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Be Dampsmart #1

Writer's picture: DampSmartDampSmart


Welcome to the first in our series of posts where we share the practical ways our customers use our “fabric and habit analysis” services to find, and fix the root causes of damp and mould. 


Heating, Insulation, Ventilation, and Education need to be considered in every damp and mould case. If you miss out a step, then damp and mould will come back. 


We created a solution that measures the fabric and environment, and generates conclusions from the data to give you certainty in taking action.


In our “Be Dampsmart” series, we will share how our customers have applied our analysis to get better results for the building and their tenants. We hope these posts make your next job tackling damp and mould even easier.


“Damp and Mould. Get the right jobs done in the right order”


Picture a large 1 bed flat over 3 garages, with three exposed walls built in the 1990s.  The energy performance certificate is C.  There is mould on walls, window reveals, skirting boards. A young family with a 2 month old child live in the home. The tenant complains about the flat being cold.


The landlord never had damp and mould issues in the past but something or a number of things had changed.


It took 10 days of monitoring and analysis to discover the issues and rank them in order of things to do; from no cost to high cost.


What was calculated and discovered?


  • Insulation – although the 2023 EPC inspection rated it as C, and heating rated as good, our measurements showed there was significant heat loss in the home.  The tenant would only be able to keep the home at 18c for short periods on a £150 monthly budget.  They would need 4kW of energy but the radiators were giving out significantly lower amounts of heat energy.

  • Heating Controls – we could see a lot of sharp spikes in temperature from 17c to 24c and then rapid falls.  These bursts of heat may have been good for the individuals trying to stay warm, but the additional moisture was a risk for colder surfaces.

  • Ventilation – there was evidence of natural ventilation in the kitchen but the moisture extraction rate was too slow and allowed moisture to condense on colder surfaces.  There was no natural ventilation in the living room.

  • Windows – were at condensation risk whether they were improved or stayed

  • Distribution of Heat and Moisture – the hallway was the coldest by 4 to 10c and despite its low temperature, had a high moisture content putting it at mould risk.

  • Extractor Fans – they were set to a standard 70% but when combined with the high temperatures, this still left a lot of moisture in the air.

  • Walls – insulation quality was poor and were a significant cold bridge. At certain temperatures and indoor humidity profiles, the walls became damp.

  • Drying clothes – the volumes of moisture in one room indicated clothes being dried but the weather outside was too cold and damp to do anything else.


What advice did the data generate?


No Cost (£advice)

  • Drying clothes - Advice on what humidity and temperature the room needed to be at before drying clothes.  An inexpensive LCD display temperature and humidity device was given to the tenant so they could check for themselves

  • Advice on managing the thermostats

  • Referral to Green Doctors for eligibility for fuel vouchers


Low cost (less than £500)

  • Upgrade the radiators in the living room to higher kW output based on the data

  • Install a wall mounted electric radiator in the hallway

  • Fix the leak in the bathroom

  • Remove vegetation from gutters

  • Upgrade the fan in the bathroom, change the setting of the kitchen fan to the level recommended in the data


Medium Cost (less than £1000)

  • Install a portable HEPA filter device to remove spores before a thorough clean of the black mould

  • Cleaning of the areas affected by black mould


Long Term (£1000 - £10,000)

  • Our data calculated the reduced costs of heating and the lower risk of condensation from insulation improvement.  The landlord now needs to consider when the work can be done.


What were the results?


All the no cost, low cost and medium cost actions made sense to the landlord and tenant and were applied.  An immediate improvement was shown in the data.  The landlord recognised the importance of removing the mould spores before a clean and purchased a HEPA filter.


Improving the efficiency of the radiators showed a significant difference.  The challenge now is to get the tenants to turn the thermostats down a bit!


We will be monitoring this home for a couple of months to see the results of fan improvements and the particulate matter readings after the mould wash.

 

Come back to see progress on this case study and others, or contact us to find out more dampsmart.co/contact

 

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