What is MVHR And Do I Need It?

MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery) systems are becoming increasingly popular as airtightness standards of domestic buildings are improving. However, many still ask ‘why do I need it’?

There has been a significant increase in the demand for well-insulated buildings in recent years. If a house is well insulated, but not sufficiently ventilated, it can lead to poor indoor air quality. A building with poor indoor air quality can lead to condensation, damp, mould, unpleasant smells, the build-up of toxic gases and even lead to health problems such as asthma.

Adequate ventilation is crucial for all buildings, in order to maintain a healthy indoor environment for the occupants and prevent the fabric of the building from getting damaged. The most common method of ventilating buildings is via trickle vents, opening windows and airbricks. Other common methods are MEV and DMEV fans, which provide a continual extraction of air. However, all these methods are highly inefficient, due to heat loss.

As previously mentioned, there is a growing demand to include more insulation in buildings and make them more air tight. It doesn’t make sense to then waste all the indoor energy, by ventilating it to the atmosphere.

In order to reduce heating costs, by retaining most of the energy and having a continual supply of fresh, filtered air, you would need an MVHR system.

MVHR works by extracting warm moist air from the kitchen, bathroom, WC and utility room and supplying fresh, filtered, warmed air to the bedrooms, living room, study etc. The extracted warm air is drawn through a ducting system, back to the main unit which contains a heat exchanger. At the same time, fresh air is bought in from the atmosphere. The extracted air is used to warm the incoming fresh, filtered air. This fresh, filtered, warm air is then reintroduced back into the property via a ducting system. The Brink MVHR systems will recover up to 92% of the heat.

The main appeal of MVHR systems is to reduce your energy bills, however, the benefits are far greater than just this. Having an MVHR installed provides a continual supply of fresh filtered air, significantly reducing irritants like pollen and pollution inside the building.