Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

I'm considering fitting one of these. Perhaps this one:
http://www.cvcdirect.co.uk/Whole%20H...ct-akorhe.html

Is there anyone with any experience of them? Are they any good? Or do
you really need to go the whole hog and spend thousands.

R.

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

In article ,
TheOldFellow wrote:
I'm considering fitting one of these. Perhaps this one:
http://www.cvcdirect.co.uk/Whole%20H...ct-akorhe.html

Is there anyone with any experience of them? Are they
any good? Or do you really need to go the whole hog and
spend thousands.
Looking at the prices; £400+ for the unit then all the
ducting and face plates and power, it starts adding up.

Do you need the heat exchanger? The system we have in the
extension is basically one half of the above unit - extract
only, and no 'air in' so relies on 'trickle ventilation
(fresh, not warmed air) It seems to work well and is very
quiet (I can only just hear it working if I listen carefully
in the bathroom) I'm planning in fitting another in the
'old' house.

The VMC units (Ventilation Mechanique Controlee ??) are
around 100euro in France. I looked at the heat exchange
version but ruled it way out ofmy budget immediately.

Regards
John

--
John Mulrooney
NOTE Email address IS correct but might not be checked for a while.

To die completely a person must not only forget, but be forgotten

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

On Jan 14, 7:47*pm, TheOldFellow wrote:
I'm considering fitting one of these. *Perhaps this one:http://www.cvcdirect.co.uk/Whole%20H...cvcdirect-akor...

Is there anyone with any experience of them? *Are they any good? *Or do
you really need to go the whole hog and spend thousands.

R.

I think if you're going for a near zero energy house they are worth
considering. Where they really come in is if you have a totally sealed
(ie draught proof) building. Other than that I believe their purpose
is defeated, (that is to provide fresh air and recover the heat).
There are signifiacnt running costs too in electricity and replacement
filters (Some are washable)
Some have HEP filters, OK I suppose if someone has an allergy problem.
But they are not washable and expensive to boot. Life depends on
weather. Longer in wet weather.

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

On 15/01/2011 12:12, harry wrote:
....
Some have HEP filters, OK I suppose if someone has an allergy problem.
But they are not washable and expensive to boot....

*Can* be expensive. When I ran a clean room, the HEPA filters cost £120
each from our air conditioning supplier, or £15 each direct from the
manufacturer.

Colin Bignell

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:12:47 -0800 (PST)
harry wrote:

On Jan 14, 7:47*pm, TheOldFellow wrote:
I'm considering fitting one of these. *Perhaps this
one:http://www.cvcdirect.co.uk/Whole%20H...cvcdirect-akor...

Is there anyone with any experience of them? *Are they any good?
*Or do you really need to go the whole hog and spend thousands.

R.

I think if you're going for a near zero energy house they are worth
considering. Where they really come in is if you have a totally sealed
(ie draught proof) building. Other than that I believe their purpose
is defeated, (that is to provide fresh air and recover the heat).
There are signifiacnt running costs too in electricity and replacement
filters (Some are washable)
Some have HEP filters, OK I suppose if someone has an allergy problem.
But they are not washable and expensive to boot. Life depends on
weather. Longer in wet weather.

Yes, I do have an hayfever problem, and here in cold old Cumbria I live
in the middle of grass land! I could move to Brighton, I know.

My house is fully insulated and well sealed, so there may be some
benefits for us. One of the problems we have in equalising the
temperature though the building, only one side gets any solar gain, so
this would help that too if I make the input air come mainly into the
cold end.

R.

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 11:27:33 +0000 (GMT)
JTM wrote:

In article ,
TheOldFellow wrote:
I'm considering fitting one of these. Perhaps this one:
http://www.cvcdirect.co.uk/Whole%20H...t-akorhe..html

Is there anyone with any experience of them? Are they
any good? Or do you really need to go the whole hog and
spend thousands.
Looking at the prices; £400+ for the unit then all the
ducting and face plates and power, it starts adding up.

Do you need the heat exchanger?

Yes, I live in Cumbria. What comes thought the trickle vents is an
icy blast - in July.

As it's a DIY jobby for me I thought I might make the ducts and
fittings. I can't see why 25mm celotex and 6mm ply can't be used to
make square-section insulated ducting, it's just a matter of the right
cross sectional area and tight joints.

