All you need to know

Questions and answers

On your VMC system

  • Indoor air can be polluted by a number of factors.
  • Carbon monoxide CO2 is produced by human breathing and by cooking food.
  • Water vapour is caused by cooking fumes and using baths.
  • Radon is a gas that infiltrates from subsoil through micro-cracks in floors and water inlet and drainage pipes.
  • Volatile organic compounds (formaldehyde, benzene and toluene) are pollutants released from furniture and domestic cleaning products.
  • Cooking and body odours, caused by normal domestic activities.
  • Mould and bacteria that may form on walls indoors, caused by condensation.
  • Mites, pollen and airborne particulates, caused by home upholstery, or originating from outdoors.
  • Cigarette smoking.

The optimum CO2 limit for domestic environments should be a maximum value of 1.5 l/mc. In a closed environment such as a room with two people, CO2 levels can reach of 6-7 l/mc, approximately four times the value considered ideal.

The answer is definitely to ensure good ventilation.
The simplest solution is to leave windows open, but this also creates significant thermal dispersion, so much energy is wasted.
A good ventilation system can resolve the problem of air exchange, creating a very limited loss of energy.

It is a good idea to have half the air volume exchanged every hour. In this way, every 2 hours all the air in your home is exchanged.

The immediately apparent benefits with a good ventilation system are:

  • Comfort: comfort is evident in the air quality you will notice in your home, which is always “fresh,” even if closed for days.
  • Hygiene: eliminates mould, bacteria and harmful radon gas often found in building materials.
  • Energy savings: as well as a legal obligation (Legislative Decree 311/2006), a direct effect of the VMC’s principle of operation is that constant air exchange is ensured without losing heat or energy through open windows.

The answer is definitely to ensure good ventilation.
The simplest solution is to leave windows open, but this also creates significant thermal dispersion, so much energy is wasted.
A good ventilation system can resolve the problem of air exchange, creating a very limited loss of energy.

Owing to the continuous exchange of air, it maintains a healthy environment, and eliminates the formation of mould, odours and condensation, without wasting energy.

Because continuous air exchange keeps the humidity of a building relatively low, thus significantly reducing the risk of condensation forming on colder walls and the subsequent formation of mould.

Simple human breathing, as well as cooking food, produces CO2.
A good ventilation system continuously exchanges the air and in that way prevents the accumulation of CO2, with clean air entering from outdoors.

A good VMC system continuously exchanges air. Therefore, by extracting indoor air, the accumulation of pollutants is prevented.

The system of dual-flow Mechanical Ventilation with heat recovery is a system that extracts air from humid rooms (kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms and storage rooms).
At the same time, the system extracts the new air outdoors and feeds it into the living room and other rooms through a network of tiny pipes and grids.
The fresh air intake is filtered and pre-treated naturally using a heat exchanger that recovers thermal energy from the extracted air.

The cost of the VMC system is determined based on the knowledge of the environment in which it is installed and depends on:

  • the number of rooms
  • the total area

It depends on the size of the dwelling, but a medium-sized apartment can consume less than 100W, and a small house can consume less than 150W.

Modern heat recovery units are more than 90% efficient, so given the very low consumption of the system, significant heating and air-conditioning cost savings can be achieved.
In all cases, the energy savings determined by the VMC system recoup the system’s initial cost.
In addition to recouping the system’s cost, our health and our level of wellbeing within the environment in which we live can improve.

Not at all, since modern heat recovery units are designed and built to contain noise levels to the maximum and make them virtually undetectable.

The VMC system is maintenance free.
The only thing to check is that the filters normally housed inside the regenerator are cleaned and replaced, which is an easy and cheap task to perform and should be carried out twice a year.

Recovery is the heart of the VMC system.
The heat recovery unit contains two fans, one for extracting indoor air and one for intake of outdoor air.
The heat recovery unit contains an exchanger that enables the recovery of thermal energy for heating or cooling incoming air.
In winter, the cold air from outdoors is heated before it is released and in summer, hot air from outside is cooled.

Ecoclima heat recovery units are particularly sophisticated and optimally adjust airflow according to the size of the environment, thus providing the correct exchange of air and maximum energy savings.
Initial adjustment is made during installation, but it is still also possible to change the settings according to needs by using a simple control panel.

Yes, it is better if a new construction, but if the building is already existing, installing a small suspended ceiling is usually all that is required.

The integration of the VMC system with an existing air-conditioning system depends on the type of system already installed.
In the Ecoclima catalogue there are heat recovery units that provide de-humidification, heating, cooling and air exchange, all using a single system.

The visual impact of the VMC system is negligible.
The only visible component in the room is a small grill used to supply and return air to and from individual rooms.