Are heat recovery and underfloor heating systems viable for a renovation project?

We recently bought a 1970s home that needs to be brought up to modern standards. We’ll incorporate double glazing and better insulation. We also plan to insulate the roof, walls and underneath the suspended flooring. Hopefully, after all these changes, the house will achieve the good levels of airtightness we are after.

As for heating and ventilation, I would like to go the whole hog and buy into the best green solutions out there. But money and the home’s design are a worrying factor.

As part of the renovation of our L-shaped home, we’ll switch many windows to doors to accentuate outdoor living. We hope to spend a reasonable amount of time with large parts of the house open to the garden. How would this affect a mechanical ventilation & heat recovery (MVHR) system, and are these units noisy?

On the issue of cost, is it worth installing underfloor heating (UFH) if we don’t fit renewables? As this is a retrofit project we don’t want to disturb aspects of the house if we won’t get good results.

If you have the doors wide open you probably won’t have the heating on and you wouldn’t need the MVHR unit on either, so don’t worry on that score. If it’s a concern, then you can link a window sensor to the system so it switches off automatically when the large swathes of glass are open.

Well designed and installed MVHR systems are silent as long as the fan and motor are located outside the living space – such as in the loft or garage. is option is very marginal on cost savings, but a whole house system is especially useful where natural ventilation is limited, like your 1970s home. You are adding insulation, too, which will reduce air leakage. You’ll therefore need to make sure you have adequate fresh air, especially in bedrooms and living spaces.

UFH is great, as it gets rid of space-hogging radiators and runs at a lower temperature, emitting heat evenly where you most need it. Bear in mind that 1970s dwellings were often built with solid slabs and no insulation – which are a pain to dig up. However, you say you have suspended floors so it could be easier to retrofit.

ere are also low profile solutions now that require minimal disruption. Read more about UFH on page 66.