What Is Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR)

Fresh air is vital. It’s good for our health, good for buildings and makes combustion appliances safer. Opening windows and doors and fitting extractor fans in kitchens and bathrooms will do the job. But you lose valuable, expensive heat that way. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is a sensible, future-proof, green solution, exchanging stale air for fresh air while also recovering heat.

How do heat recovery systems work?

What is heat recovery ventilation? Heat Recovery Systems use a clever yet simple counter-flow heat exchanger between the inbound and outbound air flow. They bring the right amount of fresh air indoors while improving your climate control and removing nasty bacteria, fungi and pollutants. They remove condensation, with all its associated health and maintenance problems. And because it cuts the cost of heating and cooling the home, it also conserves precious, expensive energy. The resulting home is healthier, more comfortable, cheaper to run and gives off fewer carbon emissions.

Fresh Air Ventilation at its very best

Mechanical extract ventilation removes warm, humid air from kitchens and bathrooms via a nifty hidden duct system. The air goes through a heat exchanger before being sent outside. At the same time fresh air is drawn in from outdoors, passing back through the heat exchanger and warming up again before being sent to the living areas and bedrooms.

• Some systems also cool buildings down when it’s hot, reversing the heat exchange process.
• The best systems have two speeds, taking full advantage of times when kitchen and bathrooms are used most intensively.
• Some systems come with air filters, helpful for keeping allergens out.

Domestic heat recovery solutions for an energy-efficient build

Energy efficiency is a vital element of any new build. An MVHR system goes a long way towards heating and cooling your home. You may be building to Passivhaus standard, in which case our domestic ventilation systems make an invaluable contribution. You can even combine them with ground/air heat exchangers.

Where is a heat recovery ventilator system fitted?

Obviously retro-fitting can be very complicated. But it’s a dream on a new build, with the heat exchanger itself fitted in the loft or a void in the roof, even in a cupboard, garage or utility room. And the ducting? Simply take it into consideration at the planning stage.

Waste Heat Recovery – Make MVHR work hard for your project

Any questions about allergy air filter technology, heat recovery ducting or anything else to do with MVHR? We’ll be pleased to help, and you’ll be surprised how straightforward the whole process is when you use us.