INDUSTRYNEWS
Trickle vents why hate them?
Dean Bradley, Sales and
Marketing Manager for
Glazpart Ltd, a leading
manufacturer of trickle vents
responds here to the article
in last month’s Clearview in
which Origin’s Andrew Halsall
attacked trickle vents?
Andrew Halsall’s article
saying how he “hated” trickle
vents on windows raised many
points from the perspective of a
fabricator.
Indeed, Andrew successfully
demonstrated the key issue
that relates to the installation,
use and specification of trickle
vents. The fact is that there
is a total lack of education
and understanding about the
requirement for and function
of trickle vents. He obviously
hasn’t read the Glazpart
technical brochure on the
products.
Fundamentally,
if we didn’t install
background ventilation products
we would all be living in air
tight boxes full of foul air,
humidity and imagine the
consequences that would ensue,
as we all have to breathe! The
key function of trickle vents is to
remove the volatiles contained
in air from living in it. This
may cause adverse health effects
unless unobtrusive background
ventilation is installed. Trickle
vents are designed to remove
air from a property without the
need to open windows, which,
unfortunately, many occupants
don’t do - especially in winter.
Aesthetically, trickle vents in
the past - as Andrew points out
- may have been an “unsightly”
or even “ugly” additions to a
window. With, however, the
advent of colour matched and
wood grain finishes the vents
are becoming barely visible on
the installed window. Once,
the choice was limited to four
colours. Today at Glazpart, for
example, we offer no less than
24 colours or wood grains and
the options to colour match
any RAL colour. The size of
the trickle vents in the past
has also not helped. Today,
the size of a trickle vent with
the same performance of the
old 4000mm2 vents has been
reduced to half the length!
Commercially, for the architect
and builder there are other
solutions, all of which are
more expensive than the
installation of a trickle
vent through the window.
Indeed, rather than viewing
them as a cost, they are
actually revenue or margin
improvement opportunities!
On new-build projects there are
wider implications, as without
suitably-sized trickle vents fitted,
NHBC technical standards and
the Part F1 building regulations
are not met.
Don’t get me wrong: there can
be issues with trickle vents; for
example, rooms can be overventilated where more vents
than needed are installed. This
leads to cold “draughty” rooms,
which surely comes back to
understanding and education
about trickle vents?
www.glazpart.co.uk
The Next Generation of
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Range of foil & RAL colour options
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Call our
Sales Team:
0800 470 3204
Or email: [email protected]
Camden
Steeple Road Industrial Estate, Antrim, BT41 1AB
See more reaction to last month’s trickle vents article on page 27.
To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com
AUG 2014
17