The power is an issue though. Especially if it doesn't deliver the
stated thermal transfer efficiency, or it falls off rapidly as the
filters clog.

R.

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

On Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:47:48 +0000, TheOldFellow
wrote:

I'm considering fitting one of these. Perhaps this one:
http://www.cvcdirect.co.uk/Whole%20H...ct-akorhe.html

Is there anyone with any experience of them? Are they any good? Or do
you really need to go the whole hog and spend thousands.

Not that one but we have had a similar whole house ventilator for the
last 20 years and it has been very useful. The heat recovery side (in
all these units) is a bit minimal as air has low mass - so don't
expect warm air to come out of the trickle vents, it might be a few
degrees above ambient but not much else. Motor life is about 5-10
years before the bearings fail. We built it in to a new build house -
retrofitting may not be as easy as the manufacturers claim.

It certainly makes the house environment fresher and the bathrooms dry
quite quickly. If unit has a cooker extraction hood option I would
not fit that - the extractor pipe will get coated in cooking oil and
pick up dust and fluff. Simply use a normal ceiling extractor vent
somewhere convenient in the kitchen area. We mounted our motor box on
a 2 inch thick slab of rubberised horsehair on a board in the attic
and it is for all practical purposes silent.

There are no perceptible cold draught unless you sit almost
immediately under an inlet vent in a corner in which case you might
just about detect the cool air descending.

Definitely something I would fit again.

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

On Jan 15, 4:54*pm, TheOldFellow wrote:
On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:12:47 -0800 (PST)





harry wrote:
On Jan 14, 7:47*pm, TheOldFellow wrote:
I'm considering fitting one of these. *Perhaps this
one:http://www.cvcdirect.co.uk/Whole%20H...cvcdirect-akor...

Is there anyone with any experience of them? *Are they any good?
*Or do you really need to go the whole hog and spend thousands.

R.

I think if you're going for a near zero energy house they are worth
considering. Where they really come in is if you have a totally sealed
(ie draught proof) building. Other than that I believe their purpose
is defeated, (that is to provide fresh air and recover the heat).
There are signifiacnt running costs too in electricity and replacement
filters (Some are washable)
Some have HEP filters, OK I suppose if someone has an allergy problem.
But they are not washable and expensive to boot. *Life depends on
weather. Longer in wet weather.

Yes, I do have an hayfever problem, and here in cold old Cumbria I live
in the middle of grass land! *I could move to Brighton, I know.

My house is fully insulated and well sealed, so there may be some
benefits for us. *One of the problems we have in equalising the
temperature though the building, only one side gets any solar gain, so
this would help that too if I make the input air come mainly into the
cold end.

R.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well I have a similar house. However, I have not suceeded in making it
airtight.
I have a small wood burning stove.. it gets run at the moment for
about four hours/day.
I thought about one of these things but in the end decided they were a
waste of time. They're awfully expensive for what you get.

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

harry wrote:

Well I have a similar house. However, I have not suceeded in making it
airtight.
I have a small wood burning stove.. it gets run at the moment for
about four hours/day.

Airtight and woodburning stove don't go well together.

AJH

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

On Jan 15, 6:59*pm, andrew wrote:
harry wrote:
Well I have a similar house. However, I have not suceeded in making it
airtight.
I have a small wood burning stove.. it gets run at the moment for
about four hours/day.

Airtight and woodburning stove don't go well together.

AJH

I have a ventilation pipe runs to nearby the stove. I have been trying
to find a room sealed stove but can't find anything suitable.

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

harry wrote:

I have a ventilation pipe runs to nearby the stove. I have been trying
to find a room sealed stove but can't find anything suitable.

Yes I saw your other post after I replied. I was not aware of any room
sealed wood stoves. I think building regs require a vent on any solid
fueled stove over over 5kW, I wonder if there is an exception for room
sealed.

AJH

Whole House Ventilators and Heat Exchangers
 

On Jan 16, 10:10*pm, andrew wrote:
harry wrote:
I have a ventilation pipe runs to nearby the stove. I have been trying
to find a room sealed stove but can't find anything suitable.

Yes I saw your other post after I replied. I was not aware of any room
sealed wood stoves. I think building regs require a vent on any solid
fueled stove over over 5kW, I wonder if there is an exception for room
sealed.

AJH

The 5Kw is assuming normal leaky houses too. No replies though.The
only ones I can find are these stupid enormous things with a glass
window.