I do maintenance on student houses and see it all the time. They're all solid walls, small rooms and loads of laundry drying. The landlords seem to think there are leaks, but when I explain this to them they just look at me like I'm stupid. I've sent them all links to this, Thanks Roger

The problem is a lot of these regulations are written either entirely or with the help from companies that have a vested interest in selling some new fangled product. These days we have huge corporations that have very diverse businesses but the backing of huge in house legal departments and lobbyists that have a focus to increase profits.

I don't mind Roger's rants as they're a Breath of fresh air.😄

The problem with airtightness is only really applicable to retrofitting and working with the often abysmal existing housing stock. On new builds it should be mandatory to use whole-house ventilation with heat recovery. This, combined with high levels of insulation new required, would virtually eliminate heating costs for all but the coldest of days, siginificantly improve indoor air quality, better than any trickle vent or other natural ventilation system and even help keep homes cooler in summer whilst makining a significant saving on electricity and heating bills. We should lso be looking at better use of materials on interior finishes. Clay and lime plasters and paints on the interior help balance moisture levels indoors and absorb the harmful VOCs for example. In particularly draughty old houses, switching from space to radiant heating so that you focus on heating the surfaces aand inhabitants through radiant heat (think sunlight) rather than the surrounding air which is being quickly lost.

They should start to build air/air heat exchange units at reasonable prices, as used in Scandinavia.

I’m a surveyor, spot on vid as usual, like the one on heat pumps. Governments don’t tackle the issues properly in the regs and detailing is everything. It needs a big rethink, contrast how much effort and tech goes into a new car v how we build/ refurb. MVHR is the way to go, but it all costs and those in crappy housing already will struggle. Head scratcher for sure….

I have an airtight ("PassiveHouse" standard) house. I have a forced air ventilation system. The house has no heating system. It never falls below 18 degrees (I live in Scotland). Humidity is around 30%. CO2 is around 600ppm with two occupants. My energy bill is around 15% of a house built to current building standards. I built it because, as an oil and gas professional, I know where energy prices (and availability) are heading.

A few years back I worked in 'snagging' for a bit, I've seen this condensation problem numerous times, as soon as the tenant closes the trickle vents it's game over. And many internal doors fitted without enough air gap underneath to allow the trickle vents system to work correctly anyway. MVHR essential on new builds really.

Well presented and very informative Roger, many thanks. All through your presentation my mind was on the black mold problem and over the years I’ve seen a lot of houses suffer this for the first time soon after having the old house double glazed and “draft proofed” - to “slash” the occupiers energy bills, so I absolutely agree with the issues you highlighted so very well 🥵

