17-48 Melfield Gardens

n) Ventilation – Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery System – Avoiding condensation. Ventilation within your home is provided by the Zehnder Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) unit which is located in the external cupboard outside of your home. The MVHR unit must be left running at all times. The MVHR provides fresh, filtered air to each room all of the time, even when the windows are shut. All the air in your home is replaced once every two hours meaning that you can be sure you have the best air quality. Clothes washing, cooking, showers, plants and humans all release moisture into the air. When steam or water vapor hits a cold surface, it causes condensation which can cause mould, musty smells, damp areas and damage to furniture and decoration. New properties are also susceptible to condensation and mould, however in your home the ventilation system removes the moisture. It’s good to minimise condensation by keeping your home well ventilated and using the boost and speed settings on your controller, for example turn the ventilation up if you are doing lots of cooking, washing or have guests to stay. MVHR is a continuous source of ventilation that extracts stale, moisture-laden air from a building and re-supplies fresh, filtered air back in, resulting in a comfortable and condensation free environment all year round. Because the unit recovers the heat from the exhaust air it will improve the energy efficiency of your home meaning lower heating costs. The energy saved in heating energy is over 15x the cost of running the small electric fans. The unit is energy efficient and produces very low levels of noise. If you can hear your ventilation system let the landlord know, as there could be a blocked filter or problem. Controlling the ventilation In normal use you can leave the ventilation alone and it will work in the background to control the moisture levels. However to help remove moisture quicker there are three ways that you can change the amount of ventilation to your home: 1. Temporary boost switches that set the ventilation rate to the highest setting while you are doing some intensive cooking, or having a shower.

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