Acceptable Humidity Levels

[Doug]

As others said, HRV is the way to go. They run from around $800 to $1500 or so, depending on how many electronic gadgets one adds and the size of the units and an installer is required. Make sure you get the proper cfm for your situation. They even have larger two core units and ones that come with de-humidification but dont know what they would cost.

In the summer, central air usually keeps humidity levels in check.

Home Depot has some good HRV units. I like Lifebreath myself.

http://www.lifebreath.com/main.htm

[Delphinus]

My HRV is a Lifebreath as well. Very happy with it. You can barely tell when it's on, it's so quiet.

[littlesilvermax]

Once you get used to good fresh air all the time it is hard to go back.

[Veng68]

I'm going to change my old furnace (from the 60's) and I was wondering what extra work would need to be done to install a HRV unit?

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

[Delphinus]

I'm not 100% sure that an HRV would give you the same bang for the buck in Vancouver or other milder and wetter climates as it would in say Alberta where it runs cold and dry for a goodly part of the year, so that's one thing you might want to check into. But, in answer to your question, if you're ripping out a furnace anyhow, adding a HRV would be only an incremental step. It's basically a box that sits somewhere near your furnace, it has 2 pair of ducts/vents (1 pair goes to the outside, the other pair goes to your furnace vents or to your room that you're targetting {or both}). So 4 vents in all.

One thing to consider if you're getting a new furnace anyhow: consider going "all the way" and get a "high efficiency" furnace (the more common ones are considered "mid efficiency").

A high efficiency furnaces uses a DC drive motor for the fan instead of AC and the cost savings is apparently enormous. For example, you can run your fan on all the time, and still pay less for heating than a mid-efficiency furnace who only turns on when needed. Having the fan on 24/7 can do a LOT to keep humidity in check because it's constantly cycling.

I wish someone had explained that to me when I put my furnace in. By the time I realized this about the furnaces (ie. the DC drives) it was too late and I had a mid-efficiency furnace put in. The cost upswing if you're buying a furnace anyhow is easier to take than the full purchased cost of a new one when your current furnace is too new to be replaced anyhow, so I'm sort of stuck. But that's why I thought I'd tell you - if you're looking at replacing a furnace regardless - then high efficiency is the way to go.

HTH

[Parker]

I have had two HVAC companies in an neither of them are recommending HRV's to solve the problem. Has anyone delt with a specific company in Edmonton? One company suggests venting directly over the tank to the outside and the other simply recommended a dehumidifier.

[ponokareefer]

We bought a dehumidifier and it has solved our problems with humidity in our house. We picked ours up at Home Depot.