Airtight buildings work if you use heat recovery ventilation. Not only that, but all the windows should be double windows, as in a layer of windows close to the outside of the wall and another layer of windows close to the inside of the wall, and this also applies to the windows which open (though you might want one of the windows to be a sliding window, which is cheaper). Ideally, you would have a heat recovery system for every room, but you should have at least one for the whole house and connect it to every room. For filtering the air, you could even use one of those homemade filters made from metal sheet or plywood which lets you use a few rows of tissue paper or paper towels which get secured by a few hinged parallel arms tight against the netting which supports the paper towels/tissues, allowing you to easily unscrew the cover, unscrew the non-hinged end of the parallel arms, change the cheap filter with other cheap filter, screw the parallel arms and then the cover, and you're good to go. A 5 minutes job even kids could do (especially if the screws have handles) is a lot cheaper than a 30 minutes job for which you need a very expensive filter and to a paid professional to do the air filter replacing. And you could even use a water filter for the air going into the house, before or after the paper filter (ideally while the air is still not heated when the temperatures outside are above the freezing point of water, the switching between the two can be done using a thermostat and two electric actuators), which you could automate by having a tap which is set to a few drops per hour, the overflow going into the sink, and the air bubbling from the bottom of the water container (which could even be made from a metal funnel and some piping). For those interested, they can make a (DIY) heat recovery ventilation system themselves, with nuts, bolts, lots of washers, industrial tinfoil or tinfoil to which you added scotch tape (packing tape) on one side for more strength against tearing, some plywood or plastic or foam or metal sheets plus some glue or spray foam for gluing and insulating the case, scotch tape or aluminium tape (optionally replacing the glue or spray foam for insulation), and some pipes of different sizes and either cement or oven caulking/insulating material. You can look online how heat recovery ventilation system work in more detail, but they have one fan pushing air in (so you have a higher pressure inside the house, to get some of that air out through the places where the house is not airtight, instead of having cold outside air get in when you have a lower pressure inside the house), that air is then split into a bunch of air chambers cold for air going, each in which being placed in-between two adjacent layers of warm air going out, those chambers tend to be fairly long to transfer as much heat from the warm air going out to the cold air going in, those layers needing to have their spacing consistent which is where for the DIY (do-it-yourself) version you use that bunch of nuts, bolts, and the washers for spacing, and having the layers thin enough and long enough will end up in recovering enough of the heat. For example, the "sandwich" of layers could have the even layers for air going out and the odd layers for air going in. Ideally, have the pipes for air going in and air going out be at opposite sides of the same two opposite corners. One corner has on one side previously-cooled warm air air going out of your house, and the other side cold air getting in to get heated, and the opposite corner has on one side warm air going to heat the cold air and on the other wise the already-heated previously-cold now-warm air which to replace the air in the house. For the fans, a single room or a tiny house can use an USB fan or two running from a USB charger (with a long-enough USB cable), while a house might need a bigger fan connected to an electricity plug/outlet in your house. Those who live in windy areas could even use a small wind turbine to mechanically power a fan. Sure, it will take a lot of space, and quite a bit of effort to make and set it up, but it would be a lot cheaper to make than buying one, which makes it ideal for poor people who have a lot of free time and maybe not a lot of skill to make money with (i.e. kids and students trying to learn a trade or trying to save some money for their house). Edit (1 year later) : And the sad part is that the idea at the end could help some people make a business or a job for themselves. I mean, a store-bought Heat Recovery System costs $1000 or more to buy, but less than $300 to make (at most $500, depending on how efficient you make it, and if you use thermostats and things like that, and if you include the usage of paper kitchen towels as an air filter and mechanism to use that), so you could easily sell that for $700 and make a profit. And in that high price I'm assuming you're using metal sheets instead of hard-plastic sheets or plastic veneer, GB-Weld or other mixtures which adhere to metal instead of silicone adhering to plastic which was lightly brushed with a power-drill to increase the contact surface for better adhesion, thermostats for stopping it form working when the temperature of the air going into the house gets too cold or too hot for human comfort (which would significantly reduce but not stop the air circulation), the cheapest fans you can get your hands on instead of silent PC fans from Noctual or similarly-quiet alternatives, a system for adding a professional i.e. N95) air filter aside from the paper-towel air-filter as opposed to no air filter or a few vacuum cleaner bags in parallel, and maybe even adding a solar-power circuit to use solar power during the day and during the night battery power charged from solar power during the day. Heck, with cheaper materials, louder fans, and only a paper-towel air filter, you can make that for $200 or less. As I said, the cheapest and thinnest plastic siding, cheapest PC fans you can get, cheapest chinese usb power cord and power plug you can get for powering the fan/fans, cheap wooden casing for the paper towel filter, which covers almost the entirety of a wall and requires unscrewing standard screws to replace, and the cheapest (indoors or outdoors) silicone for insulating the layers of cheap plastic siding for directing the airflow and making the whole thing work. It would be big, bulky, and probably also ugly, but it would work, so you could use it yourself, or sell it for $300-$500 to people who don't care about how it looks or how power efficient it is, only that it works and it's cheap. Heck, people living next to a highway or a busy city center would benefit the most, from one of those.

