Subfloor Ventilation Guide

Mechanical Subfloor Ventilation Systems

Sub Floor Ventilation Can Remove Ground Moisture from Underneath Raised Floors, Creating a Drier and Warmer Sub Floor Area

Many pests and building inspectors recommend sub floor ventilation to reduce termite risk. These systems are very effective in homes that experience a continuing musty odour or where there is mould on shoes and clothes in wardrobes or on furniture in living spaces.

Your sub floor area may seem insignificant because it does not form part of your living room. However, the fact of the matter is that this space actually has a high impact on the quality of air you breathe in while you are indoors and may affect your health. Poorly ventilated sub floor areas are often damp. This dampness can result in mould, mildew, musty odours, wood rot and pest infestation in your sub floor area and can also contribute to the spread of mould, mildew and allergies above.

Problems Solved with Subfloor Ventilation

Modern homes are well insulated and sealed tight to increase energy efficiency, but are more likely to have poor ventilation because they cannot breathe. Opening doors and windows is not always practical and does not provide adequate ventilation, which needs movement and exchange of air.

Sub floor ventilation systems offer a range of benefits:

Types of Subfloor Ventilation

Fresh Ventilation supplies and installs a range of efficient and technologically superior sub floor ventilation products.  Our systems utilise the latest in ventilation technology, with Australian made components and German made AC or EC motor centrifugal fans by ebm-papst.

Ducted Subfloor Ventilation Systems

Ducted sub floor ventilation systems have significant advantages:

Duct can be run to problem areas.

The ability to have multiple pickup points means coverage is far greater.

Smart design can achieve excellent cross-flow ventilation.

Stale air can be drawn from deep in the sub floor area.

Premium centrifugal fans are much quieter than most wall-mounted fans and outperform axial wall-mounted fans in a ducted system.

What Makes Fresh Ventilation Different

Fresh Ventilation is a family owned and operated business. Our business has specialised in the installation of premium quality ventilation systems for over 10 years.

Effective sub floor ventilation requires quality components and proper installation. Given that no two sub floor areas are the same, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to sub floor ventilation. This is why we place a strong emphasis on customised solutions and after-sales support to help you get the most from your system.

Our focus is on premium products and expert advice to create ventilation systems that actually work.

Our Subfloor Ventilation Systems

Fresh Ventilation’s exclusive design is based on years of knowledge, experience and trialling competing products. Our systems use components that have been carefully selected for their purpose to ensure that you get superior performance, proven reliability and lower operating costs.

We use Australian made components, including ducting and fittings, and German made centrifugal fans with both AC and EC motors available.

Ventilation System Installation

Fan Specifications

AC Motor Centrifugal Fans

Specifications

  • Single speed or three speed (low profile only).
  • Approximately 540 m³/h air flow and 48 W power usage.
  • 37 dB(A) breakout sound pressure at 100% speed. Please see our FAQ section below on why decibel ratings are misleading.
  • 34 dB(A) breakout sound pressure at 75% speed. Please see our FAQ section below on why decibel ratings are misleading.
  • 27 dB(A) breakout sound pressure at 50% speed. Please see our FAQ section below on why decibel ratings are misleading.
  • 353 Pa pressure max at 100% speed.
  • R2E190 motor manufactured by ebm-papst in Germany.
  • Custom Australian made fan housing.
  • 5 year warranty.
  • IP 44 protection rating.
AC Centrifugal Fan

Normal Profile Dimensions

  • 342mm width (A).
  • 342mm height (A).
  • 336mm length (G).
  • 150mm duct attachment flange diameter (B).

Low Profile Dimensions

  • 340mm width (A).
  • 217mm height (H).
  • 310mm length (G).
  • 150mm duct attachment flange diameter (B).

Fan Specifications

EC Motor Centrifugal Fans

Specifications

  • Variable speed.
  • 45-48 dB(A) breakout sound pressure at 100% speed. Please see our FAQ section below on why decibel ratings are misleading.
  • 25-27 dB(A) breakout sound pressure at 30% speed. Please see our FAQ section below on why decibel ratings are misleading.
  • R3G190 motor manufactured by ebm-papst in Germany.
  • Custom Australian made fan housing.
  • 5 year warranty.
  • IP 54 protection rating.
EC Centrifugal Fan

Normal Profile Dimensions

  • 342mm width (A).
  • 342mm height (A).
  • 336mm length (G).
  • 150mm duct attachment flange diameter (B).

Low Profile Dimensions

  • 340mm width (A).
  • 217mm height (H).
  • 310mm length (G).
  • 150mm duct attachment flange diameter (B).

100% Speed (10V)

  • Maximum Absorbed Power: 83W.
  • Maximum Delivery: 735 m³/h.
  • Pressure Max: 825 Pa.
  • RPM: 3,530.

80% Speed (8V)

  • Maximum Absorbed Power: 49W.
  • Maximum Delivery: 580 m³/h.
  • Pressure Max: 369 Pa.
  • RPM: 2,800.

60% Speed (6V)

  • Maximum Absorbed Power: 24W.
  • Maximum Delivery: 445 m³/h.
  • Pressure Max: 218 Pa.
  • RPM: 2,150.

40% Speed (4V)

  • Maximum Absorbed Power: 10W.
  • Maximum Delivery: 310 m³/h.
  • Pressure Max: 105 Pa.
  • RPM: 1,500.

