[Closed] Nuaire drimaster heat experiences

Solid walls ?

Yeah solid stone walls.

I've one, only installed over the summer ready for the condensation season, so it's probably a bit early to say, reminds me need to setup the timer for the heater bit so it's not on all the time heating air for no reason!

Early indications are that the air in the house is fresher as you'd expect as when the loft is less than 24 degrees it pushing air from the loft into the house all the time, does feel nicer in that regard.

So far so good, but we haven't hit condensation time so we will see how we get on, I can report back, I was/am skeptical but thought I'd just take the punt and see how it goes.

Only thing I'd mention you can get a slight small of the loft, I've installed one of those battery air fresheners near the vent and so it now distributes air freshened air rather than air slightly tainted of loft 🙂

Thanks forge197 air freshener is a good idea to remember . Anyone else ???

You after the heat one specifically? I have the non heat one but as the poster above not had it for the winter season yet. Mine doesn't smell of the loft though!

How much ventilation does the loft need? I'm interested in one of these but our loft only has small round vents in the soffits, I'm slightly concerned one of these would just end up sucking in air through the bathroom downlighters instead of from outside...

Hmmm.

Ive got that model installed. In the year/2 years it's been installed I haven't used the heater apart from for a few minutes. It raises the temperature slightly but not much ie the air still feels cool.

It can feel a bit cooler on the landing at the coldest times, but we are tight Yorkshire folk so never switched it on. Besides you don't spend time on the landing.

I think if I bought again I wouldn't buy the heat variant

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/positive-pressure-ventilation-loft-units-which

You after the heat one specifically? I have the non heat one but as the poster above not had it for the winter season yet. Mine doesn't smell of the loft though!

Wonder if we have the fan speed a little high it's a taint rather than full on, mrsforge didn't notice it just me 🙂

I am intrigued when we start having to have the heating on and the colder weather comes if it really does sort condensation we have had on Windows and a couple of walls, we've tried a number of other remedies like windows on vent and dehumidifier.

Ours does smell of the lift, but only faintly and after a really hot day when the fan has switched back on.

Normal days doesn't at all

Ctk, yeah I think it's the heat one we'll be going for.

I've one, only installed over the summer ready for the condensation season, so it's probably a bit early to say, reminds me need to setup the timer for the heater bit so it's not on all the time heating air for no reason!

Only does heat when air temp in the loft is <10deg from memory.

I can only smell mine when it's been a really hot day. It's not perfect but it's the best solution we've come up with yet for an old house.

I installed one in our loft last year around this time and it's been fantastic best £250 I've spent on house stuff. Where we used to get a large amount of condensation we now have none and there is no evidence of mould in the corner of exterior walls

I have just installed the basic drimaster version (non heat) in my 3 bed small terraced house.

2 kids, 2 kats and a Mrs with a tumbledrier fetish. As of last week prior to install, I was still getting moisture on the bedroom windows.

Since fitting the drimaster the moisture has completely disappeared so initial impressions are very good.

Does hum a bit on speed 5/6 but on current setting of 4 you can hardly hear it.

It's pretty expensive for what it actually is though. Cheap moulded plastic housing, fan and a bit of ducting. The duct is a poor fit onto the drimaster unit so needs to be secured with tape to prevent air leakage. The heat unit is better in this regard as has a solid tube to tie the duct into. When I got mine the fan was really noisy and rubbing against the housing should have really sent it back, but took the filters off and centralised the fan myself. Something to look out for anyway.

Wiring is easy... Comes with spur so I mounted that in the loft and run an extension of the light switch.

So yes expensive for what it is but seems to work so far.

Slight loft smell but air smells fresher and kids rooms are much less stuffy.

my 3 bed small terraced house

current setting of 4

Too fast! Try it on speed 2. Nudge it up to 3 if needed.

Anyone want to have a go on my query from a couple of days ago which seems to have killed the other thread?;

"This thread is making me very interested in a PIV unit. We get a musty smell in some of the upstairs rooms and a bit of mould on one outside wall in the lounge behind furniture where there is limited air circulation.

One thing that worries me though is that we definitely get condensation at times in the loft on the felting on the underside of the roof. I can't see that pumping air from the loft in this situation is going to be a good idea as it obviously isn't that dry. In the loft with the light off I can see slivers of daylight entering under the eaves so there is some kind of ventilation up there.

