Can Ventilation reduce My Heating Costs

Could Improving Your Ventilation Help to Cut Heating Costs

By Ruth MacEachern

Product Manager

With energy costs at record levels, households around the country are looking at ways to reduce their heating bills. Improving the airflow around your home is one way to spread warmth around different rooms and help eliminate cold spots.

Heating a house evenly

In most homes with central heating, a single thermostat controls the temperature. The thermostat is set with a target temperature, and the heating system runs until that temperature is reached. The problem with a single thermostat is that the heating of the rest of the house depends on the device’s location. If the thermostat is placed in a larger space such as a hallway, it may take longer to warm than in smaller rooms, and as a result, the heating will need to run until the air around the thermostat is warmed. This means some rooms could become extremely hot, while others may not be fully warm before the heating turns off.

With whole-house ventilation such as Positive Input Ventilation systems, the air is moved throughout the building. This means that the warmth created by central heating is spread evenly from room to room. This means that the house is heated to a more consistent temperature and helps avoid overheating some areas.

Getting the house to a more even warmth means that you can turn your overall heating temperature down because you are no longer reliant on the air around the thermostat reaching a specific temperature.

Ventilation with heat recovery

Home ventilation prevents condensation by reducing humidity. Moisture-rich air is extracted from wet rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms and expelled from the house to be replaced with fresh air from outside.

Installing ventilation with heat recovery – whether as a whole house MVHR system or as a single room solution like EnviroVent’s HeatSava – means that the warmth in the extracted air is captured through a heat exchanger and then used to heat the incoming air.

The heat exchangers used in MVHR systems are highly efficient, recovering up to 90% of the heat, which can have a significant impact on reducing your heating costs.

Additional benefits of ventilation

Cold spots in your home attract condensation, which can lead to damp and mould. Improving the airflow and making temperatures more even throughout your home helps to stop condensation from forming in out-of-sight spots and stops damp and mould from forming. This effect is magnified by removing moisture from the air and stops condensation for good.

Energy efficient ventilation

Modern ventilation systems are highly energy efficient, costing just pennies per day to run – even at current energy prices. A whole house PIV system such as ATMOS could cost as little as £8.76 to run at a low power level and will improve airflow throughout your home, spreading heat to cold areas while also preventing condensation from causing damp and mould.

Find out more

If your home is troubled by cold spots that cause condensation, improving your ventilation is an effective way to stop the problem before it worsens.

Enter your postcode below to find your local ventilation specialist. They can visit your home to conduct a free home survey that will identify the causes of condensation in your home and provide you with advice about the best solution for your needs.