Using smart technology and heat recovery to create energy efficient ventilation systems

The process of making homes more energy efficient involves taking steps to reduce heat loss through improved insulation and sealing the building envelope. 

This process can lead to a building with limited air flow where humidity is allowed to build up causing increased condensation and ultimately, problems with damp. Additionally, in properties where there is limited inflow of air from outdoors, Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) from the fabric of the building and household cleaning products can build up to levels where they cause allergic reactions and contribute to poor respiratory health.

Condensation damp can become a major issue in homes with insufficient ventilation, with one in five British homes thought to be affected by damp caused by condensation, with deprived communities suffering most. In the long term, damp can lead to growth of mould and cause damage to parts of the building, resulting in expensive repair work.

Improving the flow of air into and out of a property reduces humidity levels and damp, but simply opening a window to achieve this effectively undermines the steps taken to make the building more energy efficient by allowing any warm air to escape.

Smart ventilation

Traditionally, extractor fans in bathrooms and kitchens are simply connected to the lighting in the room and run at a constant speed when the lights are used. This has the advantage of ensuring that energy is not wasted with appliances left running unnecessarily, but it is limiting in terms of managing humidity. After cooking or bathing, it can take up to half an hour for the steam created to dissipate fully, however traditional extractor fans will only run for a few moments meaning that they do not do their jobs properly.

Modern extractor fan systems for bathrooms and kitchens can be designed to include humidity detectors.  This means that they adjust their power consumption to deal with the amount of moisture in the air and switch off more quickly.  Rather than simply running at full power for a few moments while the lights are on, these smart fans can be more energy efficient, delivering the right level of power when needed, and simply allowing air to flow when moisture levels are lower.

Ventilation with heat recovery

As energy bills have risen in recent years, avoiding heat loss and waste energy has become more important.  A key challenge for ventilation systems designers has been to prevent the loss of heat when warm air is removed from a building.

Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) uses the heat captured from air inside the house to warm the filtered air that is brought into the building to replace it.  Modern heat recovery systems can retain between 60% and 95% of the warmth of the moist or stale air that they extract from kitchens or bathrooms and distribute the heat from this into other habitable rooms in the house. This minimal heat loss, coupled with moisture removal makes the systems highly energy efficient, and by distributing air throughout a home, helps to reduce the presence of cold spots where additional heating might otherwise be required.

The smart technology built into MVHR systems includes a “Summer Bypass” system, which measures temperatures to ensure that on hot days, when cooler air is preferable, the system does not recover and redistribute the heat that is extracted from air, which makes the house more comfortable on hot days.

Efficient ventilation

The combination of smart technology that allows fans to run only when needed, and effective heat recovery systems create energy efficient ventilation systems for homes which contribute to much improved air quality while also reducing waste.

With the importance of good ventilation increasingly recognised by property owners during the Coronavirus pandemic as a means of reducing the risk of infection, coupled with an ongoing need to reduce carbon emissions through the use of more energy efficient technology in our homes, more and more homeowners are upgrading their inefficient extractor fans in favour of whole house systems that are designed to be more effective without using as much energy.

For more information about how Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery and smart extractor fans can help to improve air quality in your home while also reducing heat loss, please contact EnviroVent to arrange a survey of your property.