Frequently Asked Questions

Most homes and offices are inadequately ventilated and pollutants such as CO2, house dust, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) from household products and bacteria are allowed to accumulate. The situation is exacerbated by poor temperature and humidity control.

Firstly understand the problems you are experiencing by fitting an inexpensive Smartphone App linked air quality monitor such as Awair (available on this web site). Then contact us to discuss a suitable solution if you find that you have poor air quality.

This depends on two factors. The ability for the building fabric to support it (energy efficiency) and the fuel choices available to you. If you are on mains gas and only interested in the economics of such a system then the older your property is the less likely that this solution is for you.

As well as the lower environmental impact that your home will have, the government offers the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme to self-builders and home owners. If you meet the eligibility criteria you are likely to recover the cost of your system within seven years.

Building Regulations allow other ventilation strategies than just background ventilation with trickle vents in the windows. Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery is a centralised system that runs continuously using less than 50W/hr of energy.

Although MVHR could be installed in all types of building, we would only recommend it for buildings with good air tightness levels. As a rule of thumb, this would be where the air permeability of the thermal envelope is at or below 5m3/m2.h @ 50 Pa. If this level of air tightness is not achieved, then the heat recovery and consequent energy saving benefits of MVHR would be lost.

Today’s air conditioning systems use low global warming potential refrigerant gases and are highly energy efficient as they are based on heat pump technology. If your home is already energy efficient your heating demands are low. Careful and considerate use of your cooling system will minimise energy consumption further. Why not add a Solar Photovoltaic system and generate your own energy?

There are so many different installation methods available and it is difficult to know what is best. We can advise you further once we understand the type of property you have and the construction methods being used.

It is important that you decide how you want to use your home and what functionality would be beneficial to you. It is also important that whatever control system you choose works with all of the HVAC systems in your home in the correct way. It is best to find a company that can provide clear integration expertise and knowledge of all of the systems to be employed for your heating, hot water, ventilation and cooling.

The industry standard life expectancy of an air source heat pump or air conditioning system is said to be 10-15 years, but if properly maintained it could last 20+ years.

Heating and cooling professionals say that even if you do not suspect that your air conditioning unit has problems, you need to have it serviced and inspected at least once every year. This will ensure that it operates at maximum efficiency. It will be ready to cool the house in the months when you require it most.