How long does home ventilation last
A heat-recovery ventilation unit (MVHR) lasts 15 to 20 years, a bathroom or kitchen extract fan 10 to 15, and a split air-conditioning unit 12 to 20. The fan and the filter run on much shorter clocks than the ductwork they sit in, and most ventilation surprises come from treating the whole system as one age.
Home ventilation ages on three clocks at once, and the shortest one is the cheapest to keep. The unit that recovers heat and moves the air lasts 15 to 20 years; a single extract fan 10 to 15; a split air-conditioning unit 12 to 20. The filter inside them is a yearly change, and the ducting they feed usually outlives the lot. Most ventilation trouble is a fan or a filter mistaken for a whole system.
What each part lasts
| Type | Typical lifespan | What usually ends it |
|---|---|---|
| MVHR unit (heat recovery) | 15–20 years | fan bearing wear, heat exchanger fouling, control board failure |
| Extract fan (bathroom/kitchen) | 10–15 years | motor failure, bearing wear |
| Split air conditioning | 12–20 years | refrigerant leak, compressor failure, fan motor wear |
These ranges come from residential ventilation trade data and manufacturer field cohorts behind the planning model. The MVHR figure is the one to hold loosely: it is drawn mainly from UK residential installers and sits at medium confidence, and long-life Nordic residential units may run past it in a way the available data does not yet confirm either way. What the table does settle is the gap between the unit and its consumables. The filter is a yearly job, the heat exchanger wants cleaning about every five years, and the motor is the part that finally sets the unit’s own 15-to-20-year life.
The filter is the maintenance, the unit is the component
A ventilation unit rarely dies of old age before it dies of neglect. A blocked filter makes the fan work harder and the whole house feel stuffy, and it gets read as a failing unit when it is a low-cost consumable. The order of the clocks is the point: change the filter on schedule and the fan bearings and heat exchanger reach their rated years; skip it and the fan wears out early pulling air through a mat of dust. Components age on a two-inflection curve, steady to about half their life then faster, and a starved fan simply arrives at the steep part sooner.
When a unit is worth replacing rather than repairing
Replace the unit, not the system, when the motor or the control board fails and the unit is past three-quarters of its range. A dead fan motor or control board on a twelve-year-old MVHR is a genuine repair-or-replace question, because the ducting stays and only the box changes. A refrigerant leak on a split air-conditioner is the one to watch: re-gassing buys a season, but a compressor that has run dry is usually the end of that unit. The honest test is the annual-cost method, what each fix costs against the years it realistically buys, rather than the size of the repair bill on its own.
When to start planning
Anni’s house near Tampere has an MVHR unit fitted with the build in 2009, seventeen years into a 15-to-20-year range, and it still runs quietly because the filters have been changed every year. That steady record is exactly the signal to plan rather than wait. She books a service to confirm the heat exchanger and motor are sound, then prices a replacement unit for the next year or two as a planned job while the current one is still working. The version of this that goes wrong is the January morning the fan seizes and the house sits without ventilation until someone can fit whatever is in stock.
What this means before you call anyone
A ventilation unit replaced on plan is a quiet upgrade; one replaced on failure is a cold, stuffy week and a rushed choice. Keep the filter cycle and the unit cycle as two separate lines and neither surprises you. You can check the repair-or-replace arithmetic for your unit with the free repair-or-replace calculator below, and the plan in appkeep tracks the filter change, the heat-exchanger clean, and the unit’s own replacement year as the three clocks they are.
Is this a repair year or a replacement year?
You give the component, its age, and the repair quote you are holding. You see which costs less per year of service, and how much life a repair can honestly buy at this age. The method is the one property managers run: cost divided by the years it buys, not the size of the two numbers side by side.
The answer
Pick a component, its age, and the repair quote to see the year you are in.
The money is one input, not the decision. See the repair-or-replace guide for the third option (waiting, with a date) and the four times the arithmetic gets overruled: safety, energy rules, insurance, and a third failure in a year.
This runs on typical market prices and lifespans, not your own component. Signed in, appkeep runs the same method on your house's real age, cost, and history.
- Lifespans and installed replacement costs are the sourced seed behind appkeep's plan (RgdBOEI 2012 / NEN 2767, NAHB, BRE, CIBSE, trade bodies, manufacturer guidance). Prices are per unit, VAT-inclusive, in today's money. Each carries its own confidence label, shown next to the number.
- A repair does not reset the component's clock. The years a repair buys are capped by the life the component has left, and past roughly three-quarters of its life that shrinks fast, because wear accelerates. The tool reflects that in the years-a-repair-buys figure.
- The tool prices the money. It cannot see the component's condition, whether this is its first fault or its third, or a safety or insurance rule that forces the call. Those sit with you and the linked guide.
Common questions
How long does an MVHR unit last?
A mechanical ventilation heat-recovery (MVHR) unit lasts 15 to 20 years. The fan motor usually sets that limit; the heat exchanger and control board can be replaced within it. The single biggest factor in reaching the top of the range is the filter: changed on a yearly cycle, it keeps the fan from overworking, while a neglected filter shortens the unit's life by forcing the motor to pull air through blocked media. Ducting hidden in the structure typically outlasts the unit and is not replaced with it.
How often should I change my ventilation filter?
Change a mechanical ventilation filter on a yearly cycle, and have the heat exchanger cleaned roughly every five years. These are maintenance sub-cycles, not signs the unit is failing. A blocked filter is the most common reason a ventilation system feels like it has failed when it has not: airflow drops, the house feels stuffy, and the fan draws more current, all fixed by a low-cost consumable. Keeping the filter cycle is what lets the fan and heat exchanger reach their rated 15-to-20-year life.
How long does split air conditioning last?
A split air-conditioning unit lasts 12 to 20 years. The compressor and the refrigerant circuit set the limit: a slow refrigerant leak can be re-gassed for a season or two, but a compressor that has run low on refrigerant usually fails for good. Annual filter cleaning and keeping the outdoor unit clear of debris carry it toward the top of the range. Past about fifteen years, a major fault such as a failed compressor is generally the point to replace the unit rather than repair it.
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