How Efficient are Ventilation Systems

How Efficient Are Ventilation Systems

By Ruth MacEachern

Product Manager

With heating and electricity costs at high levels, people are looking at different ways to reduce the amount of energy they consume at home to reduce their monthly bills. 

There are many ways to save money on energy costs including turning down the thermostat, swapping over to energy efficient LED light bulbs and improving your home insulation, but one thing that some people overlook is the cost of their home ventilation.

Intermittent ventilation systems such as Extractor fans use energy whenever you are cooking or using the bathroom, while whole house ventilation systems run continually to deliver fresh and filtered air into your home.

Are older extractor fans less efficient

If you have an older extractor fan in your bathroom or kitchen it is likely to be using more electricity than a more modern device.  There are several reasons for this.

The first is that more modern extractor fans such as the EnviroVent Cyclone 7 will have been designed with more efficient components such as the fan motor which simply use less energy to deliver the same level of performance.

In combination with the more modern components, some modern extractor fans also feature humidity sensors which allows them to adjust the amount of power they draw depending on the amount of moisture they detect in the air.  As steam is cleared from a bathroom during use, they can gradually power down to use much less electricity than a conventional fan that would just run at full power.

Aside from the design innovations that go into modern extractor fans to make them more efficient, there is also the question of maintenance.  Both kitchen and bathroom extractor fans can become clogged over time, and the fans can pick up grease and dust on their blades.  If the air filter is blocked, the fan will need to use a lot more power to move air, and this will cause the components to wear out over time.  Similarly, a build up of grease or dust on the fan blades will make them heavier and more difficult to turn which will use more power.

Based on current electricity prices, a modern extractor fan designed to use less energy such as the ECO dMEV+ may cost as little as £5.56 per year to run.

How Efficient are whole house ventilation systems

There are three main types of whole house ventilation systems:

• Positive Input Ventilation (PIV)
• Mechanical Extract Ventilation (MEV)
• Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)

Positive Input Ventilation systems, work by drawing air into your home through a central unit and then distributing it through your home to replace stale or humid air.  These run continually but consume very little power.  Over the course of a year, a PIV system like ATMOS in a typical house will use approximately £8.55 of electricity without the heater being switched on, and £58.22 when the heater is used.

MEV systems are normally fitted into new homes during the building process, or as part of a full renovation, are highly efficient, in a typical house, the EnviroVent MEV160 costs just £16.64 annually.

MVHR systems have the added benefit of recovering heat from the air as they extract it.  This heat is used to warm the incoming air, which makes your house more efficient overall.  Typically, the heat exchangers in an MVHR system will recover more than 85% of the heat energy available and can actually reduce overall heating costs.  Annual running costs are higher than a standard MEV system – the EnviroVent ESAVA 260 will cost around £54.91 in a typical house, but they will also help to keep your house warm and reduce your need to heat air.

Find out more

Updating your home ventilation to a more efficient model could help reduce your electricity costs as well as preventing condensation from causing damp and mould problems.  Our local ventilation specialists can visit your home to carry out a free home survey that will help them find the best solution for your needs.  Simply enter your postcode below and find an expert in your area.