heat recovery

jan24

i am thinking of putting in heat recovery system into a two story house but i did more info.

1. is it noisy?
2. could you still put it in with an open fire in the house
3. what would be a few of the best makes around?
4. what price range would i be looking at?

MOTM

jan24 wrote: »

2. could you still put it in with an open fire in the house

With the draft in the chimney, no point installing mvhr. Heat recovery maintains air quality while retaining heat. Having a chimney defeats the purpose (not to mention the inefficiency of the fire).

HWL

Have you looked at any wastewater heat recovery systems?

<snip>

fclauson

HWL wrote: »

Have you looked at any wastewater heat recovery systems?

<snip>

so you shower for say 30mins per day (across all the house occupants) and you hope to try and recover that heat

seems a lot of money for very little return -

do the maths before investing would be my advice

BarneyMc

I hope it's ok to jump in on this post but it is related and might help anyway.

I'm currently building a 2 story house and will be installing a MHRV system. One question is where to locate - ground floor or attic?

The big advantage of the ground floor I can see is easy access to change filters, etc. The downside is having to penetrate the wall twice - once for the duct to bring air in and another for the waste air.

The attic has the disadvantage of being generally a hard place to access but has the advantage of being able to bring the ducts out through the roof.

Does anyone have any opinions on this?

BryanF

BarneyMc wrote: »

I hope it's ok to jump in on this post but it is related and might help anyway.

I'm currently building a 2 story house and will be installing a MHRV system. One question is where to locate - ground floor or attic?

The big advantage of the ground floor I can see is easy access to change filters, etc. The downside is having to penetrate the wall twice - once for the duct to bring air in and another for the waste air.

The attic has the disadvantage of being generally a hard place to access but has the advantage of being able to bring the ducts out through the roof.

Does anyone have any opinions on this?

it think its best within the heat envelope. generally i allow a 'plant room' on the first floor for MVHR in early design - with alot of clients going the larger hw tank route the ground floor is a popular location - think pipe run lengths not wall penetrations

fclauson

BarneyMc wrote: »

I hope it's ok to jump in on this post but it is related and might help anyway.

I'm currently building a 2 story house and will be installing a MHRV system. One question is where to locate - ground floor or attic?

The big advantage of the ground floor I can see is easy access to change filters, etc. The downside is having to penetrate the wall twice - once for the duct to bring air in and another for the waste air.

The attic has the disadvantage of being generally a hard place to access but has the advantage of being able to bring the ducts out through the roof.

Does anyone have any opinions on this?

Barney - couple of things
1 - you will need to have a filter on the inbound as close to the external wall as possible as a fly/muck track - this can be a much lower grade filter than the one in the unit - see https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=169956123209500&set=pb.154344008104045.-2207520000.1381909101.&type=3&theater for one I just replaced
2 - then the units - again (the red in the pic above is one of the filters from the unit) this needs to be checked about once every two months - so putting it all up in the loft will be a pain.
3 - you should keep everything inside the thermal envelope if possible and fully insulated ANY duct outside the envelope
4 - the unit will have a drain on it for condensation this MUST NOT freeze up hence in an unheated loft during the midst of a cold spell when condensate will be produced in abundance you do not want the drain freezing up causing no end of other issues

MicktheMan

BarneyMc wrote: »

I hope it's ok to jump in on this post but it is related and might help anyway.

I'm currently building a 2 story house and will be installing a MHRV system. One question is where to locate - ground floor or attic?

The big advantage of the ground floor I can see is easy access to change filters, etc. The downside is having to penetrate the wall twice - once for the duct to bring air in and another for the waste air.

The attic has the disadvantage of being generally a hard place to access but has the advantage of being able to bring the ducts out through the roof.

Does anyone have any opinions on this?

I have mine in the cold attic but If I was building I would have it within the thermal envelope:
1. Access is fine now, but in 20 year time I may not be as agile
2. Our condensate drain has frozen
3. Definite loss in efficiency due to being outside thermal envelope

P.S. Ours was a retrofit install so we were limited in our options

BarneyMc

Thanks guys, it will be inside the envelope then so. I remember talking to a supplier some time ago and they suggested the utility room which is fairly central and easy to 'pipe out' to the external.

The walls are going up fast so is there any way I can put ducts in place (in the wall) now or should I wait until later when the supplier has been identified and system agreed?

Highways

fclauson wrote: »

so you shower for say 30mins per day (across all the house occupants) and you hope to try and recover that heat

seems a lot of money for very little return -

do the maths before investing would be my advice

I agree with your advice to do the maths but not your conclusions. Showers are the biggest user of hot water in the average home. The latest wastewater heat recovery systems can recoup up to 68% of the heat from the hot water draining down the plughole of your shower and payback the cost within 5 years.

fclauson

Highways wrote: »

...can

OR SHOULD THIS READ CLAIM

to recoup up to 68% of the heat ...payback the cost within 5 years.

MOTM

fclauson wrote: »

OR SHOULD THIS READ CLAIM

Or should this read "show us the maths"

Highways

MOTM wrote: »

Or should this read "show us the maths"

Sorry for late response been away; you can go on the manufacturer Recoup's website and send spec, number of people etc etc and they will estimate payback for you.All cosher and approved e.g. KIWA, WRAS, SAP listed in the UK, DEAP listing awaiting the setting up of a new category by the SEAI(yes your not the only people who hadn't heard of wastewater heat recovery!)Happy to PM anything else.

MOTM

Highways wrote: »

your not the only people who hadn't heard of wastewater heat recovery!

Just because we asked to see the maths, doesn't mean we hadn't heard of it.

Highways

MOTM wrote: »

Just because we asked to see the maths, doesn't mean we hadn't heard of it.

Great! It's good that wastewater heat recovery is becoming better known and understood as it is another viable category of heat recovery technology.

BryanF

Highways wrote: »

Great! It's good that wastewater heat recovery is becoming better known and understood as it is another viable category of heat recovery technology.

please provide peer review literature on this technology?

have you got independent data taken over a heating season?

i assume your not selling this system?