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VMC - how/where/whether to install


lh
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Hi all,

We're really only at the planning stage for our house in France and I'm starting to think about plumbing/electrics/kitchen/bathroom. The kitchen diner is a large room, open to the rafters so there is nowhere to run the ducts. I rather fancy the hob in the island unit I'm hoping for, but the roof is about 5 metres high so I'm not sure we can even fit a hood of any sort. Any suggestions? Is a VMC system obligatory??  The house is long and thin (5m * 25m) so any ducting would be in quite long runs and impossible to hide in the single-storey half..

We've made a start on a small shower room and thought we could put an extractor fan through the wall to outside, and do the same for the bathroom (when we eventually extend into the barn and install one).

I look forward to any comments.

Lynne

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I don't know whether they are obligatory, but I would have one, I think that they are great for keeping a house well aired. We now have what the french call double flux? (I think) and the air is sucked out, then filtered and then then warm air put back into the room of our choice.

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Apart from VMC, which I think is wonderful to have, I'd have bathrooms, loos, laundry rooms and the like with windows to the outside.  Nothing like a blast of fresh air to ventilate potentially smelly places plus I love the natural light of windows in bathrooms, etc.
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Thanks for the replies. As mentioned, I don't think we can fit a VMC in the kitchen, as we've nowhere to hide the ducting - unless anyone can come up with something. Does anyone know whether it's possible to have a cooker hood when the ceiling is 5 metres high??

The shower room won't have a window, which is why we thought of an extractor through the wall. The bathroom will have a window, but we thought we'd have an extractor too.

 

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Rather than conventional extractor fans consider fitting those sold as "mono VMC" units. They are low wattage, costing 6-7 euros pa for 24 hour operation, and extremely quiet. For shower/bath rooms those with an inbuilt humidistat will be most effective. In a windowless shower room, consider an air inlet as well. We have three mono VMCs that perform extremely well in toilets and shower rooms, and we have only had to replace one in more than twelve years of constant operation.

My understanding is that provision of ventilation to give good air quality is obligatory, but VMC per se is not.

In the kitchen I would re-site the hob if necessary to enable fitting an extractor hood.

Steve

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I've been planning to fit a VMC system to our house as we have some condensation problems too. They seem well regarded. However, I have one issue that I have not seen the solution to - that is that our ceilings are block and beam with plaster on the underside and a slab of concrete on the top. So about 200mm in thickness. None of the 'bouches' that I have seen would be able to cope with this (not to mention the difficulty of cutting a 80mm hole through 200mm of ceiling). Has anyone any advice ?

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[quote user="SC"]

Rather than conventional extractor fans consider fitting those sold as "mono VMC" units. They are low wattage, costing 6-7 euros pa for 24 hour operation, and extremely quiet. For shower/bath rooms those with an inbuilt humidistat will be most effective. In a windowless shower room, consider an air inlet as well. We have three mono VMCs that perform extremely well in toilets and shower rooms, and we have only had to replace one in more than twelve years of constant operation.

Steve

[/quote]

Thanks for that heads-up Steve. Can you share more info on those "mono VMC" make, price etc??? ....I guess they have to be ducted to the outsuide ?? We will be installing a Shower/WC in a dead-end part of our corridor and ventilation will be an issue as there are no windows.

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Here you are:

http://www.castorama.fr/store/Mono-VMC--80-PRDm555448.html#tab_technicTab

http://www.castorama.fr/store/Mono-VMC--125-HBH-prod5150012.html

The smaller one of the two has the running costs I mentioned above. They extract to a tube through the wall or into a flexible metal tube like any other extractor fan, and like conventional VMC units, are usually wired to run continuously although you can put a switch in the circuit if you wish. You might find a better choice in store.

They're not cheap, but nor are quiet extractors in the UK that are intended for continuous running; aim for 28db or less unless you need to mask "bathroom noises"!

Steve

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