How is a Heat Recovery Ventilator Beneficial?

January 28, 2016

Modern-day homes are designed to be much tighter than older homes. Unfortunately, tight homes generate moisture andcontaminants. While common ventilation systems such as exhaust fans can help remove stale air, they create negative pressure that can draw dust, odors and contaminants into your home. Therefore, there's need for a more balanced and innovative ventilation system such as a heat recovery ventilator (HRV).

What is a Heat Recovery Ventilator?
An HRV is a type of energy recovery ventilation system that exhausts stale air from your home and brings in fresh air. It includes fans that push the incoming and outgoing air, a heat exchanger, a filter that removes particulates from the incoming air, and controls.

How Does it Work? 
The unit sucks your indoor air through ducts positioned in one or more rooms. As the air is being pushed to an exterior vent, fresh outdoor air is pulled into your home. The incoming and outgoing air streams pass through alternate passages. In the winter, as the streams pass each other, some of the heat from the warmer outgoing stream migrates to the cooler incoming stream. In the summer, the HRV takes heat from the inbound air and transfers it to the outbound air.

How Does it Benefit Your Home?
By using heat from the warm exhaust air to heat the incoming air, a heat recovery ventilator reduces your heating costs. It reduces your cooling costs in the summer by stripping off some of the incoming air's heat. An HRV improves your home's indoor air quality. It filters the incoming air and removes dust, pollen, and other particulates. It helps you get rid of odors and excess humidity by replacing stale, humid indoor air with dry, fresh air. When there's excessive outdoor humidity, it's better to use an energy recovery ventilator, a device that's similar to an HRV but dehumidifies the inbound air. There are many HRVs in the market. Look for a heat recovery ventilator that's Energy Star-qualified.

If you have any questions about heat recovery ventilators, please contact us at Lozier Heating & Cooling. We serve the greater Des Moines area. Our goal is to help educate our customers in the greater Des Moines, Iowa area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  Credit/Copyright Attribution: "Pincasso/Shutterstock"