What to know: the benefits of combining ducted central heating and cooling with ventilation

When designing a new build home, many turn to a central ducted heat pump system to seamlessly integrate heating and cooling into their architectural vision. However, most heat pumps do not use fresh outdoor air which is vital in today’s modern airtight builds for ensuring a healthy and comfortable living environment. 

Ensure comfort and energy efficiency is maximised by combining a ducted central heating system with Lossnay Fresh Air Heat Recovery Ventilation. Adding both to a project at the same time can save you time and money.

Sufficient home ventilation is vital in maintaining air quality and reducing moisture, creating a healthier and more comfortable environment. But it’s not always possible to have windows open all day every day – especially when trying to maintain a desired temperature through air conditioning.

When planning your new home’s heating and cooling, it’s now key to consider how a balanced pressure ventilation system can work with or alongside your chosen system. Mitsubishi Electric’s Lossnay Fresh Air Heat Recovery range can be integrated with a Mitsubishi Electric Ducted Heat Pump to create a high-performing, cost-effective and energy-efficient year-round climate control solution.

Lossnay Balanced Pressure Ventilation Systems recover heat energy from the stale outgoing air that has already been heated or cooled by your heat pump in the home. The result: Lossnay can save energy costs by pre-warming or pre-cooling any incoming filtered fresh air from outside.

This means that when the Lossnay is combined with Mitsubishi Electric’s Ducted Heat Pump System, the right temperature is achieved faster because the heating system is not required to work as hard to do so.

“Essentially, the heating or cooling you have already paid for is not going to waste,” says Mills.

With a Lossnay Fresh Air Heat Recovery Ventilation system, the air in the home is much drier with the system extracting stale and damp air from inside the house and replacing it with allergen-reduced fresh air from outside, improving indoor air quality.

“Not only does this improve indoor air quality for occupants, by helping to reduce dampness, building materials and new furnishings are better protected, future-proofing your project to stand the test of time, not to mention drier air costing less to heat.”

Choosing to install Lossnay in conjunction with your ducted heat pump system can significantly reduce labour and material costs compared to installing the two systems independently. When installed together, Lossnay may allow you to share ductwork and some supply grilles and diffusers, streamlining the installation process and enhancing overall efficiency. The combined system can also be controlled via one central wall mounted controller for greater ease of use. 

Discrete grilles for supply and extract ducts offer a unique opportunity for designers and homeowners to customise fittings to align with their interior design vision. By colour-matching grilles and vents to the walls or ceilings, a seamless and unobtrusive look can be achieved. Alternatively, opting for decorative grilles that complement the room’s theme – be it vintage or modern linear designs – ensures that climate control elements enhance, rather than detract from, the overall aesthetic.

With the help of optional Wi-Fi Control, users can easily see how their Lossnay ventilation system is performing and make adjustments to boost efficiencies in the same app as their heat pump. 

“Throughout the year, the way to maximise the system is to have visibility, and Wi-Fi Control puts the power in the homeowner’s hands to see how it’s operating and either make changes where they need or have the system make those changes intuitively for them,” says Mills.

“In summer for example, many homes are prone to overheating. With Wi-Fi Control homeowners can see when their Lossnay system has entered Automatic Free Cooling Mode* intuitively, having automatically detected that the air outside is cooler than the desired set temperature inside. The result is that hot air is expelled and the home benefits from free cooling* and your central air conditioning system doesn’t have to work as hard to bring the home back to the desired temperature.”

By linking the heat pump unit and the Lossnay unit in the app, the combined system can be work intuitively together and be controlled from anywhere.

* In comparison to using a dedicated cooling device. The unit will continue to use a small amount of power to bring colder fresh air from outside.

“Because of how homes are being built in today's environment with increased H1 requirements in the Building Code, ventilation should no longer be an afterthought; it should be very much front of mind alongside heating and cooling from the get-go,” says Mills. 

Mitsubishi Electric is happy to work with design professionals to discuss ideas and possible scenarios for the various projects they’re working on. 

“Systems can impact the heating and cooling load of the home, reducing the stress of the building in terms of building health in the long term. With our network of installers and long-standing relationships across the country, we can make sure professionals get the best application for their clients.”

Explore more heating, cooling and ventilation solutions from Mitsubishi Electric on ArchiPro.