Get year-round fresh air and efficient heat recovery with H2ecO’s Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) installations. MVHR technologies keep rooms – or your whole house – fresh by taking warm, stale or moist air from ‘wet rooms’ (bathrooms, kitchens or utility rooms) and redistributing any heat from this outgoing air to warm your home.
As market-leading Dorset MVHR designers and installers, H2ecO has worked in the South West region for over 15 years. Our service is as friendly as it is professional – and we only sell and install the highest quality MVHR systems from trusted manufacturers.
Why choose H2ecO for your MVHR installation?
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Quick installations: Our Dorset installers provide fast, efficient installation with minimal disruption to your home. Plus, we are very friendly! -
Expert repairs: Our team can also service, maintain, and repair any existing MVHRs already installed - whether they’re bought from us or another provider. -
Eco-friendly engineers: As renewable experts, we install all MVHR units in a way that provides eco-efficiency, reduces your energy costs, and improves your property value.
How does MVHR work?
Most MVHR units work in the same way:
- Air comes in: The unit takes in cold fresh air from outside.
- Extraction: The system extracts warm, humid air from rooms like the kitchen, bathroom, or utility room. It removes any excess moisture.
- Heat exchange & transfer: The incoming fresh air and outgoing warm stale air pass through the heat exchanger, transferring heat to the incoming air without mixing with the stale air. The fresh air absorbs 90% of the heat, warming it up without using excess energy.
- Result: Your home is filled with warm, fresh air while the stale air is expelled without throwing away the heat you have paid for with your central heating system.
Types of MVHR
There are two prominent types of MVHR unit:
- Centralised MVHR: This is designed for a whole-house system and typically comes as a single, central unit attached to ductwork infrastructure to heat the whole house. Ideal for new builds or full-house retrofits.
- Decentralised: These units are for single-room use and don’t require ductwork. Ideal for flats, small homes, and specific rooms like damp-prone bathrooms or kitchens.
Note: MVHR is great at retaining heat, not at moving large volumes of heat around your house like a central heating system would. If you’re looking for renewable technologies that do this, you can check out our heat pumps. If you need cooling, have a look at our Air conditioning.
Technical Specifications for MVHR
There are a few technical issues to consider for MVHR:
- Situation of the unit: The main unit is large and must be placed within the building’s insulated perimeter. We’re not willing to install the central unit in an uninsulated loft.
- Duct pipe routing: Air duct pipes are quite large, meaning you must consider how they are routed. You will generally need two large pipes from the main unit to the outdoors and two more to the air collection/distribution system, then smaller flexible ducts to each room.
- Number of vents: It’s more efficient to let air flow naturally from one room to another through undercut doors instead of adding extra ducts or vents.
- Ducting: H2ecO recommends flexible ducting for ease of installation and minimal disruption to the structure of the property.
- Additional features: Summer bypass, CO2, Humidity sensors, and other features can be added if required.
Key benefits of MVHR
- Fresh air: Live, breathe and sleep easier with a consistent flow of clean, filtered air. No need to crack a window and invite all the traffic noise, pollen or pollution in.
- Lower heating bills: MVHR cuts down on wasted energy, meaning your boiler or heat pump doesn’t work as hard. This will help reduce your energy bills and if combined with a heatpump installation, can allow a smaller heatpump to be installed, further reducing costs.
- Reduces condensation and mould: MVHR units continuously remove excess moisture from the air, reducing the build-up of condensation that can lead to mould.
- Year-round comfort: MVHR units balance your home’s climate, providing consistent comfort without temperature swings or stuffy rooms.
- Quiet operation: MVHR solutions run quietly so you get all the benefits of fresh air and climate control without the hum of noisy extractor fans.
Financial benefits of MVHR
- Reduction in heating costs: Air-warming using MVHR reduces the load on your heating system, leading to savings in energy costs.
- Lower running costs: MVHR units are designed as energy-efficient alternatives to older, less efficient ways of ventilating and heating homes.
- Payback period: Many buyers find the cost of buying and installing an MVHR unit can be recouped within a few years via energy savings.
- Higher property value: Eco-friendly homes – including those with MVHR units – can sell for higher prices. Especially as we move into an increasingly eco-friendly world.
How much does MVHR cost?
The cost of an MVHR system and installation is subject to a few considerations:
- The MVHR unit: The cost of the unit and ducting can range from £2500-£6500. The size of the property will influence this, as larger homes require more expensive /multiple MVHR units and longer ducting.
- Installation & commissioning: Installation costs vary depending on the size and scale of the installation. This includes the amount of ducting required. Setting up and testing the system (commissioning) will also incur costs.
- Labour costs: Prices vary depending on local installation rates. These typically range from £400-£800 per day. MVHR takes roughly 1-3 days to complete.
MVHR heat recovery installation
- Planning & design: The first step is determining which rooms need to be supplied with fresh air, the infrastructure of ductwork, and the size of the unit needed based on the scale of the property. This is used to create a design plan for the installation.
- Installation process: The MVHR unit is typically mounted in a loft or utility room and connected to the electrical supply. Ductwork and supply vents are both installed, as well as extract vents and connections.
- Testing: A full system check is required to ensure proper connection and functioning, including airflow measurement, fan speeds, control settings and system parameters.
- Commissioning and certification: We set the system to run having balanced the air flows to the design. The system can then be registered with building control (for whole house systems) and a building control certificate is issued.
Servicing, maintenance & repair
Servicing, maintenance, & repair
All MVHR units are designed for efficient, low-maintenance heat retention and air-freshening. However, it’s important to ensure that you check and maintain it to keep it running smoothly.
Routine checks include cleaning or replacing air filters, inspecting the heat exchanger, checking the fan motor performance, and monitoring noise levels.
H2ecO provides swift and reliable after-care services for our products – whether we’ve installed the solution previously or we’re fixing a unit you’ve bought through another company. We know renewable solutions inside and out and will ensure your chosen solution stays active and efficient for years to come.
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