Vent-Axia delivers ventilation solution to impressive basement refurbishment project

Leading British fan manufacturer Vent-Axia has supplied two Sentinel Multivent H central extract units to a refurbished tenement property in Edinburgh New Town.

The former basement store, that has been redeveloped and extended to create a luxury 5-bedroom home, has been named as one of the ‘100 best homes in Scotland since 2000’ according to the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

The project, led by Capital A Architecture, involved an extensive redesign and extension that created a more open plan living area, split over two levels.

The rear garden is steep and the re-designed garden room has a lowered floor level to connect to the garden with as few steps as possible. The 7-month build included installation of Vent-Axia’s Sentinel Multivent H continuous mechanical extract ventilation (MEV) units, which provided ventilation to the kitchen, bathroom and three en-suite areas.

Níall Hedderman, Director at Capital A Architecture, designed the project and was involved throughout the construction phase.

He explains that, as a listed building, ventilation specification had to be considered carefully to minimise alterations to the building’s structure.

“The Vent-Axia Multivent was specified since it minimised the number of penetrations on the external wall, a serious consideration for alterations to a listed building,” he said.

A continuous running MEV system, the Sentinel Multivent H was ideal for the project, given its integral humidity sensor is designed for the simultaneous ventilation of separate areas in the home.

The integral humidity sensor increases fan speed in proportion to relative humidity levels, saving energy and reducing noise. By bringing moisture levels and removing pollutants in the air such as carbon dioxide down, indoor air quality is much improved and helps to create a healthier living environment.

Jim Graham, New Build Residential Consultant at Vent-Axia, commented: “The Sentinel Multivent H was the ideal choice for this property thanks to its ability to provide effective ventilation to multiple rooms in a property; it is recognised in SAP PCDB for a kitchen and up to 6 wet rooms.”

Both energy efficiency and the Multivent’s humidity sensor were key drivers for the MEV system’s specification. Boasting energy efficient EC/DC motors the Multivent helps achieve carbon footprint reduction targets since the motors lose a third less energy to heat than a conventional AC motor.

Meanwhile, the integral humidity sensor, which increases fan speed in proportion to relative humidity levels, also reacts to small but rapid increases in humidity, even if the normal trigger threshold is not reached.

This unique feature ensures adequate ventilation, even for the smallest wet room. And its night time relative humidity increment setback feature suppresses nuisance tripping as humidity gradually increases with falling temperature. These options are perfect in this type of property, having low levels of natural ventilation.

Sentinel Multivent has been designed to meet the exacting demands of developers, installers and users offering advanced control options and easier installation and commissioning.

An integral LCD display allows the installer to select appropriate low, normal and boost speeds to meet demand as well as manual and automatic control options.

It features Plug-n-Play automatic sensor detection, an integral adjustable overrun timer and delay on timer and there is the option of wireless control with up to four controllers per system.

In buildings suffering from high moisture levels at the point of installation, there is a Dry Out setting which boosts Sentinel Multivent for one week to assist in removing moisture.