New VMC

[rabbit]

I’d be interested in your thoughts on a devis I have received. Our VMC is 18 years old. It is on continuously 24/7 and so I thought it might be time to replace it. Their life expectancy is said to be 10 to 20 years.
The electrician is a big local firm. They have quoted 275€ for supply and fit of an Atlantic simple flux autoreglable. Plus 355€ for cleaning the existing pipes. 30 for taking out the old and disposal . Altogether 727€ inc VAT at 10%

[Biloute]

Seems a bit expensive to me
If access is not too difficult, replacement takes 1/2 hour max: 3 or 4 flexible pipes to connect and 4 wires respecting the colors.
A self-adjusting single-flow VMC costs €48 including tax at Bricodepôt.

Besides, why change it if it still works without making the noise of a small plane ?
Clean the pipes? Their diameters are 80 and 125 mm: it takes a lot to seal them!

[Blaze]

I confess I've never understood the need for a VMC. But then our bathrooms/loos have always had windows and are well-ventilated.
The fact that a VMC runs all the time would worry me. They, along with fridges, seem one of the major causes of fires round here - is this a maintenance issue ?

So why do houses have them in France and do they exist in the UK ? If not, why not ?

[RobertArthur]

@ Blaze, the VMC came from the Nordic countries. I still remember a wooden log cabin in Norway, in the Hardangervidda. Small triple glazed windows, about 30 cm of insulation and a little VMC system. A red Ford tractor in the farmyard with a T-junction somewhere in the cooling system. You had to connect the engine to mains power in wintertime: a heating element inside. Outside temperatures sometimes below minus 30 C. Nothing compared with my brother in law the farmer told me, he lives near Hammerfest: the sound of diesel engines 24/7, the only way to prevent freezing during the long dark days and nights. The opposite of the midnight sun.

More insulation? An almost hermetically sealing? How to get fresh air inside. The introduction of the VMC in France.

[Blaze]

@RobertArthur - thanks for that, it's interesting and makes good sense. I gather that ventilating systems were used in radon areas of the UK, such as Dartmoor.

Fortunately we've never needed them in any of our old houses, nor have we lived in a really cold climate. With all the doors open, there are enough draughts to ventilate the house in winter and the only gas we have is bottled for the cooker hob.

[Quiksilver]

We didn't have a choice about whether to install a VMC during the renovation...it was part of the normes for the electrical installation at the time. I like the idea of taking stale air out of rooms and the house is beautifully dry. Sixteen years on it's still doing it's job. It will be fun if and when it needs replacing, though, as access to the low, sloping part of the attic where one of the units is situated isn't easy. Definitely a job for a young, slim, fit electrician

[Blaze]

Definitely a job for a young, slim, fit electrician

Sounds promising, Q !!

[Quiksilver]

Doesn't it?

[hughnique]

I switched mine off after a couple of years living here, then it went back on as I had a bit of damp in the bathroom, the inevitable problem necessitated renewal, but where is the unit, stuck above the utility room ceiling with no access whatsoever, so had to cut a loft hatch to access, replaced with new unit, and left switched off since???

[L Austin France]

I switched mine off after a couple of years living here, then it went back on as I had a bit of damp in the bathroom, the inevitable problem necessitated renewal, but where is the unit, stuck above the utility room ceiling with no access whatsoever, so had to cut a loft hatch to access, replaced with new unit, and left switched off since???

Did the damp reappear?