hrv / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

How to Choose between an HRV and ERV system
HRV and ERV

Choosing between an HRV and an ERV

...HRV or ERV Ventilation Exchanger Systems. The key questions are: How much fresh air is enough? How much fresh air comes in through the building envelope? What is the difference between an ERV and an HRV? How to choose between an HRV and an ERV? How much fresh air is required in homes and the best way to provi...

The importance of Cleaning HRV intakes
HRV and ERV

How to keep your HRV clean and operating efficiently

...HRV units is so important  When any machine has its normal operation hampered, it will reduce its efficiency and ability to function properly. Many of us are probably guilty of forgetting about basic maintenance of some of the mechanical equipment in our homes; keeping your HRV (heat recovery ventilator) clean would be...

DIY air exchanger installation video
HRV and ERV

DIY Lunos HRV air exchanger installation video

...HRV) system is very different than what people are probably used to seeing, where air is directed to a centralized core for a heat exchange before being exhausted from the house. Lunos is a decentralized system with a series of self-contained units, each with their own ceramic heat exchange core. They work in pairs blo...

Heat Recovery Ventilation - Lunos video
HRV and ERV

Lunos ductless air exchanger

...HRVs) are an essential component of any air-sealed high performance home, bringing in fresh air and removing moisture. An HRV uses the heat in stale exhaust air to warm incoming fresh air. Until now, this has meant a centralized heat transfer core and a network of ducts feeding and drawing air throughout the home. With...

Condensation on windows leads to mold & mildew in homes, ERV & HRV systems help
Ventilation

Ventilation & air exchangers

...HRV? Mechanical ventilation systems are known as heat exchangers, HVACs (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) or HRVs (Heat Recovery Ventilators). The point of these systems is to remove moisture and provide fresh air to your home that is pre-heated by the outgoing air. © Van EE The core of an HRV has small sep...

Which Houseplants are Best to Clean Air & Remove Toxins?
Healthy indoor air quality

Which houseplants are best for purifying air? Ecohome investigates

...HRVs and ERVs (heat recovery and energy recovery ventilators) that can be added without great hassle to improve indoor air quality.  Ductless ventilators simply require feeding a low-voltage wire to units, so no major renovation is required and wires can be fairly easy to hide. See our DIY ductless HRV installation vi...

HEPA filters & SMART Air Filters catch airborne dust, pollen, allergens, viruses
Healthy indoor air quality

Buying guide for home air filters in furnaces - HEPA, SMART or Regular?

What are home air filters used for?   Air filters on air handling units such as furnaces, HRV and ERV systems are intended to clean and purify the air before it enters the ducts of your home, to protect indoor air quality from being contaminated with airborne particulate. Dust, dirt, and pollen in the air of homes is s...

Wildfire Smoke & How to Keep it Outside Homes
Healthy indoor air quality

How to keep wildfire smoke out of Homes with mechanical ventilation systems?

...HRV or ERV unit filter must have a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) of 13 to provide effective protection against particulate matter in the air we're going to breath inside a home or office building if it's smokey outside. How an HRV works © Cold Climate Housing Research Center Window-type air conditioners o...

Poly vapour barriers in air conditioned houses can cause mold and rot
Healthy indoor air quality

Why you should Never Install Air-Con in a Home with a Vapor Barrier

...HRV unit for ventilation, as a way to keep your home cooler in summer and warmer in winter while saving a ton of money. Remember, Insulation is the gift that keeps on giving, long after that fancy new central air conditioning system needs major servicing or replacement.  Why are old homes with air-con in great shape wh...

Problem areas of air leakage in a home and blower door test being cond
Air and vapour barriers

Airtight Construction of Homes is Essential: "Your house sucks." "Oh yeah? your house blows!"

...HRVs: Heat recovery ventilators (HRV's) need to be professionally balanced in order to keep an even air pressure. Odds are if you haven't had it balanced it is most certainly providing too much or too little air compared to the amount being exhausted. Bathroom fans: If they are designed to run off a humidistat (a switc...

Off-grid leed home
Off-grid and Net-Zero Housing

Off-grid living blog post 5: appliances, mechanical and other systems

...HRV), which serves two purposes. First, the HRV circulates stale air out of the house while bringing fresh air in. All sorts of gases can build up inside homes, from cooking, off-gassing from materials, even simple human habitation, and these are vented to the outside when bringing in fresh air. Second, an HRV exchange...