Mechanical Heat Recovery with Ventilation would not live in a house without it. Set up correctly no condensation whatever the weather filtered fresh air saves on heating bills . The UK as usual is miles behind

As a builder, I see all the floors in modern building techniques and echo everything you said in this video. That's why I bought a house that was built in 1855! Its very original, breath's beautifully and when it's cold I tell the misses and kids to sit under a blanket 😂

Love the part about air fresheners and chamicals. So many people believe "if it was bad for you it would be banned" so I hope this video converts more people to minimise chamical use. Keep up the good work, best video you have done to date.

Love the casual reference to dying. I did it three times in April 2020 with a massive heart attack. It was interesting. Felt slight disappointment I wouldn't be able to talk about it but - here I am now. Also small concern I wouldn't finish remaining jobs on house for wife. I'd always said fear of dying was daft. If you don't think there's an afterlife, surely it doesn't matter. If you think you go somewhere, surely you've done the deal with the gatekeeper so you're going to be ok, if not, you're weird for ignoring terms and conditions on the ticket. Was, and am, happy to realise that, come the moment, that perspective held up. Chat at door with a young charity fund raiser a couple of days ago - he said same and showed me knife scar on his arm. He's starting at medical school in October.

You make the ventilation problem sound a lot more complicated than it really is. I don't know about the UK, but here in Germany we have this innovative ventilation technology we call “Fenster”. They are basically holes in the wall that are normally covered by a glass pane, but if the air in a room gets bad, they can be opened to let fresh air in (we call this procedure “Lüften”). The most efficient way to apply this technique is to open all the windows of a room at once and close them again after 3-5 minutes, when all the air has been exchanged (we call this “Stoßlüften”). This is more efficient than the trickle ventilation approach, because it doesn't continually cool down the room. Of course it will be cold in that room for a brief time afterwards, but it usually gets quite warm again in under 5 minutes because of the heat stored in the walls and the floor. This technique is usually applied once or twice a day to the whole house, but it can of course be applied more often to specific rooms if the CO₂ concentration or moisture level has risen in that room, e. g. because of a party or after showering. This also solves the problem of the trickle ventilation approach that your amount of needed ventilation actually depends on the amount of people in that room.

Been watching your videos for a couple of days now. Really great stuff. Even if I don't actually do the work myself on my house it's informing me enough to not get the wool pulled over my eyes by unscrupulous types. Really valuable stuff. Thanks.

I think people have forgotten what my mother used to tell us when we were younger and complained of being cold in the winter. "Put a jumper on." Walking around the house in a t-shirt when it's 5 degrees outside? You've got a problem. Open a window occasionally and put a jumper on. Kids these days, they don't even know they're born.

These videos in front of a whiteboard are always fascinating. I used to live in an 80s timber frame terrace with god knows how many holes in the vapour barrier from various peoples DIY over the years. It makes you wonder how many houses are out there that are ticking time bombs with all sorts of damage to the fabric that isn't in plain sight.

You are spot on mate - did an 88 flat scheme to the regs with massive bi-fold windows everywhere. Never saw a window open after handover (and it was phased so I was there a fair bit!). The condensation in some of them (people drying clothes all over the place etc) was horrible. Stuck MVHR in the next one and no issues at all in the 12 months since handover. Currently building mine - a big 3000 sq ft lump that probably didn't need it but went for MVHR anyway just in case.

One of the most interesting and informative videos I’ve seen from Skill Builder so far. I’m doing kits and roughing for multiple developers, and had little genuine understanding of the actual pros & cons of each developer’s detail. Thinking about the ramifications of excessive air tightness, thermal bridging and/or ventilation; while also considering the personal habits of any future occupants will inform my work going forward. I feel better for this lesson! Thanks Rodger/Skill Builder! 👌🏻

Bring back ice on the inside of single glazed sash windows , hot water bottles, outside toilets , and time served tradesmen

Another fantastic video, Roger Id love to know more about buildings with Lime plastering, as my house has lime plaster on every wall, many of the walls need to be repaired but I simply cant afford to pay a lime specialist. I know that modern gypsum plaster doesn't breathe. Id love to know ays around it or any advice?

