Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is an established technology for transferring heat from one air stream to another. MVHR’s are typically housed units fitted in the loft, using high efficiency counter flow heat exchangers, to vent and supply ducted air throughout the home.

MHX takes a different approach to whole house ventilation with heat recovery. By placing the heat exchanger within the buildings outer thermal insulation covering, ventilation, insulation and heat recovery can be provided in one integrated panel. These panels can be fitted within the roof element of a building to:

- Benefit both buildings and occupants from improved air quality.

- Enhance the buildings environmental profile.

- Provide further conditioned space in the loft. 

- Recover warmth or coolth at high efficiency.

- Speed up the building process.

How it works

Air is extracted from strategic areas in the building, then ducted to the panels in the loft. Within the panels the stale air is passed over the incoming fresh air, separated by a heat conducting membrane to form a heat exchanger. Waste air will then be expelled under the roof covering with condensate run off to the gutter. The fresh air is drawn from under the eaves through filters and following heat exchange ducted to where needed providing a supply of fresh air at room temperature.

What makes it different?

The two airflows pass through the insulation in a diagonal manner, going between the inside and outside of the building, ensuring ideal use of the insulation so that the converging temperature of the airflows correspond to the temperature gradient (profile) through the insulation.

What makes it better?

Heat exchanger efficiency relies mostly on the surface area the air flows are exposed to, and the direction of flows (contra-flow being the most efficient) and the residence time of the flows. These panels potentially make available the entire roof area of the building. The `insulated' heat exchanger negates further insulating of ductwork. Also with separate panels and ductwork dedicated to specific areas of the building additional benefits include:

- Enhanced control of the ventilation rate and temperature to zones

- Low-pressure drop linear heat exchanger requires less fan power

- Small diameter ducts accommodated within buildings structure

- Isolation of inter-zone noise transmission