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Can't I just open a window?

While a nice old drafty house might have been able to give you the necessary fresh air you need, it doesn't do anything to filter the incoming air, nor does it do anything to reduce airborne contaminants. Even the fans you use in the bathroom to exhaust the moist air from bathing create more of a problem because the cause a negative pressure buildup inside your home. As they pump air out, the remaining vacuum draws air through the house itself, bringing with it all the dust, pollen, mold, and other contaminants that exist there. If radon is a problem, these make the radon problem even worse. You might not be dealing with black mold, but you'll be dealing with a lot of other problems.

How do they work?

A heat recovery ventilator has two separate channels. One that moves the stale, moist air from inside your home out, and the other ductwork that brings fresh air from the outside into your home. As the two streams of air pass one another, they never mix, but they do exchange temperatures. Heat is transferred from the warm air from inside your home to the fresh, cold air coming in from outside. At no time do the streams of air mix. The beauty of a Heat Recovery Ventilator is that they can preserve up to 85% of the heat in the outgoing air. This means serious energy savings to you while you enjoy breathing fresh, clean air.

How much air needs to be moved?

You're looking to move about 200 cfm of air for normal usage. If you have a houseful of people for an overnight gathering, you may wish to increase the fan speed to accommodate that.

How much heat is recovered?

While this will depend on the model, you can expect to recover up to 85% of the outgoing heat in the air being exchanged. This is infinitely cheaper than opening a window!

What about my existing ductwork?

Not a problem, all heat recovery ventilators are designed to work directly with your existing ductwork, so there is very little work that needs to be done to install one. The only thing you have to do is to make sure that the incoming and outgoing air remains separated.

What is a heat recovery ventilator?

A Heat Recovery Ventilator works to bring fresh filtered air into your home or business while exhausting stale air. It works to preheat cold air that is being brought inside in the winter and works to pre-cool the warm incoming air in the summer. It provides fresh air at a low energy cost.

What is the cost?

Installation can be between $2000 to $2500, but your specific situation could change that. It all depends on the existing ductwork and where the unit will be installed.

Where is this installed?

A heat recovery ventilator is typically installed in your basement if you have one and can be connected to the existing ductwork of your home.

Who needs one?

Generally everyone. The American Lung Association highly recommends that we expel the stale and polluted air from our homes and bring in fresh clean air for optimum health.

Why do homes need ventilation?

We don't want to admit it, but the inside of our homes can be a toxic waste dump. Think about closing up your home for the winter. Everyone inside is respirating...meaning they are breathing in oxygen and expelling moist carbon dioxide. Every time we shower, bathe, wash, or cook we are contributing to the moisture content of the air inside our homes. Do you often find water condensing on the insides of your windows? This is not a good sign. It is often during the winter that we discover those black spots of mildew on the walls inside that back closet. Unattended, this could turn into a real health hazard. During the winter we are also heating our homes. Many use gas heaters. Others use a fireplace, wood stove, or a pellet stove. The emissions from these sources of heat are toxic to us. Radon is another concern. If you have any problems with radon accumulating in your home, it is likely to be much worse in the wintertime because your house is closed up. Add to that anything else, a leaky chimney, an unvented heat source, or even your gas range or gas water heater. All of these compete with our precious oxygen, creating stale and very unhealthy breathing air.

Using a heat recovery ventilator, you can vent all these toxins and bring in good, clean, fresh air, and all without breaking the bank like you would if you just opened a window to the arctic chill of winter. Even an energy efficient heating and cooling system does not bring in enough fresh air to make a difference.

Why would I need one?

The American Lung Association recommends using HRVs to protect your lung health. It used to be that our old drafty houses were doing us a bit of good. In the wintertime, when we have the windows closed up against the cold, we were at the mercy of small holes in our home that caused drafts. What we didn't realize is that these drafts were doing us some good by bringing in good fresh air from the outside. Being inside all winter, we suffer from a lot of toxins in our home from the carbon monoxide emissions from a furnace, fireplace, or woodburning stove. Many of the products used to build homes emit gases that are invisible, but when captured inside a home, can cause lung problems.

Carbon dioxide is the end product of human respiration (or breathing). The more people inside a closed up environment, the greater the levels of CO2, and this can quickly reach a very unhealthy level. You could start to feel tired, no energy, have nagging headaches, and feel sleepy all the time. You could be suffering from excessive CO2 levels.

As our homes became more tight and energy efficient, it was noticed that more and more people were suffering from lung ailments because their homes were too tight. The were certainly thermally efficient, but they were also toxic! Those pesky drafts were actually doing us some good because they were introducing fresh, albeit cold, air into our homes. If you can afford to turn up your thermostat, then live with the drafts. If, however, you are like the rest of us and wanting an energy efficient solution, read on...