Build Tight, Ventilate Right!
Most new build properties and extensions built in recent years need higher levels of insulation in the roof and also great amounts of interior wall insulation and flooring insulation.
Modern builds are also often required to be built with increased air tightness, and are tested once completed for air leakage and the final air tightness results contribute to SAP Calculations and through to the final Code for Sustainable Homes rating awarded to the house.
But what a lot of people do not realise fully when they are increasing both of these items, is that they also need to increase the levels of ventilation in their property at the same time to allow their buildings to breathe, and for moisture in the property to be removed along with stale air, and replaced with fresh air at a lower moisture content. Think of Insulation, Ventilation, and Air Tightness as a trio of items that go together - and you need to increase all of them rather than just one or two of them to get the best results for your health and the health of your home.
When you increase ventilation to any property, then next concern then becomes "how much heat do I lose by replacing the air in the house?" and that is where the Mechanical Ventilation System with Heat Recovery (MVHR) or HRV System (Heat Recovery Ventilation System) comes into its own.
The system comprises of an MVHR unit with 2 fans and a heat exchanger along with an insulated, rigid duct network of pipes through the property and fresh air inputs or stale air extract ceiling registers in most areas of the property. The moist stale air is then extracted from the "wet rooms" such as kitchens, utility rooms, bathrooms and cloakrooms by one set of ducting, and at the same time as this is happening the MVHR unit is sucking fresh air into the system from outside of the property, filtering it, and then as much as possible of the heat from the waste air being extracted is saved and transferred to the incoming fresh air before it is fed back into living rooms, bedrooms and other habitable rooms in the house.
This "saving" and re-use of heat that you have already paid to heat means that your heating systems in the property will not re-heat rooms quite as often as they would need to if the system was not in place. The machine also provides for "Background Ventilation" in place of trickle vents in your windows of the property, so you no longer need to specify trickle vents in the windows, and also replaces the need for bathroom and cloakroom extract fans across the property as well.
Direct Insulation are able to offer Design, Supply, and Commissioning of MVHR systems for Residential Properties and Apartments, as well as MVHR Web Kits for those that wish to simply buy parts and install systems themselves.
Contact our office on 01793-791010 to discuss your requirements or email mvhr@buildingmaterialsdirect.com with your plans for a bespoke quotation or follow the link here to see our MVHR Web Kits.
