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MVHR vs heat pump
MVHR and heat pumps are frequently confused, but they do completely different jobs. A heat pump heats your home and hot water. MVHR ventilates your home and recovers heat from the air it extracts. They are not alternatives; under the Future Homes Standard many new homes will use both. This guide clears up the difference.
By VentRight Editorial · Last updated 2026-07-08 · Impartial · Sourced
A heat pump heats the home; MVHR ventilates it and recovers heat. They do different jobs, and new homes often use both.
MVHR and a heat pump do different jobs — labels
- heatpumpHeat pump — Heats the home and hot water by moving heat from outside into the home.
- mvhrMVHR — Ventilates the home, supplying fresh air and extracting stale air, and recovers most of the heat from the outgoing air.
What is the difference between MVHR and a heat pump?
A heat pump is a heating system: it moves heat from the outside air or ground into the home to warm rooms and hot water. MVHR is a ventilation system: it supplies fresh air, extracts stale air, and recovers heat from the outgoing air. One heats the home; the other ventilates it. They are not doing the same job.
The confusion is understandable, because both involve moving heat and both suit modern efficient homes. But they sit in different parts of the house doing different things: the heat pump is the boiler replacement, and the MVHR is the ventilation. Neither can do the other job.
Do MVHR and a heat pump do the same thing?
No. This is the most common confusion. MVHR does not heat the home; its heat recovery only reduces the heat lost through ventilation, so the heating has less to do. A heat pump does the actual heating. Neither replaces the other. Confusing them leads people to think one makes the other unnecessary, which is not the case.
Put simply, MVHR keeps a home fresh and holds on to heat that ventilation would waste; a heat pump generates the heat in the first place. In an airtight home you want both: efficient heating, and ventilation that does not throw that heat straight back out.
Can you have MVHR and a heat pump together?
Yes, and it is increasingly the norm. Under the Future Homes Standard, many new homes will use a heat pump for heating and MVHR for ventilation, each doing its own job. They complement each other well: the airtight, well-insulated home a heat pump suits is exactly the kind of home that needs MVHR to ventilate without wasting heat.
The two are a natural pairing for a low-carbon home. A heat pump works best in a well-insulated, airtight house, and that same house needs mechanical ventilation to stay healthy. So rather than competing, they are two halves of how a modern efficient home is heated and ventilated. See our Future Homes Standard guide.
Does MVHR reduce the heat pump running cost?
Indirectly, yes. By recovering most of the heat that ventilation would otherwise lose, MVHR reduces the home heating demand, so the heat pump has less work to do. It does not power or replace the heat pump, but in an airtight home the two together are efficient: good ventilation with little heat wasted, and efficient heating to top up what is needed.
The saving comes from lower heating demand, not from MVHR feeding energy to the heat pump. In a leaky home the effect is smaller, because uncontrolled draughts lose heat anyway. In the airtight home the pairing is designed for, the reduced ventilation heat loss is a real and worthwhile part of keeping running costs down.
Questions
- Is MVHR the same as a heat pump?
- No. A heat pump heats the home and hot water; MVHR ventilates the home and recovers heat from the air it extracts. They do different jobs and neither replaces the other.
- Do I need both MVHR and a heat pump?
- In a modern airtight home, often yes. The heat pump heats it and the MVHR ventilates it. Under the Future Homes Standard many new homes will use the two together.
- Does MVHR heat the house?
- No. MVHR recovers heat from outgoing air to reduce ventilation heat loss, which lowers heating demand, but it does not heat the home. That is the heating systems job.
- Does MVHR work with an air source heat pump?
- Yes, and it is a common pairing. The heat pump provides heating while the MVHR provides ventilation with heat recovery, each doing a separate job.