Heating and Ventilation

When you think about the term ‘home safety’, air quality usually isn’t the first thing to spring to mind. These days, we’re so concerned about our homes being burglar-proof and heating-efficient that the quality of the air we’re trapping inside is at the very back of our minds, if at all. But humidity is dangerous to the health of your tenants, the life of your homes, and the furnishings and belongings inside, so good ventilation is of the utmost importance.

Air moisture will occur regardless of preventative methods. By simply breathing, a sleeping person adds a half pint of water to the air, and twice as much when they’re awake. Property moisture isn’t a curable problem, but it is definitely a treatable one.

The myriad guidelines, regulations and ratings governing housebuilding mean it can become quite overwhelming. This is especially true for housing associations who have to sift through reams of paperwork to make sure they’re compliant.  

So, when you think you’ve heard quite enough about procedure, I’m going to take this opportunity to highlight another, one which I think is going to drastically and positively change the way homes are heated. 

The imminently to-be-published SAP 10 is hotly anticipated across the housebuilding industry. Fundamentally, it will contain a number of developments on existing frameworks. This ranges from guidance on thermal bridging to addressing the root causes of overheating in the home. For a more detailed overview CIBSE Journal has published a wide-ranging summary. 

Shell teams with PassivSystems to launch the B-Snug smart hybrid home heating system

Shell UK and PassivSystems are pleased to announce the launch of B-Snug, a smart hybrid heating system for British homeowners. 

The B-Snug system uses advanced technology to manage a combination of an air source heat pump and a traditional boiler. The intelligent controls continuously monitor the temperature in the home and analyse weather forecasts to automatically switch between two heat sources: a newly fitted Samsung Air Source Heat Pump and the customer’s existing boiler. The system’s controls use machine learning to select the most appropriate heat source to deliver warmth and comfort, favouring use of the heat pump whenever possible. With the majority of heat for the home being provided by the air source heat pump, the system reduces heating bills. And, by providing homeowners with a way to use electricity to heat their homes, this initiative enables consumers to reduce their use of oil or LPG thereby helping Great Britain to reduce carbon emissions from domestic properties.

Vent-Axia is delighted to announce that its ground-breaking Lo-Carbon PoziDry Compact Pro Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) unit has been announced as a finalist at The Electrical Industry Awards 2019. This innovative product combats condensation in mould even in the smallest of homes and has been shortlisted in the ‘Residential/Domestic Product of the Year’ category at these prestigious awards.

Vital ventilation changes in the social housing sector have been highlighted in the publication of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) draft Guidelines on Indoor Air Quality. The consultation document ‘Indoor Air Quality at Home’ calls on local authorities to adopt new indoor air quality (IAQ) strategies, urging them to be aware of the air quality in their residents’ homes in order to reduce exposure to indoor pollutants and so help protect tenant health.

At a recent media event held at Sandown Racecourse in Surrey, Chris Harvey, Head of Marketing for Stelrad, the leading radiator manufacturer in the UK, provided a comprehensive market update for the radiator sector and highlighted several issues that are affecting the heating sector as we head towards the end of 2019.

With over 1 million tonnes of plastic going to landfill every year in the UK alone, industry-leading ventilation company Vent-Axia is helping social housing providers reduce their environmental impact by designing modular products to reduce plastic waste. By carefully considering the design of its products, Vent-Axia’s latest energy efficient fans are even easier to repair and recycle, reducing carbon footprints and helping make ventilation even more cost effective for social housing providers.

In the past many manufacturers have recommended that if a fan has a fault it should be replaced. Not only is this expensive when the fan has exceeded its warranty period, but a lot of unnecessary waste is sent to landfill. Vent-Axia has now tackled this issue head on designing fans, such as the Lo-Carbon Revive, which have individual modular components that can all be replaced separately. So, if a Lo-Carbon Revive develops a fault it’s likely that a new spare part can be easily ordered, avoiding paying for a completely new fan. This considerably reduces the amount of plastic waste and, should the exterior of the unit require replacing, all Lo-Carbon Revive fans are made with recyclable ABS plastic.