Marcus South | Moisture Master

Marcus South: Regional Manager, Moisture Master

What to look for when considering home ventilation in a Reno
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Common Questions?

Positive pressure or Balanced heat recovery. As homes are renovated and have upgraded insulation, better windows, sealing penetrations etc, they are typically made more air-tight.

‍However this causes moisture to become trapped within the home.

For these properties we always recommend Balanced Heat recovery, as it provides a balanced supply and extraction across the property, ensuring moisture and other contaminants are removed (extracted) while the property is supplied with the correct amount of fresh air all while recovering heat (energy).

One thing to note is with positive pressure, the system relies on air being pushed into the home (from the roof space). This positively pressurises the homes pushing the stale air (and moisture) out, if we are renovating a home and sealing up the external envelope we limit the places (gaps/cracks) for the stale air to exit the home which has the potential for moisture to build up in the wall space.
 
Common Problems?

System type. There are 3 options when deciding on which heat recovery system to install. Budget, home design and performance goal for the home all combine to help us recommend what we believe would be the most optimal system.

A) Roof space based system with insulated flexible duct (mid performance goal & budget - Moisture Master HX)

B) Passive house certified system within the envelope (Higher end performance goal & budget - Brink Flair system)

C) Decentralised - Hard to access homes (Good performance and mid budget - Meltem - MWRG-II). 
 
Are there many issues that are particular to era/type of house?

With any project the key is to get us involved early, this helps for us to guide you on what is achievable and at approximately what budget. 1970's homed with skillion or flat roofs can be particularly challenging.
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Any quick fixes (or is that a case of wishful thinking)?

We would recommend some form of ventilation for all homes, as good airflow in a home as significant benefits. When improving the performance of a home we believe balanced heat recovery is the missing link between, thermal performance (insulation, windows, air tightness) and creating a comfortable healthy home. 
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Any solutions out there that people should be warned about?

A) Double glazing does NOT remove moisture from a home!

Yes you may not be able to see it, but as long as people are living in a home, moisture is still being produced. It will find its way into soft furnishings and end up as mould.

B) In theory, any electrician can install these systems, however, we always recommend a design, as installing a system without the correct understanding around home volume, system size, moisture load etc can lead to issues.

C) Aftersales service. Just because a company can install a system doesnt mean they are set up to maintain it, if something goes wrong can you get someone to repair it or help with having filters changed (annually at minimum)

D) Don’t look at ventilation as a ‘nice to have’. If you are renovating to a good standard ventilation is a must. 
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Costs?

Three bedroom home - In roof with insulated duct is going to be around $8-10,000.

Passive house whole home system is between $13-16,000  and decentralised (1-3 rooms) $5-7,000.
 
Process?

We generally meet the owner onsite to understand their goals for the project. We review the current structure and any drawings to compile a full design and proposed system. We then work with the owner and builder to get the system installed inline with their timeline.
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Any final thoughts?

Ventilation is sometimes looked as an afterthought and something that is easy to retrofit later. In our experience the best outcome on performance, and installation are from projects where we have been brought in early and everyone is working towards the same goal. Moisture Master has had over 25 years operating in the ventilation industry and believe the systems we supply have a great record of having good performance and quality. 
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