Is it worth spending money on recuperation and heat pumps?

How does recuperation work?

First of all, we need to install a recuperator in our house, which has an appropriate exchanger allowing for heat recovery. It will control two air streams simultaneously. The first one is drawn in from the outside of the building and should consist of cold and clean air. Hot and dirty air is introduced in the reverse direction. Special anemostats are used to remove it. These are round grilles on the walls and ceiling. Both air streams meet each other inside the recuperator. However, they do not mix with each other.

Each of them moves in a separate channel, with the outgoing air leaving its heat in the exchanger. That is why recuperation and heat pumps it’s a perfect combination. Moreover, in addition to heating the air, recuperation allows it to be cleaned of any allergens and pollutants. Even if air of questionable quality is taken from the outside, it will be properly filtered. For this reason, recuperation and heat pumps are increasingly used in the construction of single-family houses. A typical recuperator has four different ventilation ducts – an air intake, an exhaust, and an air supply and exhaust to the rooms. All of these components need to work properly so that we can reap the benefits of recuperation and heat pumps.

Is recuperation a good way to save heating expenses?

In the case of a properly selected recuperation system and heat pumps, energy savings of 30% are possible. This means that each month she will spend a third less money on heating our apartment. If we use other solutions to reduce heat loss, it can achieve results several times better than those achieved by traditional construction. It is about avoiding heat bridges and investing in effective thermal insulation of the building. It is also necessary to ensure the tightness of all windows, because through them a huge amount of heat escapes from the apartment. In the era of energy-saving and ecological solutions, it is difficult to find anything better than recuperation and heat pumps. Of course, this combination has many other advantages. It certainly works better than using traditional gravity ventilation.

The difference between gravity ventilation and recuperation

Traditionally, gravity ventilation was used in construction. Such a system does not need any additional device to function. In practice, such a method consisted of using chimneys to provide ventilation. It extracts used air to the outside. However, there is no duct for drawing in fresh air. It is implicitly flowing through gaps in windows and doors. This solution does not save energy, as the generated heat quickly escapes to the outside of the apartment. That is why the combination of recuperation and heat pump is a much more effective way to reduce our expenses.

Moreover, gravity ventilation cannot filter the air. So if its quality outside the house is low, we will be forced to breathe such air. Only recuperation allows to solve this problem. If the window frames and doors in our house are highly leaky, it is not worth spending money on a recuperation system. It is the optimal solution when we plan to build our own single-family house. Then we can carefully plan all its elements and take care of the installation of tight windows and doors. In such a sealed house, the installation of recuperation and heat pump is a valuable investment that will contribute to lowering our expenses.