Maybe condensation in the loft is a sign something is not right with the insulation/ventilation up there? The musty rooms are under the loft space thinking about it.

Any advice?"

@timmys - how is your loft ventilated? There should be a free flow of air through it. Is there a fan from the bathroom venting into the loft space rather than ducted to the outside?

Dudie thanks OK.... Will try 2 for a few days and bump to 3 if needed. I guess you want the slowest speed that gets rid of moisture.

Also any tips of setting the temp limit... Best to leave on the default of setting 1?

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I think the majority of reviews I've read are positive.

I might try the lower speed also it's on three now, temp set to 10 for the heat going to leave at that, will sort timer tomorrow evening so it's ready.

Do like the fresher feeling air and better smelling as it circulates air freshener which is a bonus.

And the loft smell as its cooled last few days it maybe from the warmer weather.

wrecker - Member

Hmmm.

@timmys - how is your loft ventilated? There should be a free flow of air through it. Is there a fan from the bathroom venting into the loft space rather than ducted to the outside?

I went up to the loft and had a bit more of a poke around. The only ventilation mechanism seems to be under the eaves. With the lights off you can see daylight entering along about a 6 ft length (see pics below). At the bottom of the roof slope towards the eaves there are some plastic 'things' which might be to do with ventilation (see pics below)? Bathroom extractor def does not vent into the loft space.

The cheap humidity meter I bought off eBay also arrived yesterday. If it's correct then I had around 75% humidity on the upstairs landing of the house outside the musty rooms. 😯 It was a horribly warm wet day yesterday so probably about as bad as it gets. This morning it's registering 68%. Yesterday the loft was maybe 3-5% lower than the landing.

As there does seem to be ventilation in the loft, even though it is humid up there at the mo, I'm hoping the PIV unit would induce enough air flow to sort things out?

Best news was that digging around in the loft I found there's power to an old unused water pump up there so fitting the PIV would be simplified.

Lights on (plastic things anything to do with ventilation?);
[img] [/img]

Lights off (daylight entering);
[img] [/img]

POWAR!
[img] [/img]

I am thinking of buy one of these as well. Our small 1905 built house has solid fly ash concrete walls and is soaking in winter. In our bedroom your hand is wet if you run it along the top of the curtain rail. My main concern is the 500 watt heater unit. My loft has two large breather slates so is very cold in winter, I would guess several months below 6 degrees. House is 2 bedroomed and small (62 square meters). Thinking the heater unit could hammer the bills ?

....

I've installed one in our ~1890 5 bedroom house (not huge for a 5 bed though).

Not had winter yet but the air does feel fresher. Loft smell has worn off quite a bit too.

We've recently done quite a bit of work insulting down stairs which had made a big difference too (kingspan under floating floors and thermal boards on the solid exterior walls).

I've knocked the drimaster down to seeing 4, and the heater is on a separate switch. In hindsight I could of put a socket in so it could run a timer.

In hindsight I could of put a socket in so it could run a timer.

Our heater is connected to a central heating thermostat £35. Means you can turn it on and off without having to go in the loft. As I've said thought we never use ours anyhow...

[img] [/img]

Thinking the heater unit could hammer the bills ?

Do some googling, when I've just looked it says about 8p per hour. Leaving it on for 4 months 24hrs a day would be approx. £200.

As I've said, it only tempers the air, it doesn't warm it, so we don't bother.

Do some googling, when I've just looked it says about 8p per hour. Leaving it on for 4 months 24hrs a day would be approx. £200.

As I've said, it only tempers the air, it doesn't warm it, so we don't bother.

mine is left on automatic. I haven't noticed any significant increase in my electricity bills.

however, I do live in the balmy subtropical westcountry.

Jambo - do you actually think it warms the air? We didn't really notice any difference, or so we didn't think.

I guess its an offset thing, does warming the air coming in mean that you can use central heating less?

probably. I took the view that its pretty mild here so the amount of time it would be below 10deg in my loft (mid terrance as well) were minimal and not worth the effort of switching it on/off.

I have actually got one of those salus units spare, how did you wire it in?

