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Published: 23 August 2021

What is MVHR Heat Recovery and what are the benefits?

MVHR is a whole house ventilation system perfect for todays modern homes where comfort, energy efficiency and health and well-being are on the agenda.

An MVHR System is a whole house ventilation system that offers 3 important benefits to you and your home;

  1. To maintain a good level of indoor air quality inside a home
  2. To contribute to a comfortable indoor environment all year round
  3. To help reduce your heating bill by re-using heat that would have otherwise have been lost

How does a MVHR Heat Recovery system work?

A MVHR system is a whole house system that runs continuously throughout the day.
The system is mounted in mounted in a cupboard, in a utility space and sometimes in the loft.
It is ducted throughout the property to each room - you will see an air valve in the ceiling (the duting will be concealed in the ceiling void)

The system extracts and supplys air.  
It extracts air from the bathrooms, kitchens and utility rooms (known as 'wet' rooms) and takes the stale, moisture and odour ladden air to the outside.
As this air is extracted it passes through a heat exchanger that recovers up to 95%* of the heat in the air (*dependent on the brand make and model)

At the same time as the extraction of air, replacement or supply air is bring brought in from outside.
it passes through a filter and the heat exchanger where it picks up and re-uses the heat - the air is then supplied to the living rooms and bedrooms

This creates a balanced and continuous level of ventilation into the home.

When outside air temperature increases, the heat recovery mode is switched off and the unit goes in to 'summer by pass mode'
This is to avoid additional heat being passed into the home and further increasing the internal temperature.

How do I choose the right MVHR Heat Recovery Unit?

It's all about sizing the unit to your home.  This will ensure quiet and efficient running.  There is no point have a ventilation system that is going to disturb you or not perform as it should.

Key Considerations:

  • Building Regulations : Airflow needs to be calculated for new build homes -  based on floor area, number of bedrooms and occupancy
  • Design: It's not just the MVHR Unit - the ducting plays a significant part in the installed performance - talk to a specialist designer to plan out duct runs and calculate resistance.  Again it's about balancing noise. You don't want to run the unit at 90% all of the time!
  • Controls: Do you want automatic boosting and timer controls?  Do you want wireless switching options?
  • Sizing: Where do you want the unit installed?  In a cupboard in the ceiling void?  
  • Warranty and Replacement Parts - What guarantee period are you looking for and do you want the ability to have replaceable parts e.g. motors?

There are many considerations when selecting a MVHR Heat Recovery System for your home.
We are specialists at The Air Shop and are happy to discuss any requirements with you.
Please call on 033 0223 6776 or email us at sales@theairshop.co.uk