Low income families are typically more affected by air pollution with children most at risk. The UK currently has over 40,000 deaths a year linked to poor air quality costs the economy billions a year. With indoor air pollution often 50% worse than outdoors and can contain up to 900 different pollutants it is imperative that a suitable system is installed to improve the health of the occupants as well as protecting the fabric of the home itself.
Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) is the process of continually preheating filtered, incoming fresh air from outside by warming it with the outgoing waste air which is created by kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms etc. Once the warmth is transferred, the now warm, clean air is the supplied to the living areas such as living rooms and bedrooms.
The following example will show the cost benefit of having a MVHR system installed in the property. This example assumes that both properties are 300m2 in size.
| House A | House B |
| Uses extract and trickle vents to ventilate the property. It has 2 air changes an hour and uses gas heating to warm the property | Uses an MVHR unit with 71%* heat recovery. It has an air change rate of 320m3/hr (89 l/sec), assuming no infiltration and uses gas heating to warm the property |
| Heat loss from infiltration at 2 ach 14,164 kWh per year at a cost of £0.0359 per kWh = £508.49 per year | Heat loss due to ventilation at 320m3/hr at 7677kWh with 71% thermal efficiency = 2226 kWh. With a cost of £0.0359 per kWh = £79.92 per year |
| Cost of running a bathroom and kitchen fan operating at 1 hour per day at 0.05kW = £2.08 per year | MVHR with two fans running, operating 24 hours a day at 693 kWh = £104.70 per year |
| Total ventilation energy cost = £510.57 per year | Total ventilation energy cost = £184.62 per year |
Additional saving with 80% thermal efficiency = £16.54
Additional saving with 90% thermal efficiency = £34.90
All new Airflow domestic MVHR units have a thermal efficiency of 90% or greater so you stand to see up to a £355 per year reduction in your energy bills.**
*Domestic Building Services Compliance Guide Section 8 specifies a minimum thermal efficiency of 70%
**assuming a kWh price of £0.0359
An ideal MVHR system to be used in social housing settings is the Adroit
Airflow Adroit MVHR units can be set up during the commissioning process to limit the tenants’ access to the control system. This removes the issue of tenants changing the ventilation rates for the property as well as them switching the unit off, guaranteeing effective ventilation always takes place within the property; protecting the health of both property and tenants. Your tenants, however, will still be able to tailor their ventilation around their daily routine through selecting the relevant ventilation profile to suit their needs.
As landlords, you would be able to remotely monitor the performance of the unit and be notified of when maintenance, such as changing the air filters, is required and in turn prolong the lifecycle of your Adroit unit.
Furthermore, in our Adroit DV50 and DV80 models, you can have these installed above the entrance to the property, so maintenance can be undertaken to the unit without disturbing the tenant.
You can learn more about the benefits MVHR brings to social housing developments in this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8fMprlKHos