Electric water heating specialist Heatrae Sadia has entered the heat recovery market with two new product ranges.
Heatrae Sadia now offers mechanical ventilation and heat recovery (MVHR) units – the Itho Advance and the Itho HRU ECO 4 – as well as a shower heat recovery unit (SHRU) – the Itho SHRU 60.
The UK Building Regulations are driving the specification of MVHR and SHRU, especially in new build, with both solutions helping property developers, architects, specifiers, contractors and installers to meet SAP requirements cost effectively. As well as reducing a property’s carbon footprint, both solutions also offer homeowners reduced fuel bills and increased comfort.
MVHR systems have been raising the bar in terms of interior comfort and energy conservation. The HRU ECO 4 captures up to 91 per cent of the heat in outgoing air and transfers it to the incoming supply, and, even though it continuously extracts air from wet rooms, it still uses less energy than traditional intermittent fans. Meanwhile, the Advance unit, designed for apartments and small houses, has a specific fan power (SFP) of just 0.37 W/l/s, which has led to the creation of the 0.4 W/l/s or less SAP Appendix Q category.
The shower heat recovery unit transfers heat from discharged waste shower water into the incoming supply, meaning taking a shower can cost less – or can last longer using the same amount of hot water as before. Heatrae Sadia will be offering the SHRU 60, which recovers approximately 60 per cent of energy.
SHRU 60 can also deliver significant improvements to SAP scores, and is one of the most cost-effective ways to meet SAP requirements. Furthermore, SHRU is covered under the Green Deal, increasing the attractiveness to private and social landlords, and the products don’t require any regular maintenance or end user interface.
Paul Rivett, managing director of Heatrae Sadia, said: “The introduction of these new products will significantly enhance our new build offering. Because they offer a highly cost-effective SAP benefit, MVHR and SHRU will increasingly become a part of new build specifications – in fact new build accounts for 80 per cent of the MVHR market.
“Not only do we have a national sales team and in-house design team 100 per cent focused on new build, we can also offer full national distribution for these products, including via electrical wholesalers.”
Although MVHR and SHRU products are primarily installed in new build properties, they can also be fitted in existing dwellings. When fitted retrospectively into a suitable property, the products’ running costs can deliver savings to end users which are comparable with solar thermal.
Heatrae Sadia will also be offering the CVE ECO 2, a continuous mechanical extract system which outperforms and uses less energy than intermittent fans.