What is a heat recovery ventilation system?
Simply put, a heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system is a method of ventilating a property. Today’s buildings are highly insulated and air-tight and with this high level of insulation and air-tightness comes new problems. You still need ventilation in the property. You can either drill a series of 100mm holes in each room to ventilate the building with outdoor air. With this method, the air can be cold, hot, stale, smelly, pollen filled, humid. Sometimes there lots of air coming in through these, say on windy days. Other calm days, your home is not being ventilated at all. The other option is to use controlled mechanical ventilation or HRV.
Will a HRV system heat my home?
Not directly, though it will prevent your home from cooling due to air infiltration. This reduced fuel consumption along with many other benefits.
What are the benefits of HRV?
There are many benefits, though here are the main ones 1. Controlled ventilation. Air flows are fixed for all rooms. You always get the correct level of ventilation required for the particular room. 2. Humidity control. High humidity in homes caused lots of issues. It leads to spore growth, which is bad for anyone suffering from asthma or any other respiratory problem. 3. Mould growth. When spores gather is extremely high levels, they can show in the form of dark stains on ceilings or in the corners of rooms generally. 4. Odour control. Homes sometimes need to be ventilated to remove stale smells. 5. Clearing your bathroom & kitchen. Our new Kinetic unit comes with a built in humidity stat as standard. When you have a shower or cook, humidity levels in the house naturally rise. The unit will detect this and will automatically speed up the fans to remove this humidity. When normal humidity levels are returned, the fans drop back to normal levels.
Is it suitable for oil / pellet / heat pump / solar / gas heating system?
Yes. It can be used in a house with any form of heating system.
How does it recover heat from outgoing stale air?
The stale air from inside is at about 21°c and the outside air is at about 5°c in winter. This outgoing stale air is sent over a heat exchanger before discharging it to outside. This causes the heat exchanger to rise in temperature to 20°c. The incoming fresh air at 5°c is sent over the other side of the heat exchanger, without mixing the two air streams, and it causes the incoming fresh air to rise to 19°c. This is then blown throughout the house. Without the HRV system, your house would be constantly filled with 5°c air from outside. This then needs to be heated up by the radiators and causes reduced comfort levels.
Where is the fan unit located?
Generally, though not always, it is placed in the attic. It can be placed in a dedicated plant room or in the utility room within the house either.
What sort of ducting is used?
Rigid! We only use rigid ducting. We use small amounts of flexi duct in strategic spots like final connections to grilles and connections to the fan unit. This is to allow flexibility with the final location and to remove the very slight fan vibration that might otherwise be heard in the dead of night. The system is whisper quiet.
Do I need wall vents with HRV?
No, if you already have these installed, we will block them up for you. You can close window vents if you have them and toilet extract fans are no longer required.
Do you supply air everywhere?
No, we supply air to rooms such as bedroom, living rooms, dining rooms and play rooms or offices. We only extract from potential wet rooms such as bathrooms, kitchens, WC’s, en-suites and utility rooms.
What will I see in each room?
You will see a small contemporary grille on the ceiling of each room. This grille is about 125mm (5”) in diameter.
Where does the stale air and fresh air come and go to?
Fresh air is drawn in from outside, either through a roof tile vent or a wall vent. The stale wet air is expelled to outside.