Fan Specifications

EC Motor Super Quiet Mixed Flow Fans

Specifications

  • Suitable for commercial use.
  • Enclosures made of fire resistant plastic resin.
  • Casing integrating a sound-absorbing coating, optimised to minimise sound emissions radiated into the environment and transmitted through exhaust and supply ducts.
  • High water resistance: IPX5.
  • Equipped with a thermal fuse overheating safety device. 
  • Speed adjustable through optional potentiometer (0-10V signal).
  • Long life 30,000 hour motor.
  • Double insulated housing (does not require an earth).
  • Made in Italy.
  • 2 Year Warranty.

Dimensions

  • 232mm width (A).
  • 320.6mm height (B).
  • 685mm length (C).
  • 147mm duct attachment flange diameter (D).
  • 5.4kg weight.

100% Speed (10V)

  • Maximum absorbed power: 31 W.
  • Maximum delivery: 515  m³/h.
  • Pressure max: 237.3 Pa.
  • RPM: 2,030.
  • Sound pressure Lp 3m breakout: 31 dB(A).

80% Speed (8V)

  • Maximum absorbed power: 20 W.
  • Maximum delivery: 430 m³/h.
  • Pressure max: 144.2 Pa.
  • RPM: 1,700.
  • Sound pressure Lp 3m breakout: 26 dB(A).

60% Speed (6V)

  • Maximum absorbed power: 10.6 W.
  • Maximum delivery: 305  m³/h.
  • Pressure max: 73.6 Pa.
  • RPM: 1,240.
  • Sound pressure Lp 3m breakout: 18.6 dB(A).

40% Speed (4V)

  • Maximum absorbed power: 7.7 W.
  • Maximum delivery: 250  m³/h.
  • Pressure max: 45.1 Pa.
  • RPM: 1,015.
  • Sound pressure Lp 3m breakout: 13.7 dB(A).

FAQ

Why Premium Components and Proper Installation Matter

Fresh Ventilation supplies a range of efficient and technologically superior sub floor ventilation products. Our exclusive design is based on years of knowledge, experience and trialling competing products.

Not all components are equal!

System Design

Instead of using a single larger fan, we use smaller fans but more of them.

More fans allow greater coverage, better efficiency and more extraction points.

A single larger fan makes more noise, uses more power and requires longer duct runs to cover the same area as two smaller fans. This is inefficient and leads to uneven duct lengths and subsequently uneven air flow.

Our smaller fans use the same size ducting as our exhaust grilles and we allow one exhaust grille per fan. This allows air to be freely exhausted without a reduction in air flow due to pressure buildup.

Larger fans need reducers to reduce the duct size so that they can be connected to exhaust grilles. This results in a reduction of air flow due to resistance.

When comparing our systems against other systems with the same suggested coverage areas, our systems include more fans, more duct, more extraction points and more exhaust grilles.

Our systems are designed to properly ventilate your sub floor area.

We believe in doing the job right the first time.

Fans

Our 150mm AC and EC motor centrifugal fans have capacities of 540 m³/h and 735 m³/h respectively.

The single speed AC motor consumes 48 W and the variable speed EC motor consumes 49 W when running at a similar 580 m³/h capacity.

Our fans make less noise and use less power. Some larger fans use 193 W when operating and have less capacity than two of our smaller fans.

Our fans have a 5 year replacement warranty.

Timer

Our digital timer has a battery backup. It won't lose time and start running in the middle of the night.

Our digital timer can be programmed differently on different days of the week. This is ideal when you want different operation on the weekends.

Duct

Our duct is manufactured in Australia from two layers of high grade metallised polyester bonded together with fire rated resin encapsulating spring steel wire.

Our duct is not prone to tearing or unravelling like single layer competing products.

Exhaust Grilles

Our exhaust grilles are anodised aluminium, not plastic.

Our grilles are weather proof and have a rodent proof mesh behind them.

Our grilles are easy to install since they replace two standard bricks. The back box fills the hole left after removing two bricks and the anodised grille clips into the back box and covers any gaps with a 25mm flange. They don't require partial removal of bricks to create a round hole.

The back box fits snuggly in the wall, allowing duct to be connected securely so that there are no leaks, and does not require mortar to be redone after installation.

Our 150mm super quiet EC motor mixed flow fans have a 2 YEAR WARRANTY. All other fans and components have a 5 year warranty.

Negative Pressure, Positive Pressure or Balanced Pressure?

Installing the most suitable sub floor ventilation system in your home can help get rid of air pollutants that can harm your health and your family’s wellbeing. Fresh Ventilation offers efficient solutions that can eradicate stale, moist air in the sub floor area and replace it with cleaner, fresher and drier air. We have three different types of ducted sub floor ventilation systems that you can choose from.

All of our systems are available in any of the three pressure configurations – the components don’t change, the way they are installed determines the configuration.

Depending on how your sub floor ventilation fans are installed, they will either blow air into your sub floor area (positive pressure) or suck air out of your sub floor area (negative pressure). If you have two or more fans installed, it is possible for fans to both blow air in and suck air out of your sub floor area (balanced pressure).

Subfloor Ventilation System Sizing and Fan Selection

When determining which sub floor ventilation system is most suited to your home, it is important to consider:

  • Fan configuration (negative, positive or balanced).
  • Proper system sizing to ensure sufficient air flow and effective ventilation coverage.
  • Construction materials of your home and its surroundings to ensure quiet and unobtrusive operation.
  • Design effectiveness.
  • Aesthetics.
  • Price.

We recommend you contact us to arrange a free site inspection and quote.  Alternatively, we are often able to provide accurate quotes on the spot based on information you provide via email/telephone and any diagrams/images you have available.

Buy Subfloor Ventilation Kits Online

All of our sub floor ventilation systems are available as DIY kits if you would like to install them yourself. We offer installation assistance and guidance by way of telephone conversations and personalised duct layouts with each kit.