Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) is a whole-house ventilation system that ensures indoor air is like being outside but is warm! They vent damp, stale air, odours and pollutants and bring in fresh air from outside. Building Regulations demand energy efficient buildings with high levels of insulation and air tightness. This requires significant investment and effort so having trickle vents or other “holes” letting in cold air is ridiculous. A far better solution is a Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) system. These ensure heat isn’t lost by using heat exchangers to recover heat from the outgoing stale air to warm the fresh incoming air. A well-designed and installed MVHR system provides clean, fresh air, reduces heat loss and improves energy efficiency. Air filtration is commonly built into MVHR systems to prevent pollen and other particles from entering the home providing a more comfortable environment for allergy sufferers. They also reduce dust and potentially improve sleep and injury recovery through higher oxygen levels. Systems typically run continually at 80-90% efficiency and are inaudible during normal use.
ADVANTAGES OF MVHR SYSTEMS - Continuous supply of fresh air to ensures excellent indoor air quality - Different ducting types: metal or plastic, square or circular, radial or branching allow project specific system design - No build-up of air pollution, e.g. from carpets, cleaning products or radon - Elimination of bad odours such as smelly dogs! - Possibility to filter out pollen, traffic pollutants, pesticides and dust - No need to open windows, so reduces traffic and other outside noise and reduces summer over-heating - Managed air flow throughout the building, rather than ‘by-chance’ ventilation - Reduce energy bills by recovering approximately 85 – 90% of the heat energy in airtight buildings - Ensure buildings meet the requirements of Part F of the Building Regulations - Some systems provide a monitoring function to check the air quality and humidity
DISADVANTAGES OF MVHR SYSTEMS - MVHR systems are an investment but they will save heating costs in the long run - In new builds it is possible to ‘hide’ the ducting in the ceiling but some building designs do not lend themselves to ducted systems - MVHR systems need ducting so very difficult to fit into existing buildings - MVHR systems need maintenance such as filter cleaning and replacement - Investigation is necessary to find a good system provider and installer; cheap systems or short-cuts in the installation process lead to noisy inefficient systems - Air-tightness can be difficult to achieve.
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