For Builders & Designers

Home Comfort Explorer

See how a home's size, airtightness and the way people live shape comfort, air quality and moisture — and where ventilation makes the difference. Built for builders and designers to explain it, and for homeowners to explore it.

Built to be explained, not engineered

Most sales consultants can comfortably explain stone benchtops, double glazing, solar, batteries and insulation. But ask “why does this home need MVHR?” and many struggle — not because ventilation doesn’t matter, but because it’s rarely taught in plain language.

Instead of asking your team to design a system, this tool starts where they’re strongest: the client and their home. Answer a few simple questions and it turns the result into a story — and the exact words to use.

Builder sales consultantsBuilding consultantsDisplay home staffArchitectsDesignersProject managers
Interactive

What kind of home is your client building?

Set the scenario below to generate talking points tailored to your client.

Start with a preset

Optional starting points. Choose one, then adjust the details below.

Preset loaded: Typical

Adjust the home details

These inputs update the results instantly.

150500

The one thing to remember

This home relies on opening windows for ventilation.

Overall riskSevere

Likely overnight CO₂2,200 ppm

Daily moisture load17 L

Without:Stale bedrooms, Moisture build-up, Reliance on opening windows

With MVHR:Fresh air automatically, Continuous moisture removal, Filtered outdoor air

This home is likely to experience

  • Bedrooms may exceed 2,200 ppm overnight
  • Approximately 17 litres of moisture are added to the air each day
  • Fresh air depends on occupant behaviour
  • Heating and cooling energy is lost whenever the home is aired

With balanced MVHR

  • Fresh, filtered air is delivered automatically
  • Moisture is removed continuously
  • Ventilation works regardless of occupant behaviour
  • More heating and cooling energy is retained

Without designed ventilation

Fresh air depends on…

  • remembering to open windows
  • the weather cooperating
  • tolerating outdoor noise
  • letting in smoke and pollen

With balanced MVHR

Fresh air depends on…

  • the system running normally

That consistency, not any single number, is what MVHR really delivers.

Compare the options

Same home, three ways of handling the air. Greener is better.

No designed ventilation

Home as built

Window airing + fans

Depends on weather & habits

Balanced MVHR

Continuous, filtered

Bedroom freshness
Poor
2,200 ppm
Poor
1,700 ppm
Excellent
800 ppm
Condensation risk
High
Moderate
Moderate
Moisture management
Very poor
Fair
Fair
Comfort
Poor
Poor
Excellent
Smoke resilience
Poor
Very poor
Good
Allergens
Fair
Very poor
Excellent
Energy efficiency
Poor
0%
Poor
0%
Excellent
~80–90%

MVHR does not create heat. It keeps more of the heating or cooling energy you’ve already paid for. Shown for typical winter conditions, for client education only.

Why it happens

Across the seasons

Window airing only improves the air when the weather is mild. MVHR doesn’t depend on the weather at all.

Window airing

1,695 ppm

in winter

1,316 ppm

in summer

Balanced MVHR

780 ppm

the same fresh air, every season

Daily moisture load

How much water vapour this household adds to the air each day.

17 L/day

17 × 1 L bottles

Cooking, showers, breathing, drying towels and normal occupancy can release this much water vapour into the home each day, about 17 one-litre bottles, or roughly 1.7 buckets of water.

Moisture doesn’t disappear on its own. It must either leave the building through ventilation or condense somewhere inside the home.

A note on bushfire smoke

MVHR’s real benefit on a smoke day is that ventilation can continue while the windows stay closed, and the incoming air is filtered, generally better than opening up. It does not eliminate smoke: standard filters reduce particles but aren’t dedicated smoke filters, so some fine particles and odour can still enter. Higher-efficiency filters improve smoke performance, but they add resistance and can reduce airflow if the system isn’t designed for them. They’re best fitted for smoke events rather than run year-round, and aren’t a permanent HEPA solution.

Talking points

For each issue: what the client feels, what you can say, and what MVHR changes.

When your client asks…

Tap a question to reveal a plain-English answer.

These figures are indicative and designed for client education — they are not a ventilation design, airflow schedule or commissioning target. HiPer Haus sizes and commissions each MVHR system separately for the actual home. MVHR improves indoor air quality, manages moisture and supplies filtered fresh air, but it does not remove all moisture, guarantee a specific humidity level, or completely stop bushfire smoke. Model assumptions: ≈18 L/h CO₂ per sleeping adult, home volume = floor area × 2.4 m, natural air change ≈ ACH50 ÷ 20, ≈2.7 L/day moisture per occupant plus a wet-area and overnight allowance.

Lead with the problem

What problem are we solving?

Clients don’t buy features — they buy solutions to problems they recognise. Start here, not with the spec sheet.

Stuffy bedrooms

Why it happens

Two sleeping adults in a closed, well-sealed bedroom can push CO₂ well past 2,000 ppm by morning. There's nowhere for the stale air to go.

How MVHR helps

MVHR supplies a steady stream of fresh, filtered air to every bedroom overnight, so the room feels fresh at 6am — not stuffy.

Condensation

Why it happens

Everyday living adds litres of moisture to the air. In a sealed home that moisture builds up and settles on the coldest surfaces — usually windows and reveals.

How MVHR helps

By continuously removing humid air before it accumulates, MVHR keeps indoor humidity in a healthy range, so windows stay clear.

Mould

Why it happens

Mould needs moisture. Persistent high humidity and condensation give it everything it needs to grow in wardrobes, corners and behind furniture.

How MVHR helps

Controlling humidity at the source removes the conditions mould needs — protecting both the building and the occupants' health.

Bushfire smoke

Why it happens

On smoke-affected days, opening windows is not an option — but a sealed home with no ventilation becomes stuffy fast.

How MVHR helps

MVHR lets the home stay sealed while still delivering fresh, filtered air, so the family breathes comfortably with the windows shut.

Allergies & pollen

Why it happens

Open windows bring in pollen and dust along with fresh air — a daily problem for hay fever and asthma sufferers.

How MVHR helps

Incoming air is filtered before it reaches the home, so occupants get fresh air without the allergens that come with an open window.

Energy loss

Why it happens

Ventilating by opening windows throws away the heating and cooling you've paid for — and sealed homes with no ventilation trap stale air instead.

How MVHR helps

Heat recovery transfers most of the warmth (or coolth) from outgoing air into the incoming fresh air, so the home breathes without the energy penalty.

Builder cheat sheet

Don’t say this — say this

A living reference for turning technical language into words a client actually feels.

Don’t say

The system provides balanced ventilation.

Say this

The home gets fresh, filtered air all day — without relying on open windows.

Don’t say

It extracts stale air from wet areas.

Say this

It continuously removes moisture before it becomes condensation or mould.

Don’t say

Heat recovery efficiency is 90%.

Say this

You get fresh air without throwing away the heating and cooling you paid for.

Don’t say

It maintains optimal indoor air quality parameters.

Say this

The air in here stays as fresh as a window just opened — all day, every day.

Don’t say

Supply and extract are commissioned to design airflows.

Say this

We tune every system to your home so each room gets exactly the right amount of fresh air.

For your team

Need help explaining ventilation?

HiPer Haus can support your team directly — from display-home sales training and client presentations to design-stage input and project-specific advice.

Display home sales training
Client presentations
Design-stage consultations
Project-specific advice