I know lots of forumites are using PIV systems in their lofts and I'm interested in solving our homes winter condensation issues in a different way to paying to run a stand alone dehumidifier.
Also not 100% sold on loft sourced PIV's as even with pre filters I'm not keen on supplying loft space air into the house.
Also as we average -1degC through the winter I don't really want to be directly injecting cold air, or paying to pre heat that arguably not entirely fresh air.
Is anyone running a stand alone unit that recovers exhaust heat energy and conditions the incoming air?
I have an old house (1880’s) fitted with a loft PIV.
If I stand directly under it, it feels slightly colder but not unpleasant. it’s not noticeable anywhere else in the house other than the lower humidity levels and associated lack of damp. It took about 2/3 days to go from soaking windows in the mornings to dry.
We specifically bought a PIV with a heater element. Never used the heater once.
But it made a massive difference to the house.
The filters said a 5 yr life but ours looked a bit darkened/dirty after about 3 yrs.
So long as your loft is dry and not too sealed off it should be fine
In summer on exceptionally hot days a smell would come down from the loft but that’s it
Best thing we ever bought for our old house
You can change the settings so it stops running above a certain temp. I had it wrong the first summer and it took me a while to work out why it was getting so hot upstairs.
Piv without heating element all day. Solved all our black mould and condensation issues. Slight coolness on landing. Heating wet air costs you more than heating dry air.
