How to keep an MVHR system delivering its design performance for fifteen years.
Primary question · What do I have to do, year by year, to keep MVHR working properly once the install is signed off?
Change the filters every six to twelve months, vacuum and rinse the heat-exchanger core annually, and keep the condensate drain clear. None of this is hard, but it is not zero-touch either. The household that puts a calendar reminder against the unit treats MVHR as background infrastructure for fifteen years, and the household that does not is the household that calls a service engineer in year four with what turns out to be a clogged G4.
Anyone who has just commissioned an MVHR install and wants to retain its design-day performance.
Filters: £30 to £80 a year. Optional service: £120 to £180 a year. Heat-exchanger replacement, only if neglected: £600 to £900.
- Annual maintenance is genuinely DIY-friendly
- A clean filter pair takes ten minutes and restores rated efficiency
- Modern units flag service intervals on the controller
- Skipping two filter cycles measurably erodes both efficiency and air quality
- A neglected condensate drain can produce nuisance leaks
Put a six-month and twelve-month reminder in the calendar today, so the filter change does not slip into year two.
MVHR is one of the lowest-maintenance comfort upgrades a British home can install, provided the household actually does the small annual work the unit asks for. The maintenance bill is trivial and the comfort it preserves is large, in that order.