How does Heat Recovery Ventilation Work?
The main issue with traditional ventilation was heat loss. To bring fresh air into a room you opened a door, window, vent or you switched on an electric ventilation fan. With these, fresh air was permitted to enter the room and stale air went out taking with it a portion of the heat from the room.
Heat Recovery Ventilation allows a room to be ventilated but uses the heat in the air going out to warm the fresh air coming in. A highly efficient system will allow very little overall heat loss.
These types of system utilise a series of ducting pipes and air ducts to carry fresh air around the building and the same to carry stale air out.
The main heat recovery transfer happens in a box that is normally located in the attic in the case of residential buildings. In this box the warm stale air is brought through and its heat is passed to the fresh air from outside as it is drawn into the building. It is important to note that the fresh and stale air are not mixed together in this process. The fresh and warmed air is then passed down the ducting into the rooms of the building.
This process brings the best of both worlds together. Some say there is a link between houses that are exceptionally well sealed and a condition known as sick building syndrome – for those who feel the quality of air in their home is not what it should be and would like the benefit of fresh air without heat loss, a heat recovery ventilation system may seem like a godsend.
Fresh air with little or no heat loss