Ventilation, which means totally hygienic inside air, is a basic requirement for living in a healthy house. Controlled domestic ventilation with heat recovery reuses the energy from the exhaust air. Not only that, the additional heat generated internally from lighting, people and domestic appliances is also utilised through heat recovery.

Fresh outside air is supplied to the house through cleanable outside vent holes. The air overflow occurs under the door or through the overflow vent holes. The warm inside air (exhaust air) is drawn into the ventilation system. Warm exhaust air is supplied to the heat pump for heat recovery. When the inside air has passed through the heat pump the discharge air is released into the open air. Before this, the heat pump has extracted sufficient energy from the exhaust air to produce hot water.

Function of the cooling circuit

The indoor air passes the evaporator at room temperature. Energy is emitted here. The indoor air is then released.

Another fluid circulates in the heat pump in a closed system with the most important characteristic of having a low boiling point. This fluid is called a refrigerant. When the refrigerant reaches the evaporator, which has received energy from the room air, the refrigerant evaporates.

The vapour is fed to a compressor where it is compressed. This results in a high increase in temperature.

The warm refrigerant is fed to the condenser, which is positioned in the boiler water. Here the refrigerant gives off its energy to the boiler water, so that its temperature drops and the refrigerant changes state from gas to liquid.

The refrigerant then goes via filters to an expansion valve, where the pressure and temperature are further reduced.

The refrigerant has now completed its circuit and is once more fed into the evaporator where it is evaporated yet again due to the effect of the energy that the collector has carried from the energy source.

NIBE is the market leader in exhaust air heat pumps. Since NIBE first starting building heat pumps almost 30 years ago, we’ve accumulated a wealth of experience and developed an unrivalled range of products. Our new generation of exhaust air heat pumps takes NIBE’s ground breaking technology a step further. We can now offer a level of performance that guarantees both safe operation and dramatic savings – both in terms of your heating costs and the environment.

Cut your electricity bills dramatically

Instead of letting the energy you’ve already paid for escape via ventilation ducts along with used inside air, it makes perfect sense to recapture that energy and use it again.

Depending on the model you choose and the size of your home, savings achieved from installing an exhaust air heat pump can be as high as 50%. So you only pay half or even less of the cost of heating and hot water compared with a conventional electric boiler with mechanical exhaust air ventilation.

Reduce environmental impact

By extracting existing energy from your home and reusing it to heat up the tap water and the radiators, an exhaust air heat pump leads to much lower CO2 emissions. What’s more, NIBE’s exhaust air heat pump can be connected to a solar energy system such as solar panels on the roof of your home. This means you can take advantage of completely free energy from the sun, without being fully dependent upon it.

Meet new building regulations

Install a NIBE exhaust air heat pump in your home and it will be well equipped to meet current and future building regulations. In some parts of Europe, stringent rules concerning domestic energy efficiency and ventilation in newly built homes already apply. These are likely to get stricter and eventually become standardised across the continent.

More good reasons to choose a NIBE exhaust air heat pump

• Get a complete all-in-one system that provides heating, ventilation and hot water
• A complete exhaust air ‘package’ which includes every single component, down to the last screw or valve. It’s convenient for the installer and cost-effective for you.
• The whole system has been designed to work and look good together.
• You don’t need a large utility room to install a NIBE exhaust air heat pump. A NIBE exhaust air heat pump has normal dimensions (approximate: 60cm x 62.5cm x 210cm).
• Your home is continually, automatically ventilated without becoming cold. There’s no need to ‘air’ the rooms.
• You avoid all the problems associated with damp. Houses that have an exhaust air heat pump, and hence a good ventilation system, stay dry and healthy.