Installing Vilpe mechanical ventilation from the client’s perspective

Installing mechanical ventilation in an existing building

When buying an existing home or a house from a developer, we have no influence over the individual stages of its design and construction. One of the most common problems in such a building, though not immediately apparent, is faulty ventilation. In this article, we share our experience of installing mechanical ventilation in a completed building and explain how the problems encountered were solved.

The building in question is a typical semi-detached house. Its condition when the client took possession from the developer was far from encouraging. The solutions used left much to be desired: incorrectly sized ventilation ducts, different duct types and cross-sections, departures from the design, mechanical ventilation connected to natural ventilation, and a reversed draught in one bathroom. That was the initial assessment, but further problems emerged as work progressed. After the ventilation was connected, it became clear that the ceramic ducts built into the wall had not been sealed. Because of the leaks, running the fan creates a draught in both adjacent ducts. This disrupts the mechanical ventilation and reduces its performance.

Initially, the client was interested only in a silent cooker hood – Cicha kuchnia Vilpe. During handover, it emerged that the building was also to have a simple fan running continuously and connected to one bathroom and the kitchen. This is an economical, safe solution for the developer: it is cheap and protects damp rooms against mould. For the client, it mainly means wasted electricity and heat.

The simple fan was replaced with a Renson Healthbox 3.0 fan with sensors, and additional ventilation ducts were routed to the remaining living spaces, concealed in plasterboard enclosures. Each bedroom and the kitchen/living room were fitted with carbon dioxide (CO2) sensors, while the bathroom with a toilet received a humidity sensor (H2O) and a volatile organic compound sensor (VOC).

During installation, all ventilation ducts were sealed and connected to the Healthbox 3.0 unit. The wiring and WiFi network were connected to configure the unit. After calibration, the client named the individual rooms to make it easier to adjust the unit to their needs in future.

Before the unit was connected, the client had already moved into the building and spent almost a month there without ventilation. When the fan was switched on, the surprise exceeded the client’s expectations:

"When we started the fan, we left it on the factory settings. At first, we noticed no changes in the house. Perhaps we could not feel them because you really have to listen carefully to hear it running. We felt the difference the next morning. We woke up to fresh, clean air in our double bedroom. My wife and I felt as though we were in a holiday cottage, where every wall and every window breathes. It was the same room, yet with Healthbox 3.0 ventilation running, we felt more rested and as though we had slept somewhere completely different."

After a few days of enthusiasm, it was time to configure the unit to the client’s needs. With the WiFi connection, the main home ventilation functions can be set from a phone. Night mode was selected for the bedrooms, further quietening the already quiet fan. Sensitivity was also set to maximum so that the unit would respond immediately and replace the air at a higher speed. The icing on the cake is the function that cools the house in the evening if the air temperature exceeds the set level: in this case, 25 degrees C.

"Being able to set the home to cool automatically was a pleasant surprise. We have large south-facing glazed areas, which make the house very hot. This function lets us cool the house easily in the evening and enjoy healthy, peaceful sleep. Another function we really value is the ability to increase ventilation in a particular room on demand. We simply set the fan power to 200% and programme it to run for 30 minutes. By then, the room’s air has been replaced without heat loss."