Brilliant video. We have a few trickle vents, extractors and this is the main reason why I will not have cavity wall insulation. There's a few drafts, an older wooden front door, we have an open fireplace, there's a point to keeping them - a few drafts is a very good thing. Our house is 70 years old and the 1st floor was re-rendered just before we bought it, I have no idea who rendered it and what it was rendered with. If the house is chilly... it's jumpers and dressing gowns, no big deal.

Spot on! I liked that description of the old lady's house - just like mine only I've got an outside loo as well - it's grim Up North! One point about old houses with no DPC where the owner has been conned into having their walls treated with a magic potion to save 110% of their heating bills, moisture will come out the ground into the walls and because of the magic potion the only place the moisture can go is inside the house.

Great info Roger. I worked for a housing association and saw a lot of flats that were damp inside, so I know exactly what you are saying. Often people just would not open windows. I live in a 1970s x council flat and I have never had a problem with damp because I always keep my windows open. 🙏🏽

Great video thanks! Co-incidentally I got the shortness of breath first thing in the morning at a modern hotel - sealed windows. We'd turned the a/c off to stop our throats drying out and that must have stopped the air-changing in the room. Quite un-nerving!

Absolutely brilliant roger,thoroughly enjoyed your rant and the sing song,so true. keep them coming and keep up the good work educating the masses to what’s going on.well done someone on UKposts with common sense,very much lacking today. my in-laws are dad 98 mum 94 they have the windows open,eat all good wholesome food loads of good fat,lard,fried breakfast, food,don’t take any pills and drink lots of water and the occasional shandy and have had a blooming great life on it.

I think Roger’s been taking acting classes. Made me 😆

7:15 Roger that’s a good story , I was fitting loft insulation in a council house around 15yrs ago and same thing , a little old lady sat in the chair, her home was like a time capsule, her kitchen was near non existent, the old deep sink with wooden drier. Basic base units. Must of been from the 50’s. Seemingly she refused any upgrades offered. She seemed happy enough but I was shocked. Each to their own

You're definitley onto something cos I noticed when I used to live in the UK I would have headaches very often but since I moved to Thailand 20 years ago I cannot remember when I last had a headache and the houses here are anything but airtight, I'm looking at an outside door now in my home that has a half inch gap between it and the floor.

Fabulous video Roger. My wife and I really enjoy learning at University Roger. Seriously, you provide a great learning experience. Thanks.

Thank you Roger. Love your messages and the delivery. I couldn’t help but think of what I learned sitting on a safety board for the fire department in Kirkland Washington about flashover. And that with all the new elements and fabrics which you spoke about. Back when all materials were natural it would take a house fire 28-42 minutes to meet flashover (the point at which human or pet couldn’t survive) Now because of all the fake materials in homes flashover is 4 minutes. Have you covered this subject before? If not I welcome your rant! Cheers from Cape Cod Massachusetts. Thank you!

I’ve worked on many Victorian buildings and have a quite simple process that works really well. 1.insulate the inner walls, the thicker the better 2. Plenty of ventilation eg trickle vents, chimney vents, large gaps on the bottom of interior doors 3. A high quality extractor fan for bathroom with overrun 4.keep furniture away from walls

Love it! Really enjoyed that Roger. Very interesting, very informative.

This was brilliant! and very helpful. I just built a block recording studio in my back yard and we water-sealed it inside and out, thinking we were preventing moisture from entering it. Low an behold, just my wife and my breath was building up in the room and in the coldest back corner we were seeing water run down the wall onto the floor. Not much, but enough to catch my attention and wonder how on earth it was getting into the building. After thinking about it I figured out that the building was so air-tight it had to be our own breath causing this. If I left the door open for a while or if I was not in the building for a few days, no water showed. So now I'll have to figure out how to keep the sound out and let fresh air in somehow.

