ᐅ Semi-detached house with decentralized ventilation system including heat recovery

Hello everyone,

We are looking to buy a semi-detached house with a full basement, ground floor, upper floor, and a converted attic studio. The developer has planned a decentralized heat recovery ventilation system with a total of 4 units, which apparently will only be installed on the ground and upper floors. The attic studio is planned with a shower bathroom, and we would like to set up our bedroom there as well.

When asked, they said it would of course be possible to install a central HRV system instead. However, we were told this would cost about €13,000 more. That sounds quite excessive to me, especially since the approximately €4,500 for the decentralized solution is not deducted—instead, the total cost would actually be €17,500.

What do you think? Do you have any experience convincing developers to install a central HRV system without exceeding the budget?

Many thanks in advance for your feedback!

Do you really want a central control system? Everyone would then have to run on the same settings, with no individual adjustments possible.

At least that’s how I understand centralized HVAC control.

By central ventilation with heat recovery, I mean that the unit itself is located in a central place (e.g., basement) and ventilates the entire house through ducts/pipes (the house is 150 m² (1,615 ft²), by the way). In the planned decentralized ventilation with heat recovery, for example, there is no unit planned in the attic.