Residential Ventilation Questions
Is Ventilation Covered by the Building Regulations?
YES
The latest edition of the Building Regulations, Approved Document F. April 2010 (effective 1/10/10): Means of ventilation stipulates the provision of mechanical ventilation rates in non-habitable rooms, such as Toilets, Bathrooms/Shower rooms, Kitchens and Utility rooms in domestic dwellings. Naturally AIRFLOW fans exveed the requirements helping to combat the harmful effects of dampness and condensation and by extracting airborne pollutants such as odours, cooking smells, humid and stale air. The potential hazards to health for occupants and possible damage to the fabric of the building can be largely eliminated.
What Type of Fan Should I use?
Having considered the pplication of the ventilation required, it is important to select the correct type of fan to ensure that the requiement is truly met.
However, you should first consider which type of fan will best suit you to provide quiet efficient ventilation. This will be based on one of the following two ariants.
AIRFLOW MIXED FLOW/CENTRIFUGAL iCON30 and iCON60 FANS are quiet, powerful and suitable for wall and ceiling applications. They also work very efficiently against system resistance making them the perfect choice for longer lengths of ducted installations.
AIRFLOW AXIAL FAN iCON15 providing high performance with a slim profile, they are suitable for use through the wall or on short lengths of ducting.
Visit what type of fan and where for further information
What do the Building Regulations Say?
The latest Building Regulations, Approved Document F: April 2010 (effective 1/10/10), orivude detauked guidance about four approved methods of ventilation. For background ventilators and intermittant extract fans the following basic parameters should be met.
Intermittant extract rates
Toile/Sanitary accommodation - 6 l/sec (22 m3/hr
Bathroom/Shower Room - 15 l/sec (54 m3/hr)
Kitchen (adjacent to hob) - 30 l/sec (108 m3/hr)
Kitchen (elsewhere) - 60 l/sec (216 m3/hr)
Utility Room - 30 l/sec (108 m3/hr)
Continuous extract rates (minimum high)
Kitchen (adjacent to hob)_ - 13 l/sec (47 m3/hr)
Kitchen (elsewhere) - 13 l/sec (47 m3/hr)
Utility Room - 8 l/sec (29 m3/hr)
Bathroom - 8 l/sec (29 m3/hr)
Toilet accommodation - 6 l/sec (22 m3/hr)
Where Should it be Installed?
Fans should always be positioned to give an optimum flow of air through the whole room preferably less than 40mm below the ceiling, and to avoid pockets of residual air. The location of planned or existing door and window openings must be considered as well as sources of odours, stale air or condensation. Grilles may need to be installesd to allow air into the room, particularly with inner rooms which have no windows and tightly sealed doors. Fans should be mounted as high as possible, well away from primary heat sources such as gas water heaters and boilers.
If I don't have a Gravity Flap on the Outside Wall what Prevents Rain from Blowing in?
iCONs unique iris shutter on the inside eliminates draughts, limits heat loss from the room when the fan is not operating and helps reduce external noise from coming in.
It also means that you do not have to have a gravity flap on the outside wall. These grilles are notoriously noisy when the wind blows, causing rattling when you least want to hear it - at night.
With iCON you can use our circular and square wall grilles which deflect rainwater down the front of the grille. It is also good practice, when installing an extract fan, to incline the cavity wall pipe downwards at a slight angle towards the outside grille. In the unlikely event of water passing the external grille during a storm then it will not run back towards the fan.
I want to Install a Fan in the Ceiling and Extract Straight up through the Roof is this Possible?
YES
iCON fans are designed for wall and ceiling mounting. However, if the extract duct is going vertically up through the roof it is good practise to install a condensation trap in the extract pipe. Because the warm moist air will pass through the cold loft space condensation can form inside the pipe. To avoid moisture running back down inside the pipe and into the fan fit a PVC condensation trap to run the water away.
The condensation trap (100mm or 150mm dia) is a modestly priced accessory (click accessories) which will help prolong fan life in these situations. Also contact Airflow on 01494 560800 for details on lead flashing plates and mushroom cowls to complete the installation.
My CVM (Trickle) module only runs in the boost position
If pull cord has been removed from this module it has been cutt off in the boost position, this module is designed to run in the following manner. Trickle mode with a boost override via the pullcord which has a latching switch and it will not return to trickle mode until pullcord pulled again. If the pullcord has been removed it has been removed in the boost position.
My ceiling fan is extremely noisy
When fitted into plasterboard voids the sound will always resonate and it is good practice to fit securely into supports across the ceiling joists.
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