Sounds like it's about time we move away from the old central heating systems and start using forced air heating/ventilation like a lot of other places in the world do, would be much more suited to heat pumps too

"Save the Planet, Kill the People" sounds like a World Economic Forum slogan.

I installed a heat recovery system in my home when I bought it. (MHRV = Mechanical heat recovery ventilation), the air is changed around 3 times an hour in every room, air is drawn in from outside, and is warmed from the stale air being extracted. So no trickle vents on any windows and therefore no draught from open vents, no condensation even when washing is dried in the house, no wet condensation on windows, no noisy extractors in wet rooms (kitchens and bathrooms), definitely no mould possible either, no CO2 build up from breathing and allergens minimised because of the constant fresh air intake. So cost me around £4,000 7 years ago, but every home home should have one, it is just so much healthier. As soon as you want to save losing heat by insulating houses or make windows and doors airtight and not draughty you have to ventilate, so the MHRV systems, pass the heat at around 90% efficiency from the stale air being removed to the clean fresh air coming in. Lovely.

Excellent knowledge Roger and well explained. Thank you 👍💚

Again great video and some very valid points. Air tight house mechanical ventilation is a must, with heat recovery. Another advantage to the MVHR is the pollen filters if you suffer from hay fever.

Another great video. Respect for having the balls to say the things that need to be said 👍

Ventilation: The most pertinent and pressing question is. Why do I have to "open that bloody window" post defecation, but the same rule doesn't apply to she (who must be obeyed)? It's the time of year when spiders start entering the house. Which gives me an idea. Don't panic! It didn't hurt.

I bought a 1960s bungalow house that was Black mould top to bottom all the wall paper had peeled off. I removed the bricks at damp proof course a few at a time removed the insulation .house has been perfect 11 years now. Air brick were all doing nothing as inner and outers were not opposite. The estate agent said who would buy this but I saw its potential.

I live in a fairly modern bungalow with all mod cons, in the summer the doors and some windows can be open all day, in the winter we deal with the slight condensation that starts to appear on the bottom of the conservatory windows by using a dehumidifier overnight. All doors are normally open all day and all night with a couple of bedroom windows slightly locked open. Seems to work for me, the dehumidifier takes out about 2 litres of moister a week which we use in the iron and to water the house plants. If I am mistaken in my method I would appreciate further guidance.

We have a 70€ CO2 detector in our home. It tells us when the level is too high in a smartphone app. We then turn on the bathroom ceiling vent or the kitchen stove vent and the levels are good in ~20 minutes. We are thinking about getting those wall mounted vents that save the outgoing heat and also heat the air coming in.

I’m currently doing a new build and making it as airtight as possible but I’m also looking to install a MVHR too.

So nice the way you present the videos!!!! Love it!!!!!

Your videos are fantastic. Is there a follow up with showing a specific case and the solution applied?

As always brilliant. We live in a world that obeys the law of unintended consequences ie it looks good today etc etc and then we learn how stupid our decisions were. Keep it up Rog.

A local dry rot/damp treatment man once told me a drafty house is a healthy house. I love my open fire/ solid fuel boiler going in the winter.

Perfect rant.👍 I am setting up a low voltage/wattage MHRV for my small house but have a dehumidifier in the equation as a must. It reduces heat loss to damp air as well as controlling moisture.

I live in a maisonette with no garden, so i use 3 clothes airers on my landing. I never use the heating and always have the windows open. I've never had a problem with mold and i use fleece bedding with a 10 tog quilt and still sweat during winter with the windows open. As for dust, i live next door to the M4 and Heathrow Airport so don't have a lot of choices there. Another great video, thank you.

What you need, of course, is a ventilation system with a heat exchanger. Common in Scandinavia. But we love old houses, and even pass laws to prevent the owners modifying them.