The box is just a switch in essence, so you just put it in between the power supply to the heater element.

Do you have to have all the window trickle vents open or could you just have one open. We have vents on main bedroom and downstairs ?

I am happy to install but need an electrician to wire up. Going to try the "heat" version. Any advice ? Going to put vent outlet into the top of the stair well. The electricity will come off a light in the loft. Sounds like we need speed setting 2 or possibly 3 (62m2 house - small terraced house - very cold attic) and set thermostat at 12 degrees ?

thanks 😆

Just been chatting to nuaire. Not surewhich one to get as our loft does get cold.
Option 1. Standard unit and change central heating to compensate for cooler air at night.
Option 2. The standard setting from factory is 2. Buy heat version and set therm to 6 degrees

I got one put in last year - it has certainly reduced the condensation without eliminating it entirely. However, it is in the hall and there are closed doors between the unit and where the mould is so we're probablt not making the most of its performance. We have the heat one but haven't switched that bit on as I can't work out how to do it!!

The air is definately fresher and I notice the noise. Its not irritating but its there.

Do you have to have all the window trickle vents open or could you just have one open. We have vents on main bedroom and downstairs ?

We don't have trickle vents, still enough holes in the house to allow the air out

[quote=cb ]I got one put in last year - it has certainly reduced the condensation without eliminating it entirely. However, it is in the hall and there are closed doors between the unit and where the mould is so we're probablt not making the most of its performance. We have the heat one but haven't switched that bit on as I can't work out how to do it!!
The air is definately fresher and I notice the noise. Its not irritating but its there.

i could hear the noise when it was bolted to the ceiling joists. i hung mine from the roof rafters and can't hear it anymore.

Would you go heat or the cheaper standard model ?

After calling Nuaire and being reassured that if I could see daylight entering the loft then I would have enough ventilation I bit the bullet and bought one. £232 from i-sells.co.uk (standard model), ordered late Wednesday, delivered Friday morning on the cheapest shipping option.

Fitted it yesterday without too much hassle. It's been on overnight and so far the most noticeable effect is the fusty smell from the loft is being distributed around the first floor of the house 🙂 Early days though so, fingers crossed, that will clear as fresh air is pulled through the loft.

Day 3 report

Loft funk still being pumped around the house. Humidity level still resolutely sticking at 70%.

Meh. Lift ventilation thingys ordered to try and improve the situation;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00M97O5YY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just finished putting mine in. I got a heat for £285 new and delivered. "Timmys"I would get a roofer to come and put two breather slates high on the roof and each on opposite sides so you get a good through flow of air. My loft had a 1970's membrane which did not breathe so put some slate vents in and its now clear and dry. Soffit vents will still trap some of the damp air at the top of the roof.

That's a decent price, where was it from?

I'm in a stone end terrace, and the front of the house doesn't get any sun

The front room and bedroom are the coldest rooms in the house

I've been having terrible problems with clothes in the wardrobe smelling mouldy, and some things like the suede on my desert boots actually had fuzz growing on them

I've just ordered a drimaster but after reading this I'm not sure I've done the right thing!

Reviews on amazon looked good 😕

Is your loft hatch well sealed? If not it's probably just circulating the air from your loft into your landing and sucking it back through again...

Is your loft hatch well sealed? If not it's probably just circulating the air from your loft into your landing and sucking it back through again...

Yep, went at it with draught excluder as part of the [s]bodging[/s] installation process.

I'm sure I'll get there with it, just looks as though I'll need some work on the loft ventilation.

Any update on these?

My parents live in a fairly old house that I think is twin brick contruction with no cavity.
It's always quite damp and condensate-y in the house, which isn't helped by the lack of door on the kitchen & no proper extraction for steam when cooking.

I keep telling them to look at one of these & see if it helps.
For the cost of one of the basic models, it seems like a low-risk option, to be honest. If it doesn't work, then it's not a huge investment to have wasted & they can just turn it off.

Stumpy, the walls are less relevant, than having a dry loft space.

Best thing we have ever done in our house !

Timmys - any change as yet? If you loft has any sign of condensation though it will not work properly. Does stuff in the loft feel damp, do boxes etc go soft?

