For years ventilation in our homes has been mostly an after thought or confined to kitchens and bathrooms where it has been largely reactive to the activities taking place in those rooms. But now, with our increased understanding of the importance of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), ventilation has become an industry in itself; one that is still undervalued and frequently misunderstood, but one that has excellent potential sales opportunities for merchants who take the time to look for them.
Why is the quality of our indoor air important?
Well firstly, consider this: we spend up 90% of our time indoors, whether in our homes, at work or during our leisure time. Yet indoor air pollution can be up to five times higher than external air pollution as a result of everyday activities such as cooking and cleaning, as well as the materials our homes and furniture are made from. Condensation and mould are also an issue in our climate.
Poor IAQ isn’t just uncomfortable (we’ve all been homes that feel unpleasantly ‘stuffy’), but is potentially harmful. It can increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular illness, cognitive impairment and even certain cancers.
Regulations driving change
With greater awareness of IAQ, which is achieving national news coverage, ventilation has emerged from the shadows and the requirements around it have become more stringent, especially so in new builds.
Revised Building Regulations Part F Ventilation came into effect in 2022 and increased minimum ventilation rates across all sizes of properties. Building Regulations also covers overheating in Part O.
When it comes to landlords, social housing providers must abide by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act which, from October 2025, will require landlords by law to fix damp and mould issues to strict deadlines as part of Awaab’s Law. That same law is now being introduced in to the Renters’ Rights Bill which is currently going through parliament and is aimed at landlords in the private sector. The latter may well be passed before the summer is out. Regulations really do drive change, so it’s important to be aware of them and understand the opportunities they bring for added sales of ventilation equipment
Top 4 upsell opportunities
Which brings me on to ventilation products that can provide you – and your customer in many cases – with added income:
- Intermittent Extract Fans: As mentioned, changes to Building Regulations requires higher ventilation rates, regardless of the size of the property, and has removed natural ventilation (e.g. background vents) as an option in all but the least airtight homes (those with a design air permeability of ≥5). This will inevitably mean more powerful extract fans will be required. Domus Ventilation’s latest high performance axial fans have been designed to ensure compliance with Building Regulations, with the DKF150 for example providing extract volume rates up to 48.8 l/s (which easily meets the new minimum rate for a 5 bed property which changed from 29 l/s to 43 l/s). Even existing properties, that don’t fall under the auspices Building Regulations, can benefit from more powerful fans in removing damp, stale air. As well as encouraging customers to buy more powerful fans, control options provide a further opportunity to add value. Whilst the lowest cost option – the basic timer and pull cord model – is one of the most popular options, you might be surprised to hear that our research has shown the other most popular control option to be humidistat or combined humidistat & timer that react to a significant change in humidity. These versions are at the top end of the market financially, but hugely popular, so be sure to offer this to customers as an alternative. PIR based controls that activate the fan on the detection of movement are also available, but are less popular.
- Ducting: a ventilation system, even if it’s just a simple extract fan in a bathroom, is only as good as its ducting. If a customer is looking to buy flexible ducting, steer them away and towards rigid ducting. Yes, it is an upsell for you, but it really will make a positive difference to their ventilation system as flexible duct work causes a lot more air resistance and can be easily damaged or crushed, impeding the work of the fan and making it noisy.
- Ducting accessories: Good quality ducting also comes with accessories and useful products designed to assist installers with site related constraints, such as the Domus Greenline Bend which has been engineered to reduce duct bend resistance by up to 60%. These all represent great opportunities to add value to an order, whilst also benefiting your customer. Top extras include ducting insulation (recommend specific duct insulation rather than standard building insulation materials) and firestopping products, both of which are required by Building Regulations. Also required by Building Regulations are non-combustible air bricks, such as our award winning Solis Air Brick, where ductwork penetrates through the external cavity when above 18m in England and 11m in Scotland. Lastly, a popular add on is sound attenuators to absorb noise travelling through ductwork.
- Pollution filters: when it comes to whole house Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems, pre-filters are available that fit in to the ducting supply leg to filter potentially dangerous pollutants from entering the home. If you are in an urban area, or your customer is working on a property in an urban area, or by a busy road, recommend they consider adding these to the scheme. Domus Ventilation’s NOX-FILT, for example, prevents up to 99.5% of NO² pollution.
By Paul Williams, Domus Ventilation Product Manager
