Is a HRV the way to go?-installed/update

[jimbo222]

In 1st picture shown above the Fresh air to the furnace must go on the return air duct, and not on the supply air duct shown.If installed as shown the furnace blower will overpower the HRV motor and burn it out .
second picture is better whith both pipes in the return air

[wolf_bluejay]

I have to admit, there was a huge difference in the "tiredness" of my house after the HRV was installed -- so much that I would install it without and aquarium.

And since I forgot to mention it in the my previous post, I used to fight with low PH all the time, and after the HRV it is just perfect without much fiddling. The CO2 levels in you house can build up quite high. In a school building with CO2 monitor it can go from about 400 ppm first thing in the morning to well over 700 later in the day and your house isn't much different. the excess CO2 is what causes your PH to drop and you to feel tired.
In reality the HRV is the same as turning on your bathroom fan and opening a window -- without the 100% loss of heat/cold. Recently I modified my HRV setup to dump the return air directly into our exercise room (treadmill) and we did notice a difference as that room didn't have all that great airflow.

If I was doing an install on a new house where you could run the ducts without ripping apart walls --- exhaust air from the bathrooms instead of fans, and put the return into the main living areas rather than into the furnace (like the photos).

Originally Posted by jimbo222

Wow lots of great info and opinions on HRV/s Here's mine...

We have to keep in mind that a HRV is an AIR EXCHANGER and not only a De-humidifier.
The De-humidification is an added bonus this unit features, or provides.
It is quit amazing how much OXYGEN is reduced in the home and not replaced. You probably dont notice it but you are probably getting tired and sleepy. Your Furnace uses oxygen as it burns, your water tank uses oxygen when it's running, each person in the house is using oxygen, and MOST IMPORTNTLY our aquarium's are using it all up. I guaranty you will have more stable PH if you install a Air Exchanger, usually will go up by .2 or .3.
I realize some homes have fresh air and combustion air intakes to the furnace room but this does not provide air exchange, but prevents a negative pressure in the house.
Personal y I think An HRV is a Very important unit in the climate that we live in. < if installed properly> Not only as De-humidification help but for Healthy Fresh outdoor air.

AS mentioned above aswell make sure that your humidifier on the furnace is installed correctly, especially if it;s a new home. < iv been to too many home's where the humidifier was installed incorrectly and runs anytime the furnace comes on >

The money we put into this hobby... , $700 unit is nothing in the long run, and will save your home from mold.

[wolf_bluejay]

Just as I was looking this up -- currently between the BC and federal eco energy rebate program if you get high enough "air sealing" and install an HRV you can get $1375 in rebates. As this doesn't require that you spend MORE than that to get the grant, and buy one for $600-700 and install it yourself you actually can make a profit or spend the rest to improve the efficiency of you house

[bkelly]

well my HRV is in and has been running a few weeks now. Its completely dried out the house. My doors open and the windows are dry. It took a bit of work to get the in flow/out flow pipes insulated so not to leak condensate all over the wall. Were really happy with it , saved the house. I have been bleaching the mold on the ceiling spots and will re paint. It had gotten quite serious. I saved a fair bit installing it myself. All in all a really good choice.

[MarkoD]

glad to hear it worked. i achieved the same results of lower humidity by switching to LED

[KevinK]

bringing this all a bit further, whatsize do you need?

as I need to order and install one before march (to get the grant) I'm reading up a bit,

there are energy star once and gust regular, ok I se that, as the star once use less power. but in between all type of units and brands, it is a matter of CF per houre ore CF per minute.

so now wondering, how much air flow do you need for a particular house size,

would it be like 100CFM is good for 2000 sqft house, 150 CFM is for 2500 sqft house and so on and so on.

cant find this infor 1,2,3

also, would you considder to have one intake in a filter room, ore above the tank (salty air)

[mark]

Originally Posted by KevinK

so now wondering, how much air flow do you need for a particular house size,


also, would you considder to have one intake in a filter room, ore above the tank (salty air)

google "sizing HRV" or look installations manuals for either the formula based on the volume of house or the tables.

my plan is pull the stale air from high point in the house, fresh air tied into force air furnace ducting. I wouldn't pull directly from over the tank as wouldn't think the moist salt air would be to good for the HRV fan motors

[bkelly]

I took my stale from the laundry room and the room linked /beside to my tank room i was going to run more but that was enough to do the trick, i didnt balance it but its an older home so heard thats not as important in older homes due to not being totally sealed. Plus balancers are expensive and i installed myself. I got the Lennox 200 it was the higher volume one but i wanted to up and not worry, my humidity is way lower now. (below 40%), it returns into the furnace up stream of the blower , the blower is wired to the HRV to be on when its on, the air that blows is a little cool when not heated , house is a bit cooler, its only -5 to -10 out.. Ill have to run on low in the summer but this wasnt an issue in the summer , good for fresh air into the home.

[bkelly]

yes the calculators can go by sq foot or average home size base on 3-4 bdr etc. for getting an idea on size of HRV needed, mine was for a standard 3 bdrm home. although i got the size up. Got it through Coral in Kelowna. saved $1500 installing myself. Didnt go for the grants, didnt get the inspections before and after, seemed not much left after. We were in a rush to save the home from damage.

[rayjay]

In my case I spoke with the engineer for Lifebreath here in London where they are made, and he took the square footage of the house, the year it was built, extra insulation of any kind added after the build, and then wanted to know the surface area and temperature of all the open water in my house, to come up with an accurate determination.