Naantali Housing Fair 2022: Villa Myötätuuli
The log house Villa Myötätuuli stands majestically on its rocky plot in the Naantali Housing Fair area. The future home of the Tikkanen family was completed as a turnkey delivery.
An easy way to acquire a new home is to buy it move-in ready, i.e., as a turnkey delivery. This is also what the family of Harri Tikkanen did.
Villa Myötätuuli is a modern log house, whose mid-century modern architecture and natural interior decor materials create a cosy atmosphere. The house is an adaptation of the Kontio Hill House 124 model and has two living floors. The large windows of the house offer magnificent views of the surrounding nature.
Vallox ventilation was supplied as part of the house package
With the Kontio house, the Tikkanen family acquired a ventilation plan for their house, and a professional chose the Finnish Vallox 110 MV as the ventilation unit of the house. The unit ensures that the indoor air is always fresh, and that the air is replaced in a controlled manner. Ventilation is an important factor in keeping the structures healthy: it removes excessive humidity caused by everyday living from the indoor air and prevents it from getting into the structures of the pine-frame house. Vallox ventilation units are manufactured in Loimaa and have been awarded the Key Flag Symbol (Avainlippu) by the Association for Finnish Work.
Care-free ventilation is operated automatically
There are many aspects to consider when selecting a house package, of which the ventilation unit is not necessarily the most important one. For the Tikkanen family, the diversely equipped ventilation system, delivered as part of the house package, was a positive surprise. The in-built humidity and carbon dioxide sensors of the MyVallox ventilation unit detect increased humidity and carbon dioxide levels in the indoor air. When the levels increase, the unit boosts the ventilation. Need-based ventilation is care-free and also saves energy, when the efficiency of the ventilation is not kept at an unnecessarily high level.
The Tikkanen family can control the ventilation by using the MyVallox control panel located in the entrance lobby or online by using the MyVallox Cloud service.
Warm in winter and cool in summer
The log-framed Villa Myötätuuli is heated by using environmentally-friendly geothermal heating. Vallox ventilation utilises the heat recovered from the extract air and transfers it into the supply air. This way, the supply air is also suitably warm in cold weather, in addition to which the system reduces the heating need of the house. Additional heat is, during winter, produced by the downstairs fireplace. The Tikkanen family uses the Custom mode of the ventilation unit to make lighting a fire in the fireplace easier.
Geothermal heating has also been utilised in Villa Myötätuuli as a source for cooling. During heat waves in summer, cooling is distributed to the living premises by means of a fan convector, which uses the “free” cold energy of the geothermal heating system’s collection circuit. The fan convector usually enables a greater cooling efficiency to be achieved than when a radiator installed in the ventilation duct is used. In addition to a beautiful scenery, large windows let the warmth of the sun into the house, meaning that the cooling must be dimensioned accordingly. Go to Motiva’s website to read more about the available cooling options (in Finnish).
Hot summer weather has also been considered in the architectural solutions and sun protection of the house. The balconies of the house protect the living premises against the mid-summer sun. (In winter, on the other hand, when the sun is lower, the warmth of the sun can get inside the house unobstructed.) Blinds have also been installed outside the large windows to provide protection against the sun. The sun protection of the windows, whose surface area is dozens of square metres, is an efficient means to keep the heat of the summer outdoors.
For the Tikkanen family, the cool recovery of the Vallox ventilation unit is an important feature. When the house is being cooled in hot summer weather by using a fan convector, the ventilation unit cools the hot air blown inside the building with the heat recovery cell by using the cold recovered from the extract air. In other words, the HR cell of the ventilation unit warms up the supply air in winter and is used for cooling the supply air in hot summer weather. Where required, the HR cell can be bypassed, either in full or in part. All of this is fully automated so that the residents do not need to do anything.
The ventilation unit requires very little maintenance
The ventilation unit of Villa Myötätuuli has been located, in a typical manner, in the technical space of the house. Space has been left in front of the wall-mounted unit to make it easy to, e.g., change the filters twice a year and clean the heat recovery cell once every 2-3 years.
