What Is MVHR?
Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) continuously extracts stale air from wet rooms (kitchens, bathrooms) and supplies fresh, filtered air to living rooms and bedrooms. A counter-flow heat exchanger recovers 90-95% of the heat from the outgoing air, warming the incoming fresh air without mixing the two streams. Running costs are just £40-£160/year in electricity while saving £300-£500/year in recovered heat.
Costs and Leading Brands
New-build MVHR installation costs £3,000-£7,000. Retrofit installation is more complex at £8,000-£20,000 due to ductwork routing through existing walls and ceilings. Leading brands include Vent-Axia Sentinel Kinetic (up to 95% heat recovery), Nuaire MRXBOX-ECO (95% recovery), and Zehnder ComfoAir Q (app-controlled with enthalpy option for humidity recovery). Building Regulations Part F classifies MVHR as System 4, required for new homes with air permeability at or below 5 m³/m²·h.
MVHR and Heat Pumps: The Perfect Pairing
MVHR works synergistically with heat pumps by recovering heat that would otherwise increase the heat pump's workload. In a well-insulated home, ventilation heat loss can account for 30-40% of total heat demand. By recovering 90-95% of this through MVHR, the heat pump needs to produce less heat, improving overall system efficiency and reducing running costs. For Passivhaus builds and whole-house retrofits in East Anglia, MVHR is effectively essential.
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