Pasive house standard, with heat recovery ventilation would be the way I would go, if done correctly. As to any of the large developers being able to it correctly, given the current build standards… Condensation is when air with a high RH, the amount of water held in the air, meets a colder surface, the air cools and if the RH get to 100% then condensation is the result. In old leaky houses the wet inside air is replaced with dryer air from outside, in an air tight house this has to be done by a mechanical system, also with higher installation in the walls they will be warmer on the inside, less likely to be at the dew point, when condensation will form. That is one area where America is far ahead of us, with the HVAC system that usually includes a dehumidifier. They also consider black mould to be a health hazard, and can make a house uninhabitable until the mould is fixed.

Great insights in this video. Thank you. How about a video on heat recovery systems like the Blauberg systems?

I love the architecture of old southern USA homes. The layout windows and doors and hallways were always placed for optimum cross air ventilation. The dogtrot home (breezeway house)and shotgun home in particular. No air conditioning at all. Losing heat vs trying to get rid of heat.

You sir, deserve more than 1 million subscribers.

Really enjoyed this one Roger - very funny and educational - if only school had been like that!

Just finishing our Passivhaus build so I thought I’d share a few numbers here for info. The house has a volume of about 400 cubic meters, 5 tonnes of cellulose (shredded newspaper) insulation, triple glazed windows and an MVHR system but NO heating system at all - well, that’s not 100% true, it has two 600w electric towel rails, a hob, oven, hot water cylinder, fridge, freezer that all produce some heat but there’s no “heating system” as such - no boiler, no heat pump, no rads, no under-floor, no wood-stove etc., nothing. The final airtightness test result was 0.07 air changes per hour at a pressure of 50 pascals, which is VERY airtight, even for a Passivhaus, which has to be below 0.6 ACH. This is to prevent air/heat leaking out of the building in an uncontrolled way. However, the MVHR system runs normally at 110 cubic meters of ventilation per hour and so completely changes the 400 cubic meters of air air inside the building about every four hours or six times per day - which is a lot of ventilation. The benefit of doing this is that the stale air and moisture is leaving the building but the heat is not! Most of the heat is being put back into the building by using it to heat and dehumidify the incoming air. Here’s a snapshot of the MVHR numbers: Extract air: 17.9° 61% Exhaust air: 10° 89% Outdoor air: 7° 94% Supply air: 17.7° 53% So it’s only lost 0.2° of heat and it’s reduced the humidity by 8% whilst completely changing the air in the house every four hours and is doing this whilst only drawing 14w, ie the equivalent of a couple of LED bulbs. So, airtightness, ventilation, moisture control and “heating” all rolled into one.

Just go Passive, airtight, warm healthy and incredibly fuel efficient. No dust mites, no excess humidity, no mould. Living in a Passive standard house for over six years now and neither of us have had as much as a cold in that time. All built for the same price or cheaper than a house built to UK regs.

You sum it up well Roger, only an house built for MVHR is the solution, but that's big bucks and working Joe ain't got that kind of money. What's worse is that motivation by Gov is to do half a job with insulation, and don't worry about the health issues. Another random story #1: I was brought up in a house that was leaky as hell, but it did us no harm other than being bloody cold in the winter. random story #2: My grandad was an Architect, he and his wife lived 'til over 90 in a house that had walls so thin, you could read through them (stick build).

Part L and Part F of the approved documents are having a number of changes made to them soon that will cover this topic and ensure that with increased air tightness the ventilation is also improved.

Roger, this has always baffled me when I first saw it come about on that show "Grand Designs". I was so very confused. Everything needs to breath and being a keen gardener I know that my lawn needs to breath so I occasionally run a spiked roller over it. House plants need to breath. Bricks need to breath, masionay, wood and especially pot plants which is why I only use terracotta pots never plastic. My aquarium and pond plants need to breath, my fish, frogs and aquatic snails need to breath. I need to breath, my wife needs to breath and my 3 cats need to breath. Even the occasional mouse needs to breath until they get caught in jaws (Good boys Kitties). I know so many people (including my wife and mother) that have the heating on with at least one small window open. Drives me crazy but they are doing the right thing.

