Well since the last instalment there have been two events worthy of note - the first was the freak thundery squall we had a few weeks back which blew down the wooden frame that my SolarVenti is mounted on. The frame was a bit flimsy on reflection. The SolarVenti was wrenched off it and some rain had got inside it! I drained it and tested it and it was still working and left it propped up in the sun and it quickly dried out. I can see now why it is best mounted directly on a wall!! Anyway it is now remounted on a strengthened wooden frame and working really well.
The next event was one of those incredibly hot days we had - that was the only time that I have needed to switch it off. That was the day that i was prompted to mount the On/Off switch. That was supposed to be a five minute job but it is not that simple. It is not like any switch I have encountered before and I could not find a diagram. Anyway i took it apart and tried to work out how it worked and performed a test assembly off the wall. In short I lost patience and the chap at SolarVenti had to explain it to me over the phone. Anyway it works although I still leave the SolarVenti unit it on all the time.
Is the dehumidification process still working - yes - it is now probably the driest room in the downstairs area of the house. There was one July day when it was incredibly humid and if you twitched you broke out in a sweat - that was the only day the cheese stone has shown any slight colour change from the grey/white completely dry colour.
I have been thinking about my cellar which unfortunately is on a North and West facing aspect. It is very damp down there and has a hippo pump in a sump on all the time. It is often below groundwater level and the walls are always incredibly damp at the base. Unfortunately the walls are 3 feet thick and just drilling the hole is a major problem. Would the scale of the damp problem be a bridge too far? I really would like to see if a SolarVenti could make the cellar more usable. My other solutions such as under floor land drains into the sump and the pot bellied stove hardly touch it and anyway i already have a dehumidifier down there full time in the autumn and winter and most of spring. The problem with a dehumidifier, apart from the running cost is that it packs in when it is below 5 degrees C failing just when you need it most!
I suspect that A SolarVenti would remove most of the symptoms such as the foul damp air but obviously it is not going to remove the source of the damp. Just how do you drill a 3 foot hole in a listed building??
The next event was one of those incredibly hot days we had - that was the only time that I have needed to switch it off. That was the day that i was prompted to mount the On/Off switch. That was supposed to be a five minute job but it is not that simple. It is not like any switch I have encountered before and I could not find a diagram. Anyway i took it apart and tried to work out how it worked and performed a test assembly off the wall. In short I lost patience and the chap at SolarVenti had to explain it to me over the phone. Anyway it works although I still leave the SolarVenti unit it on all the time.
Is the dehumidification process still working - yes - it is now probably the driest room in the downstairs area of the house. There was one July day when it was incredibly humid and if you twitched you broke out in a sweat - that was the only day the cheese stone has shown any slight colour change from the grey/white completely dry colour.
I have been thinking about my cellar which unfortunately is on a North and West facing aspect. It is very damp down there and has a hippo pump in a sump on all the time. It is often below groundwater level and the walls are always incredibly damp at the base. Unfortunately the walls are 3 feet thick and just drilling the hole is a major problem. Would the scale of the damp problem be a bridge too far? I really would like to see if a SolarVenti could make the cellar more usable. My other solutions such as under floor land drains into the sump and the pot bellied stove hardly touch it and anyway i already have a dehumidifier down there full time in the autumn and winter and most of spring. The problem with a dehumidifier, apart from the running cost is that it packs in when it is below 5 degrees C failing just when you need it most!
I suspect that A SolarVenti would remove most of the symptoms such as the foul damp air but obviously it is not going to remove the source of the damp. Just how do you drill a 3 foot hole in a listed building??
posted by BobG at
4:21 pm
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