband the house wasn’t damp - because I knew how to air it. When I left him, within a few months it was stinking of damp - with 3 fewer people in the house.