Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR), with design, supply, installation and commissioning tailored to your building.
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Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) supplies filtered outdoor air and extracts stale, moist air, using a heat exchanger to recover warmth between the two airstreams. It’s a common feature of new, airtight homes, and increasingly popular in retrofit projects too.
01A central unit draws stale air from wet rooms such as kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms, and supplies filtered fresh air to bedrooms and living spaces. As the two airstreams pass through the heat exchanger, a large proportion of the heat in the outgoing air is recovered and used to warm the incoming air.
02Incoming air passes through filters that reduce pollen, dust and other airborne particles before it reaches your rooms — useful for allergy sufferers and for keeping indoor air quality more consistent, whatever the weather outside.
03Unit location, duct routes and room terminals need to work together. Our service covers design, supply, installation and commissioning, tailored to the layout of your home or project.
04Commissioning sets the airflow for each room to the design specification. If room valves are adjusted or replaced later, speak to the team about checking the system is still correctly balanced.
05Many systems include a summer bypass, which routes air around the heat exchanger so cooler air can pass through without picking up recovered heat — helping keep rooms comfortable in warmer months.
06Plan accessible filters and equipment from the start. Filters typically need checking or replacing every few months depending on the system and its environment — follow the unit’s maintenance guidance for the specifics.
07By continuously extracting moist air from bathrooms and kitchens and replacing it with fresh, filtered air, MVHR helps manage the humidity levels that can otherwise lead to condensation and mould.
MVHR provides ventilation and recovers heat from extracted air, rather than generating heat itself. It operates alongside the building’s heating system, reducing the ventilation heat loss that would otherwise need to be made up by the boiler or heat pump.
Modern, airtight new builds are often required to have a mechanical ventilation strategy to meet building regulations, since they can’t rely on draughts for fresh air. MVHR is a common way to meet this requirement while recovering heat rather than losing it.
An attic, plant room or utility cupboard may be suitable, depending on the design. Safe access for filters, drainage and maintenance is important, so this is factored in at the design stage.
A well-designed and correctly commissioned system should run quietly in the background. Noise usually points to incorrect duct sizing, poor unit location or a system that isn’t properly balanced — all things our design and commissioning process accounts for.
No — MVHR is a balanced, continuous system rather than an open window. Because it recovers heat from the outgoing air, the air supplied to your rooms is pre-warmed rather than blown in cold.
Check the manufacturer’s guidance for your unit, as filter care depends on the system and local conditions. As a general rule, filters should be checked every few months and replaced when they show signs of wear; contact our team if you need help.
Yes. By extracting moist air from bathrooms and kitchens continuously, rather than only when a fan is switched on, MVHR helps keep humidity levels down, reducing the conditions that lead to condensation and mould.
Extractor fans remove air from single rooms on demand and are typically ducted straight outside, losing the heat in that air. MVHR runs continuously across the whole building, supplying fresh air as well as extracting stale air, and recovers the heat rather than losing it.
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