The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the need for good, solid ventilation in buildings to help reduce the transmission of disease. As a result, many businesses and households have now invested in it to increase airflow and remove germs from the air.
As experts in ventilation, we’ll explain exactly what it is, how it reduces the spread of viruses, and why now is the perfect time to invest in MVHR.
Put simply, ventilation is the process of introducing fresh air into indoor spaces, while removing stale air. By letting in fresh air, this helps to remove air that may contain virus particles, such as Covid-19, colds and flu. Good ventilation has been scientifically linked to fewer sick days off from work or school, according to GOV.uk.
As the pandemic reminded us all, when someone with an illness speaks, coughs, sneezes or even breathes, they release small particles into the air that contain their virus. These particles can then be breathed in by others, or come into contact with their eyes, nose or mouth. Particles can also land on surfaces, and can be passed on by touch.
In poorly ventilated rooms, the amount of the virus within the air can very quickly build up, significantly increasing the risk of transmission - hence why we weren’t allowed to meet up indoors for so long during the pandemic.
By bringing fresh air in and removing the older air, this greatly reduces the chance of spreading infections. Ultimately, the more fresh air brought inside, the quicker any airborne viruses will be removed from the room.
In winter, home ventilation is often significantly reduced compared to the summer. Keeping windows and doors closed may lock in the warmth on cold days, but it also prevents good air circulation.
Winter also happens to be the season where we are most likely to catch airborne illnesses such as colds, flu or Covid-19, due to temperature fluctuation and spending more time indoors. This combination is why so many more people fall ill during the colder months.
By installing a mechanical ventilation heat recovery system (MVHR) within your home, this will help to reduce the spread of illness whilst keeping your home toasty and warm at the same time. Sounds good? We’ll explain more about how it works…
Our clever MVHR system will extract moist, stale air from your home and replace it with fresh air from the outside through a duct network. These ducts will bring in clean air from the outside, passing it via a heat exchanger, which uses the extracted stale air to heat the fresh air - meaning it’ll be nice and warm when it enters your home.
This diagram will give you a visual idea of how the system works:
The central unit of the system will automatically control and monitor air quality, and make any adjustments necessary to ensure a continuous stream of fresh, ventilated air throughout at all times. By extracting the stale air from indoors, your MVHR unit will also be removing all of the infected particles along with it - helping to prevent the spread of airborne illnesses.
Interested in finding out more about MVHR to stay well this winter? Get in touch with our team of experts today to find out more!