Lovely video, really enjoy your content!

Your video was prescient: an article in today’s Times reports that houses and other buildings need to be designed with ventilation, and not to use the sealed box approach that you note is the current norm!

Isn't it funny that we are saving the planet by wrapping our houses in plastic! Meantime, a sheep's fleece costs £10, hemp is easy to grow etc. It's a funny old world!

Gotta love Rogers rants! And dealing head on with topics that sound as though they are forgone conclusions but in reality far from it - esp for the poor. Would like to hear more about retro fitted heat exchange systems that may be suitable for those on a budget. BTW anyone remember the 'Shake and Vac' ads on the subject of smelly houses!

I had a passive build in mind, not fully, but pretty tight. (Most materials bought already). Eps raft system, tripple glazed, 250mm wall insuation with wood fibre breathable outer insulation, 350mm ins in roof, air tight wrap, wood clad, with mvhr. But I'm running out of dosh so cant afford an mvhr and wood clad. (Render is cheaper and I'm building all myself). So now have the difficult decision of whether to keep in the farts or let them escape. I may go half arsed on this one.

In the middle of winter with the central heating on if I open the front door wide open for ten seconds I think there'd be easily ten cubic metres of air exchanged. That happens a few times a day at least. Leave the bathroom window and shower door open until the shower is completely dry and I've never had a problem with mould in the bathroom. Just zap the slightest black spot with diluted bleach so it doesn't get a foothold.

One day somebody is going to make a miaculous discovery that people are healthier in a (slightly) draughty house. And they are just as warm wearing another laying of clothing!

So much information,and entertaining.thank you .

Always learn something when i watch Roger - thank you !

My mates wallet is air tight especially when we go into Costa. Brilliant video Rog. It's true, but thing is building control dictate the air tightness rules not the owner.

we replaced an open fire with a wood burner - if the feed is open then it still works well as a passive ventilation system when not in use

Appreciate MHRV brings in fresh air, but am considering a ducted dehumidifier to deal with the worst of winter condensation. My freestanding dehumidifier has done wonders in keeping the moisture levels down in winter, combined with regular airing of the house. The only UK available brand of ducted dehumidifier I can find is 'Ecor Pro'. Has anyone used these and know if they are any good... or can you point me in the direction of other models?

Love the rants. Keep them coming.

Very good summary of a significant problem where the best solutions can be impractical (MVHR). My experience is that the biggest bang for the buck comes from having powerful extractors in kitchen and bathroom especially if humidity controlled. As Roger points out - with extractors you know exactly where the moisture is going - directly to the outside. Thanks for putting this up - great presentation.

I saw a great video by a guy who specialises in insulating log cabins and sheds. He basically said "If you cant make something 100% air tights, and waterproof, dont even bother trying. VENTILATE". Basically 99% airtight means 99% of any trapped water causes problems. Just assume there will be a gap or pin prick somewhere, and base your design on healthy ventilation. FYI my bedroom faces the sunrise, and in the mornings it lights up all the dust in the air. Im a pretty clean guy by DAMN ... bed linen, clothes, carpets and people throw off so much dust. I have a little hepa air filter where I sleep and periodically, heat the place up and do a complete air change. Its not pleasant or cheap doing it during the winter, but you need to blow moisture out.

Have a Hawksley BL8 1957, do I brick it or SIPS it?

If the people who live in properties that are having mould problems bothered to wipe the walls down with warm water and any type of mould spray , or any cleaner, on a regular basis, ie : daily, weekly, or monthly , whatever is required, that would stop the mould from getting a hold on that room and getting worse as shown on recent reports . The fact is you can see the filth on new UPVC window frames , and mould doesn’t take muck effort to wipe from plastic ! I have advised customers before that their tenants need to open all windows every morning and let fresh air in and stale air out for at least 15 minutes, they could do this before showering etc , and close them before they went out if they are rushed in the mornings . It would SMELL a lot better to ! Basically it comes down to LAZY people.

