Student houses cold and mouldy, researchers find
Study carried out by researchers at NUI Galway found: 'On a regular (daily) basis, 25% of the cases felt draughts, 50% said the houses were cold, 75% acknowledged condensation, 50% found mould and 38% noticed damp.' File picture
Many student houses are cold and half of them have a daily problem with mould, according to new research.
The study, entitled Temperature profiles of private rental housing occupied by third-level students in Ireland and carried out by researchers at NUI Galway, found many occupants were living in properties where the temperature was below recommended levels.
It said the context for the research was the large number of students not being accommodated with a bed space supplied by a higher education institution, with many students living in private rental accommodation.
An earlier survey carried out by the Union of Students in Ireland showed 48% of students were living in privately rented accommodation and at least 21% of students surveyed reported to have either inadequate heating, issues with mould or issues with dampness in their accommodation.
For the NUI Galway study, data loggers were installed in four locations within 16 different houses accommodating students in Galway City. The data loggers recorded data every 10 minutes for three consecutive months from December 2019. The occupants of the houses were also surveyed.
Temperature levels in the households at nighttime and the average indoor temperature of the 16 cases was 16°C in December, 15.6°C in January and 15.8°C in February.
Indoor temperatures of at least 18°C are recommended but according to the research: "Even from 8pm-8am when the all the houses were generally occupied, 11 of the cases had temperature levels of less than 18°C for at least 90% of the recorded data, highlighting the poor indoor temperature levels many of the students were living in.
"On a regular (daily) basis, 25% of the cases felt draughts, 50% said the houses were cold, 75% acknowledged condensation, 50% found mould and 38% noticed damp," it said.
