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NOVEMBER 09 - PASSIVENT MAKES A POSITIVE INPUT TO COST-EFFECTIVE REFURBISHMENT FOR LIFE...

Innovative ventilation strategies developed by Passivent Ltd can make a positive contribution towards refurbishing the UK’s aged housing stock, cost-effectively, whilst simultaneously improving the property’s carbon footprint and reducing ‘lifetime’ costs by over £27,000 over alternative ventilation systems.

The National Home Improvement Council maintains over 25% of UK 25million homes are over 100 years old, in England alone there are still over 6m homes classified as ‘non decent’ thus requiring modernisation, and in the UK some 700,000 existing properties which could be economically and efficiently converted to provide decent homes. Passivent’s Passive Stack Ventilation (PSV) and Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) can be easily retro-fitted to not only ensure compliance with Building Regulations and the Code for Sustainable Homes, but provide additional benefits: the ‘fit and forget’ systems need no ongoing maintenance, eliminate reliance on occupant input to ensure the system is running as and when required, and yield reduced risk of condensation from the 24 pints of water vapour produced in the average home a day from washing, bathing, cooking etc, and its associated impact on maintenance costs.

Latest comparison statistics show Passivent PSV, for example, costs just £700 to buy and install with no subsequent expenditure whilst a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery would cost more than double that to buy, and almost £28,000 over a 60 year lifecycle! Passivent PIV is similarly cost effective to install, costs less than a penny a day to run and the only maintenance cost is replacement of the filter every five years.

Passivent ‘ intelligent’ iPSV uses NO electricity at all to function: it works automatically, in reaction to changes in humidity in the ‘wet’ bathrooms and kitchen. By harnessing natural variations in air temperature and pressure- convection and the venturi effect- it draws fresh air into the home and exhausts the used internal air, similar to how a chimney extracts smoke from a fire in a hearth. It cannot be disconnected, so it will always work when needed, 24/7, whether fitted as a ‘whole house’ ventilation solution or just a single stack in the ‘wet’room. There are no fans or other mechanical parts to require regular maintenance, servicing or replacement, or which generate noise when operating.

Passivent Positive Input Ventilation uses only a low energy, continuously running fan in the roofspace to function. It draws fresh air from the loft into the rooms below, displacing used air in the process, which ‘vents’ through fortuitous gaps in the building fabric, alleviating condensation and the potential for mould. The loft air is generally warmer than outside air, so requires less ‘heating’ to maintain the ambient temperature within the home below. In addition, a temperature sensor continuously monitors the incoming air temperature, boosting the system to heat recovery mode when conditions are beneficial, thereby providing free solar energy.

PSV and PIV are just part of Passivent’s comprehensive range of energy-efficient ventilation solutions for the domestic environment, which include both natural and mechanical systems, with or without acoustic options, tricklevents and through-wall ventilators. Passivent is part of the Building Product Design Group, which specialises in developing innovative yet practical ventilation and roofing products in line with changing market requirements.

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