Heat Recovery Systems
What are heat recovery systems and why do you need them? In order to save money, many buildings have been made more energy efficient by closing off all the areas where drafts can get in. Newer buldings have also been made more and more air tight, keeping the cold air in the winter and the hot air in the summer from entering the house.
Why heat recovery systems are needed
While this has resulted in lowering heating and cooling bills and saved businesses from paying excessive utility costs, it has done so at a high risk to our health.
- These new air tight buildings keep cold air out, but also hold stale unhealthy air in.
- This means that more moisture is held inside the building with no way to escape and allows for the rapid growth of mould, mildew, fungi and bacteria.
- In addition to this, the gases from gas hot water heaters, wood stoves and even our breathing fills buildings with potentially deadly gases that can make us ill.
- That leaves two options available for getting some of the stale air out and letting fresh air into our homes, open the windows or use heat recovery systems.
Open the windows or use heat recovery systems
The obvious way to get fresh air into a building and let the stale air out is to open several windows and air it out on a regular basis. While this may seem like a simple enough solution, opening those windows will add to your cooling and heating costs putting you right back where you started. Not to mention that many commercial buildings have windows that don’t open anyway.
The other way of getting fresh air into a building is by using Heat recovery ventilation. These are heat recovery systems that uses two fans, one to blow the stale air out and one to blow fresh air in, attached to a series of tunnels which keep the air separate while allowing the heat from the outgoing stale air to heat the incoming fresh air. This process can use between 60% and 85% of the heat from the stale air which means that it will cost you far less than opening those windows.
In summary, heat recovery systems offer an energy efficient way of getting the fresh air you need into an air tight building and can help prevent ill health caused by improper ventilation.
If you are concerned about keeping your building at a comfortable temperature while still keeping the air fresh and healthy for those inside, then heat recovery systems are the solution you are looking for.