Why Should Heat Recovery Systems Be Used in More UK Homes
BY READERS DIGEST
16th Apr 2019 Home & Garden
New heating systems in the UK aren’t installed as often as they should be. Homeowners tend to struggle on with inefficient heating rather than spend the money to replace the existing system with something better. Also, if they owned a certain type of heating system before, they tend to stick with that when getting a replacement too
If you’re thinking about upgrading your heating system, then it’s worth considering which heating system makes sense now. There are different choices today.
How Do Heating Systems Usually Work?
Heating warms up the air and spreads the air through the room. This mingles with colder air and increases the overall temperature. The trouble with this type of heating, like with radiators that literally radiate heat across the room, is that they’re expensive to operate.
As the air moves out across the room, it also rises. Heat naturally rises (indirectly) and so this thermodynamic system is unavoidable. We think of heat rising, but it’s actually warm air that rises rather than heat alone. Air particles get warmed up and they rise in the same way that heating up a giant hot air balloon causes it to beat gravity and lift off.
The downside to thermodynamics for homeowners is that the heating they pay dearly for rises to the ceiling and is lost. It doesn’t stay with them and so the room must be continually heated when it’s too cold to have the heating turned off. Otherwise, the heat generated will disappear skywards.
What are Heat Recovery Systems?
Not everyone knows about heat recovery systems that use the Nuaire MVHR units or other mechanical ventilation types to create a more efficient heating system. It’s a newer system in the UK too.
The idea is that while it’s not possible to keep warmer air at body level, it is possible to capture the air itself. The heat recovery units do exactly that. When the warmer air reaches the ceiling, it’s pulled into the heat recovery units. The system then removes the warmth and cleans the air of dirty particles that make it feel stuffy, adds the warmth back into the filtered air and it’s now ready for redistribution.
The reinvigorated warm air is now distributed back in the home at feet level. This gives it the best chance of being felt by the occupants.
Why Should Heat Recovery Systems Be Used in More UK Homes?
The warmth in the home is more consistent than with other heating systems. Rather than a yo-yo effect of a room that gets heated up and then loses some heat and then gets reheated again, heat recovery redistributes warm air to create a consistent temperature.
The heating bill is moderated because the heating is used less frequently. This is because much of the original heat is still being circulated, then captured, filtered, and redistributed like the gift that keeps on giving. The filtered air with less moisture or unpleasant particles is also healthier for all the occupants.
Overall, heat recovery systems are worth consideration by anyone who’s thinking about putting in a new heating system. They’re energy-efficient and have a far better design than regular heating systems.
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