A heat recovery system – or heat exchanger – in your home can be a great investment and dramatically reduces the costs of your central heating, particularly if you have a larger house. Heat recovery systems are only suitable for homes which are well-insulated and airtight, as the heat recovery system cannot operate efficiently where warm air is able to leak out of your home.
The smaller number of air leaks in your home, the better the heat recovery unit will work. More modern houses tend to be pretty airtight and well-insulated, whereas older ones may need some work doing to them before a heat recovery unit is installed. On the contrary, if your home is 100% airtight, a heat recovery system will be a pointless investment because you will barely ever need to use your central heating.
#1: What Exactly is a Heat Recovery System?
It is a unit comprised of a control unit and a heat recovery system. The control unit is typically housed in your attic or utility room; however, this depends on your home.
A heat recovery unit sucks warm air out of your rooms and sends it through the unit’s ductwork and through the heat exchanger where the heat is removed from the warm air and passed to the cool, fresh air on the other side of it. This means that your cold air is pumped outside of your home and warm fresh air is pumped in.
In short, a heat exchange system gets rid of stale air from within the home and pulls in cold, fresh air from outside, heats it up, and pumps it through your home.
#2: Reasons to Get a Heat Exchange System
A well-designed and properly fitted heat recovery system in a home with adequate insulation and low amounts of air leakage will massively benefit from a heat exchange system. In addition to providing good levels of ventilation, a heat exchange system improves the overall quality of the air within your home which can stop condensation and mould from forming, in addition to saving you money on energy costs.
In the long-term, your initial investment into a heat exchange system can massively pay off. They are definitely a long-term investment, though; don’t expect to breakeven straight away!
#3: Ensure Your Property is Suitable
Older homes typically have a lot of draughts and air leakage which will make the use of a heat exchange system rather pointless. If you were to have a heat recovery system fitted into a draughty home, the internal air would be cooled too much, and it would not be worth the cost overall.
Spending some money to get your home’s energy efficiency sorted is a move which we should all be making, regardless of whether you are getting a heat recovery system or not.
A heat recovery system is used in more modern homes to help keep the internal air warm, clean and fresh. They are only suitable for homes which have an adequate amount of insulation and can save you money on energy bills in the long-term.