{"id":24537,"date":"2026-10-29T23:06:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T19:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/?p=24537"},"modified":"2026-10-30T13:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T09:50:04","slug":"heat-recovery-ventilation-apartment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/heat-recovery-ventilation-apartment\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat Recovery Ventilation in an Apartment: Fresh Air Without Opening Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Heat recovery ventilation<\/strong> constantly supplies fresh air to your apartment without opening windows, while recovering 70\u201390% of the heat from the outgoing air and transferring it to the incoming air. In winter rooms don&#8217;t cool down, in summer they don&#8217;t overheat, and the air is always fresh. This guide explains how heat recovery ventilation works, who needs it, the types, planning, maintenance and how much it saves on heating.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udccc To estimate ventilation costs, use the <a href=\"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/ventilation-calculator\/\"><strong>ventilation calculator<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ventilacia-binashi.webp\" alt=\"Heat recovery ventilation in an apartment \u2014 ducts and HRV unit\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<h2>How does heat recovery ventilation work?<\/h2>\n<p>An HRV unit passes two air streams side by side: warm stale air leaving the rooms and cold fresh air coming from outside. They never mix, but in the <strong>heat exchanger<\/strong> the outgoing air transfers its heat to the incoming air. If it&#8217;s 0\u00b0C outside and 22\u00b0C inside, fresh air enters already warmed to 16\u201319\u00b0C.<\/p>\n<h2>Who needs heat recovery ventilation?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>New, well-insulated apartments with airtight windows where moisture builds up<\/li>\n<li>Families with children or allergies: filters catch dust and pollen<\/li>\n<li>People living on noisy streets<\/li>\n<li>City-centre homes with polluted outdoor air<\/li>\n<li>Homes with underfloor or central heating where heat loss is expensive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Types of heat recovery ventilation<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>How it works<\/th>\n<th>Best for<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Central (ducted)<\/td>\n<td>One unit in the ceiling, ducts to every room<\/td>\n<td>New apartment, house, during renovation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Decentralised (wall)<\/td>\n<td>Compact device in the wall, one per room<\/td>\n<td>Existing apartment without ducts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Paired reversible<\/td>\n<td>Two devices alternately supply and extract<\/td>\n<td>2\u20133 room apartment, budget option<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Heating savings<\/h2>\n<p>Ventilating by opening windows in winter loses 25\u201340% of heating. Heat recovery ventilation cuts this loss by 70\u201390%, which in a well-insulated apartment means <strong>15\u201325% lower heating costs<\/strong>. Calculate your heating cost with the <a href=\"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/central-heating-cost-calculator\/\">central heating calculator<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Planning and installation<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Calculate airflow: about 30 m\u00b3\/h per person<\/li>\n<li>Supply air to bedrooms and living room, extract from kitchen, bathroom and toilet<\/li>\n<li>Place the unit where filters are easy to reach<\/li>\n<li>Hide ducts in a suspended or stretch ceiling, planned before renovation<\/li>\n<li>Add silencers and a quiet night mode<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Maintenance<\/h2>\n<p>Filters are replaced every <strong>3\u20136 months<\/strong>, the heat exchanger is washed once a year and ducts are cleaned every 3\u20135 years.<\/p>\n<h2>Common mistakes<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>An undersized unit<\/li>\n<li>Narrow ducts causing noise<\/li>\n<li>No silencers above bedrooms<\/li>\n<li>Forgetting the condensate drain<\/li>\n<li>An unreachable unit<\/li>\n<li>Intake and exhaust too close on the facade<\/li>\n<li>Planning after renovation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Real example<\/h2>\n<p>In a 90 m\u00b2 apartment condensation formed on windows every winter morning and mould appeared in the bathroom. After installing central heat recovery ventilation during renovation, condensation disappeared, mould never returned, and gas consumption fell by about 18%.<\/p>\n<h2>How much does it cost?<\/h2>\n<p>The price depends on the type, area, duct length and brand. Get an estimate with the <a href=\"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/ventilation-calculator\/\">ventilation calculator<\/a> and buy equipment at a discount from our partner <a href=\"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/partners\/\">Cold Metal<\/a>. Learn more: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Heat_recovery_ventilation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Heat recovery ventilation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcf9 Video tips: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/@datvale\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Datvale YouTube<\/a> \u00b7 \ud83d\udc4d News and discounts: <a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/datvale.ge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Datvale Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n<h3>How much electricity does an HRV use?<\/h3>\n<p>Modern units use 30\u2013100 W, about as much as a light bulb, and the heating savings far exceed this.<\/p>\n<h3>Is it noisy?<\/h3>\n<p>A properly installed system with silencers is almost silent in night mode (20\u201325 dB).<\/p>\n<h3>Can it be installed in an existing apartment?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, decentralised wall units need no ducts or major renovation.<\/p>\n<h3>Does it help with dampness?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Constant air exchange keeps humidity at 40\u201360% and prevents condensation and mould.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How heat recovery ventilation works, who needs it, types, planning, maintenance, mistakes and heating savings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":24512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[293,287],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-renovation","category-remonti"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24540,"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24537\/revisions\/24540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datvale.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}