Heat Recovery Ventilation

Why every home should have Heat Recovery Ventilation

• Prevents condensation and mould by removing the moist air from wet areas such as bathrooms, kitchens and utility rooms.
• Reduces the humidity so carpet and dust mites don't breed - a great help for those with asthma and other allergy sufferers.
• No draughts
• Up to 95% of the heat is recovered from the air extracted (from the wet rooms) to warm the incoming fresh air. (This feature can be switched off in the summer months as required)
• No need for unsightly trickle vents on windows

How does it work?

Heat recovery ventilation is basically the same as central extract ventilation but instead of the air entering the house via trickle vents in the windows, a second fan draws fresh air in and passes it through a heat exchanger and then sends it to the dry rooms in the house. Ideally the central unit will be sited in the roof space or garage or a cupboard. Flexible ducting in the ceiling void runs from this unit to each wet room, extracting the stale air, and to the dry rooms supplying fresh air. The extractor will provide a continuous low rate of air change, giving a steady flow of air throughout the house.

What Heat Recovery Systems are available?

CVC Direct supply a number of different Heat Recovery Units, the two most popular ranges being the AKOR and the Ubbink equipment.The Akor HRI is a high volume French system with a 70% efficiency. It uses flexible ducting which makes the installation easier. It is also one of most economical systems available. The Ubbink range of high efficiency units uses rigid ducting (although semi-rigid or flexible can be used). The Ubbink range is made & tested in the Netherlands, and is probably the most efficient range of heat recovery units on the market (quoting from Ubbink).

Helpful tip: If you are building a new house, then we strongly advise that you make provision for ducting the ventilation system to the exterior while the the building is under construction. This greatly simplifies the installation of this item, as it avoids having to cut a 150mm hole in the wall at a later stage, and probably when the scaffolding has been removed. There are 3 common ways to do this.

1. Build the wall vent grill and a short length of 150mm rigid duct  into the wall as it is being constructed. 
2. Fit the vent grills into the soffit board with a length of flexible ducting
3. Alternatively, fit a roof vent tile, with the appropriate connection, to the roof while it is being tiled. The roof vent is normally a spigot with a coloured cowl on top and 500x500mm lead skirt. Cowl available in Terracotta (orange/red), Red (brick red) Sepia (brown) and Charcoal (dark grey)

Wall grills, ducting and roof vent tiles are available separately from CVC Direct.

Roof vent tiles are available as a special order to match specific types of tile. Send details of the tile to be used.

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