Even with the unit running, currently we are at about 70% humidity, the outside weather definitely influences this, if we get a dry spell it will probably drop to about 60%.

FunkyDunc - Member

Stumpy, the walls are less relevant, than having a dry loft space.

FunkyDunc - I mention the walls as I think they are one of the reasons the house is always quite damp. There is no cavity to create a barrier/air gap.

They get mildew on the backs of their curtains, their windows are dripping with condensation throughout the winter and in the spare room where there is a bed pushed right against the wall, the wallpaper is peeling off behind the bed, as it gets that damp.

I think they should try one of these, but they never seem to get round to sorting it out....

Our house is of similar construction, and it helped massively.

As I say though you need the loft to be right for it to work.

Does anyone have one of these fitted where the boiler is also in the loft? Is that safe or would the nuaire 365 need to be used?

FunkyDunc - Member

Our house is of similar construction, and it helped massively.

As I say though you need the loft to be right for it to work.

Yeah, I should probably stick my head in the loft at some point and see what's what. I doubt anyone's been up there since 1995....

Update as requested, all with fan speed at 4 (of 6):

[u]Around day 6[/u] things suddenly seemed to improve - I guess loft funk had finally been cleared, humidity droped from ~70% to ~60% in the main problem room (near the drimaster outlet).

[u]Day 7[/u] I installed the loft ventilation things linked in one of my previous posts. That was the first time I had actually been up in the loft since installation and it certainly felt 'fresher' up there even before I installed the vent things.

[u]Days 8 - 10[/u]; things seem to be steady at ~60% in problem room.

[u]Days 10 - 12 (last couple of days)[/u]; problem room suddenly smells musty again and humidity as back up to 70-75%. There hasn't been any significant rain (though it has got colder), fan still running at 4. 😕 Bit perplexed.

I'm undecided if I should have the window open in the problem room. I don't know if that creates too much of a 'path of least resistance' and all the air i'm pumping in just exists straight out of the open window without circulating. Maybe windows should be shut to try and great proper positive pressure in the whole house? The windows in the problem room do have trickle vents so there is still ventilation without opening a window.

To answer specific question above. The loft always felt humid but not to the extent that cardboard felt particularly 'soft' (but probably softer than in the house). I defiantly remember seeing condensation on the underside of the felt but only a couple of times in 4 yrs of living here. The loft insulation seems to be what looks like very finely shredded newspaper which seems to be an actual thing upon googling it (Warmcel). It looks horrible and seems like perfect flammable rodent nesting material but apparently is legit! I wonder if it absorbs moisture and therefore is acting as a bit of a reservoir of dampness. The loft funk smell seems to be diminishing though.

I'm in this for the long haul though and still optimistic that things will improve.

Not wired mine up yet as been busy and still warm. I think you need a mixture of:
1. High volume cooker hood. Venting outside of house.
2. High volume (>150m3/hr) bathroom extractor. Venting outside and with a 20 mins over run. Get an in line ducted fan that goes out the roof. Wall mounted fans are to low e traction.
3. Set central heating to 20 degrees or near.
4. Trickle vents on windows
5. High roof slate breather vents to dry attic.
6. Washing on the line outside.
7. Small dehumidifier next to indoor washing.
8. Install hit and miss vents in old chimneys
9. Go electric hob if possible reduces gas moisture.
10.Pull all loft insulation 1ft back from roof membrane. If rockwool touches a cold damp proof membrane it will condensate.
11. Try a nuaire or better a full house heat recovery unit (>£900 plus)

Finally got around to ordering one today, went for the heat version . Hopefully I'll have it installed by the end of next week depending on when it arrives and I'll report back in a few weeks.

Any updates?

I have a little update - Reduced the speed to 2 now it's completely silent, no loft smell now, the house air is much fresher which is nice, does make the landing a little chillier as you'd expect as there is colder entering the house.

I've not had any condensation on the windows since it's been in, early into condensation season of course but early signs are good, will see how we get on through the rest of the autumn/winter and into spring.

Thanks forge197 - definitely into condensation season for me!

I have a little update - Reduced the speed to 2 now it's completely silent, no loft smell now, the house air is much fresher which is nice, does make the landing a little chillier as you'd expect as there is colder entering the house.

The drimaster heat has a heating element that comes on below a threshold.

