Home ventilation – a hot topic
Controlled home ventilation systems replace contaminated indoor air with fresh outdoor air. At the same time, they prevent mildew from forming and protect your health and the building structure. Heat recovery can also reduce heating costs and protect the climate during the heating season. All of this is made possible by the integrated climate solutions from Viessmann.
Allendorf (Eder), May 13, 2020 – Fresh, clean, and, above all, as germ-free as possible indoor air is more important today than ever before. This is because viruses like the corona pathogen Sars-CoV-2 are mainly transmitted from one person to another by droplet infection, for example through coughing or sneezing. Once the fine droplets are in the room, they stay in the air for up to three hours, according to a study by the US National Institute of Health. Integrated climate solutions from Viessmann, which remove contaminated air from living spaces and replace it with filtered fresh air, help to counteract this. In this way, the spread of germs is contained, because the concentration of germs in fresh outdoor air is low, if there is any at all.
High indoor air quality prevents mildew and protects the building structure
Yet modern home ventilation systems do much more for people’s well-being in their living and working spaces. Nowadays, people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. Over time, the carbon dioxide content (CO2 content) in the indoor air increases – at some point the air is “used up” and we become tired, and our concentration and performance worsens noticeably. In addition, there are vapors, odors, and moisture from showering, bathing, and cooking. In particular, too much moisture aids the growth of mildew, which can cause lasting damage to our health and to the building structure. Automatic home ventilation systems (also known as controlled home ventilation systems) remove all of these substances and moisture quietly and unobtrusively. At the same time, they supply fresh air to the rooms for a reliable protection of health and the building structure.
In conventional, uncontrolled ventilation by opening the windows, dust from the street and pollen, which is particularly unpleasant for allergy sufferers, can also enter the home with the outdoor air. Highly effective filters built into the ventilation units as standard – and on request also particularly fine pollen filters – reliably prevent this. And last but not least, controlled home ventilation also keeps disturbing street noise outside.
Reduce heating costs with heat recovery
Heat recovery is a special technique for controlled home ventilation, which helps to reduce costs during the heating season. A heat exchanger extracts the heat from the exhaust air and transfers it to the incoming outdoor air. The two air streams do not come into contact, thereby ruling out any contamination of the fresh supply air. Up to 90 percent of the heat contained in the exhaust air can be recovered in winter. This saves a lot of energy compared to conventional ventilation by opening windows, where some of the heating warmth is always lost.
Cool indoor air on hot summer days
As summer months are getting warmer and warmer, operators of controlled home ventilation systems value the chance to passively cool their homes. In these systems, the heat exchanger of the heat recovery system is bypassed via an automatically controlled bypass flap, and cool outdoor air is fed into the rooms in the nighttime. This ensures a pleasant indoor climate and restful sleep even in the warm season.
Centralized or decentralized ventilation for your own home?
Depending on the application, a distinction is made between centralized and decentralized controlled home ventilation.
In centralized home ventilation, a single unit supplies the individual rooms with fresh air. A centralized ventilation unit is installed on the wall or ceiling. Via ducts, which are usually hidden in the floor or ceiling, fresh supply air is fed to, for example, the living room, children’s room, and bedroom. At the same time, exhaust air is extracted from rooms such as the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet. Centralized systems are mainly used in new buildings, as they require greater planning effort. However, they can also be used in an existing house, for example, as part of a modernization project being carried out anyway.
One example of a modern centralized home ventilation system is the new, particularly quiet, and compact Vitovent 300-W. Combined with a Vitocal heat pump from Viessmann, the ventilation system can be conveniently operated at any time via the free ViCare smartphone app.
In addition, if the operator so wishes, a tradesman can also check the system online to ensure that it is always functioning correctly and identify maintenance requirements early on. Irrespective of this, the Vitovent 300-W can also be operated as a stand-alone system. A filter system with an optional pollen filter effectively cleans the supply air of contaminants and pollen. The growth and spread of mites and mildews is significantly reduced, thus creating an irritation-free indoor climate. In the cold season, the integrated heat exchanger recovers up to 92 percent of the heat contained in the exhaust air and thus helps to reduce heating costs.
Retrofitting without great effort
In contrast to the centralized ventilation system, decentralized home ventilation is installed in individual rooms. It can also be retrofitted without great effort since it does not require ventilation ducts, and is therefore also suitable for existing buildings. Decentralized ventilation can also, however, be installed in a new building. This option is particularly interesting for apartment buildings (only certain rooms) or in in-law apartments.
With the decentralized home ventilation system Vitovent 100-D, individual rooms, parts of an apartment (so-called ventilation zones), or the whole apartment can be ventilated with virtually no heat loss. The integrated heat recovery system recovers up to 91 percent of the heat from the exhaust air and transfers it to the fresh supply air. In addition to a central control element with touch display, the ventilation system can be controlled intuitively and easily via the new ViAir-D smartphone app – optionally by voice command.
Free and no-obligation expert advice
Centralized and decentralized home ventilation? – the best way to find out which ventilation system is best suited to which building and to the individual requirements of its users is to consult a specialist. If you are interested, register for an individual, free, and no-obligation consultation with a specialist company.