Can an apartment heat recovery system replace a split system?

Good afternoon, Svetlana.

Heat recovery refers to the selection of gigacalories of air discharged outside. That is, supply and exhaust ventilation systems are equipped with recuperators. Recovery units realize the oncoming movement of exhaust and fresh air - the design eliminates the mixing of flows.

Most domestic air conditioners provide thermal comfort of the premises - they cool the air circulating through the indoor unit. Some have a "mixture of outside air", but they do not guarantee a full replacement of the supply and exhaust ventilation.

The heat recovery of the exhaust air makes sense in the cold season, when air conditioners are not in demand. The heating of circulating air carried out by some models is another story.

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As a conclusion, I must say: air conditioners will have to be supplied and supplemented with a supply and exhaust ventilation system with recuperators. For example, today Viessmann offers Vitovent devices for decentralized ventilation - I will not describe the characteristics, you can find it for yourself.

If your apartment is at the design stage, you can confuse specialists with the development of options for the feasibility of centralized air conditioning and ventilation. The feasibility study will show that it is more profitable - a common or individual system.