The theory is that even with the cooler air coming in, dry air is easier to heat than damp air.

I've noticed no difference in our heating bills but even if it does cost more to heat, having a dry house is worth it.

The drimaster heat has a heating element that comes on below a threshold.

Week 4 here. So playing about with fan speed. For my 3 bed terrace. 2 kids, wife who loves washing. Fan speed 4 would leave around 1 inch of moisture on upstairs windows (still a massive improvement). Fan speed 5 leaves nothing. So I guess fan speed needs to be tweaked against not only size of house but moisture generation. This would seem at first far to fast / Hugh for a small 3 bed but it works. Don't notice the cold (although it has not got proper cold yet!)

Quite happy so far and like not having to mop the windows down every day.

Is there no recirculation or heater element in these things?
It's only going to get colder hereon in.

I have the heater element in the Nuaire (connected to a timer) but don't think it really heats it much will see as it gets colder how effective it is, though the house seems to heats up faster and keep the heat more so than previous, downstairs is great, just a little edge on the landing, which has no heating on it.

@Murray - did you get one or are you on the fence?

I have the heater element in the Nuaire ([b]connected to a timer[/b]) but don't think it really heats it much will see as it gets colder how effective it is

Comes on at 10 degrees or less, its on a timer to Control when it can be on and off, I'll see what's it like in depth of winter and if needs to be on more but not much point adding heat when not needed it's only a small heater so it won't heat the house think it warms the air just a couple degrees not convinced it makes much difference overall, doesn't seem too!

That makes more sense than a timer, you'll need the air to be coming in at something like 16-18 degrees which means that unless you can control the air flow the heater will be needed, especially when the temp get closer to zero. There needs to be a way of tempering the air.

Going to see how it goes I am not sure the onboard heater would get the heat that high 🙂

May end up better to turn the inbuilt heater off and run an oiled rad on the landing to warm the air will see

First winter with it so will see what works best and most efficient.

I've had mine running for a few weeks now and it has definitely made a difference. No condensation to speak of anywhere in the house. I had to put some vents in the soffit and some felt lap vents in to get air into the loft though. I was initially worried about spending the money on one but so far I'm glad I did.

So my report....

Wired up my Nuaire Drimaster Heat (£280) a few days ago.

- Before the fan the windows were dripping with small pools on the sills in the mornings. I live in a small terraced house (64m2) which is largely made from pebble dashed brick and clinker concrete, so does not breathe well. We have UPVC double glazing and trickle vents on windows (currently closed).

- Electrician Installed fan by wiring up two different plugs (total cost £60). The fan is 20 watt on a standard 3 prong plug. The heater unit is on a 500 watt wired on a standard plug. Installed a double socket in the attic off the main ring main sockets. I have the option to turn heater on/off or run heater on a timer plug. Running the fan on its own for 6 months will be cheap (estimate around £15 max).

- First 2 days ran on fan setting 1 with heater element off and central heating off. First impression = This thing is total junk. Windows still wet and house just felt colder. Made absolutely no difference to a cold house, almost made it worse as the fan lowered the temperature even further (my loft is draughty and chilly – 2 breather slates).

- Last 2 days - Upped fan speed to setting 2 (there are 5 fan speeds) and turned on gas central heating (6pm to 10:40pm @ 20 degrees and 5:30am to 6:30am). Really big improvement. Widows are dam near dry this morning and it was 3 degrees last night. Impressed so far. You need to set central heating to 18 to 20 degrees, this raises the dew point of the incoming colder air and raises the potential relative humidity.

My thinking: You have got to run these with a healthy blast of central heating. The fan heating element (500W) is very small, roughly similar to the element in an electrical kettle. I would pick heating via the house rather than the element as it’s too small and you may get some heat loss to the attic which is wasted heat. The fan heating element can be set using a screwdriver slot – heating element will kick in from 2 to 12 degrees depending on the setting you choose.Definitely rig the heater up on a plug so you can run on a timer. You do not want a 500w element on all day and night in winter.

House feels a little cooler so sure but well worth it being drier. Air in house feels a bit dryer and fresher. Installing the fan and ducting is easy and takes around 1 hr. Wiring I would recommend an electrician only. The set up and instructions are easy to follow and changing the fan speed and heating element are really easy to follow.

