RetroVent - A Compact & Stylish Heat Recovery Unit

RetroVent - A Compact & Stylish Heat Recovery Unit

By Ruth MacEachern

Product Manager

RetroVent heat recovery with a twist EnviroVent have launched the RetroVent, a compact and stylish through the wall single room heat recovery unit ideal for bathrooms, kitchens, WCs, utility rooms and small office applications. Primarily designed to improve energy efficiency, this ingenious innovation provides an energy efficient alternative to traditional extract ventilation for both new build and retrofit projects.

Heat recovery with a twist
The RetroVent extracts stale, moisture laden air whilst supplying, fresh, warmed air back into the room to create a healthy, ideal living environment free from condensation and mould. The extracted air passes over a high efficiency tubular heat exchange cell, whilst simultaneously, fresh, filtered air is supplied across the cell collecting up to 89% of the heat from the extracted air before returning it into the room. What really sets the RetroVent apart from the competition is the twisted design of the tubes inside the tubular heat exchange cell. This unique design allows the air to cyclone around the barrel, just like a corkscrew, a process which allows the air a longer period of contact through the cell, enabling it to build up a greater amount of thermal conductivity (heat) to return into the room.

Back to the future
Within the RetroVent, EnviroVent’s R&D team have applied and adapted a technology found in the fire-tube boilers of early 20th century steam locomotives. The fire-tube boiler worked on the principal of thermal conduction to transfer heat from fire via tubes in order to ultimately generate steam (thermal conductivity). Using the same principle for air instead of water and steam, the RetroVent extracts the waste heat from the property and transfers it through the tube wall to heat the incoming fresh air. A steam locomotive would achieve efficiency of 30%, whereas, with modern materials and advancements in technology, the RetroVent can achieve up to 89% efficiency.

The RetroVent is suitable for different wall thicknesses; it is available in a 100mm version, for bathrooms and WCs, and a 150mm version for kitchens, utility rooms and small office applications. What’s more, the unit can be easily installed into either an existing wall sleeve or a newly constructed wall. Fitted with recyclable components, the RetroVent has been designed to last the life span of the building it is installed in.

Easy to maintain, the plug out/plug in heat exchanger cartridge is removed by a service key and cleaned within a matter of minutes.

The RetroVent has an automatic summer by-pass and an intelligent, energy efficient humidity tracker as standard- all backed up by a 5 year guarantee.