Carbon dioxide - high blood pressure - Rogers rants, someone get Roger a trickle vert

Fantastic video 👌🏽 However I have a question, If I fart after I have a Christmas dinner will it linger until the evening if the house is airtight?

Bless you Roger absolutely right as usual , a very dear friend of mine is in the process of building a totally airtight house on the scale of a grand designs speck . But when you see the level of technology and infrastructure involved you know it’s beyond the norm , as to cost I think you know the answer . But for most people it’s not the way forward . We have in the past both been less than enthusiastic about air source and the like in the vast majority of homes . Yet governments seem totally committed to embrace it . We seem as a nation completely oblivious to the health and welfare of the people as long as we think and I emphasise the word think we are saving the planet Best wishes and kind regards to your good self. Ps not so sure about your singing , but ha they said that about Elves 🤣👍👍👍

I bought a 1980s split level ranch two years ago and it had a lot of rotten sheathing which allowed bugs and mice in. I took all the siding off and replaced the sheathing with Huber zip system, following the guidelines and taping all the seams and air sealing more to keep bugs out than I cared about air. Well I have new siding, windows doors and roof now but places where air can leak into the wall cavity are causing mold. Now I’m gutting the whole interior and installing an hrv, new insulation and being very fussy about the vapor barrier when installing it by caulking it onto the studs top and bottom plates and taping around outlets and windows. Learned a hard lesson about sealing up an old home.

what do you think about straw bale houses with lime render? good rant Roger. Hit the nail on the head again. I grew up in a house with just 1 fire single glazed windows etc like a lot of people. Did me no harm, we didn't get fat as we were using calories to keep warm

Great singing voice Roger. I’ll call Simon and get you on the talent show. 😬

Very well put together talk. We need solutions, don't we? Returning to the cold and draughty houses of old is not going to work (and god knows they caused countless health issues).

Another great rant ....Thanks Roger. Funny we have the same debates here in France. All new houses here under the latest building regulation must be air pressure test certified and must have an MVHR.

'We all die some time or another, get over it' hahaha brilliant. Imagine hearing that from your doctor.

F**King hell Roger 🤣🤣 Best video I've seen in a long time haha nearly died drinking tea at this lol

Friend got one of those humidifiers - plugged into 4-gang extension lead. Electrics went off for the 4 circuits in that section of consumer unit. Asked me for help before calling electrician. Extension lead and unused sockets were sopping wet from the mist. Removed it. No problem since

Absolutely brilliant, really well explained.

Not like you to have a rant Rodger!!!

The only way to solve the problem is a HVAC system have fitted a few retro and new builds have one myself would highly recommend .

Fantastic rant as always. 👍With good points

Great video Roger, just thinking about the ac/h, likely to be way way more than 1 every 6mins on one of these older homes especially whilst you have a fire roaring i.e. 10 per hour as that’s pretty much our building regs for new buildings today, which have cavity walls and no massive draught-causing chimneys. Probably 1 airchange every two minutes!

“Meanwhile on the Build show see how airtight Matt Risinger’s house is”

The airtight concept obviously doesn't work for the current housing stock. However, it has been proven the world over that it is overwhelming the way to go no questions asked for the future housing stock. All new homes should be required to be airtight, have energy efficient windows and a quality mechanical heat recovery system.

Renovated 1790 farm house at 1100m in the Alps, insulated the outside walls, lime plastered inside, installed full mvhr, double and triple glazed windows, underfloor heating with supplemental wood burner and dedicated external air supply. Gets to -20 in winter...we don't get condensation, not a hint of dampness anywhere. Total 375m2 of space included heated garage.... Heating /hw bills max €1700 year..... It's brilliant, I can't recommend great insulation + mvhr enough.

Never heard of the the trickle vents. You make some great points here. I suppose most buildings could use better ventilation.