Fan comes with all parts and just has a live and neutral coming out the fan unit, you need to wire the heating element separately.

Coconut I had our heater on a fused spur timer, I am minded to turn it off and see the difference as you say it's not really big enough to warm to a large degree.

Since dropping our fan to speed 2, no noise can't hear it, no loft smell, fresh air in house, and most importantly no condensation so far.

I was sceptical and really reticent to invest, we'd done the whole dehumidifier thing last couple years, windows on trickle but still had some condensation, so far it seems to have gone not a single drop and the air in the house just 'feels' nice. Need to do the whole Winter now for the long term prognosis, early indications are positive.

This is all interesting stuff....

I keep telling my parents to look into one of these as they have lots of the symptoms described but they are dragging their heels.
They are also dragging their heels about getting a new heating controller with a wireless thermostat (their heating has no thermostat at all, so when it's on, it's on all the time.....!)

I am almost tempted to buy them one, take it round & say 'there you go, just get someone in to install it'......

Stumpy01 - Your parents would recoup the £300 to £400 cost in a year or two if there using central heating with no therostat. Early days for me but seems a really decent little machine. I was very sceptical and did not trust the reviews, but now do.

coconut - Member

Stumpy01 - Your parents would recoup the £300 to £400 cost in a year or two if there using central heating with no therostat.

Yeah, it's not the cost.....it's just getting them to realise that it might help the condensation situation in their house & that it's probably worth a bit of time & effort getting one sorted.

Same with their heating. The cowboy that installed it years ago didn't fit a thermostat & reckoned that you control it solely via TRV's and the timer control.
So, when it is on it just runs & runs & runs.....so it gets turned off. Then the house cools down and it gets put back on and off and on and off....
My Dad just trots out the same line that 'the people who installed it, reckon it doesn't need a thermostat'.....so they've just used it like that for years. I dread to think what their heating bill is!
I have been trying to persuade them to replace the current controller with one that has a wireless thermostat (as there is no wiring for a 'fixed' thermostat into the system).

I'll keep trying!

All boilers have a connection for a thermostat in them, it's usually very easy to find once you unscrew the control panel. Find the instructions on the internet, its only 2 wires to connect. A wireless thermostat would still need the receiver connecting into these connections anyway.

newrobdob - Member

All boilers have a connection for a thermostat in them, it's usually very easy to find once you unscrew the control panel. Find the instructions on the internet, its only 2 wires to connect. A wireless thermostat would still need the receiver connecting into these connections anyway.

Yeah, but once we'd connected a normal thermostat to the boiler we would have to chase wires into the walls etc. to a suitable spot for the thermostat and then re-decorate.

Our wireless thermostat talks directly to the controller, not the boiler.
So the controller is wired into the boiler & the controller tells the boiler when to fire using a combination of the time set for being 'on' and demand from the thermostat.

My parents have a controller wired into their boiler. So replacing the controller with a wireless controller & thermostat like ours (Honeywell Sundial Rf pack 2) would give them the control over the system that I think they should have, without them having to have wires chased into the walls.

?? No need for any wires or chasing in. Remote therostat with x.4 batteries, talks to sensor which clips into a valiant boiler.

Good luck.

Ah, really. I didn't know these things existed...! Got any product names or links I can Google?

Cheers for the heads up!

Yeah I have a Valliant Eco Tec Pro gas boiler and bought a VRT 392F remote thermostat.

I have this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vaillant-VRT392F-remote-wireless-boiler-control-set-with-transmitter-/192017045455?hash=item2cb51b97cf

Stick batteries on once ever 2 years or so. Place anywhere in the house you like (ebay picture 1), other part (ebay picture 2) clips straight into the front face of most valliant boilers, but check this first. Think it was around £140 new from plumbing center.

Ah, really. I didn't know these things existed...! Got any product names or links I can Google?

[url= http://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-digistat-3rf-room-thermostat/76816?kpid=76816&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4_DABRC1tuPSpqXjxZwBEiQAhMIp614EoZqRpAGbOaZ0nLtZZ-FGkRDzphsj8dhuVFHG89AaAiVS8P8HAQ ]I've been using this for years - works very well[/url]