This is a good thing for saving energy, and
it saves your household on electric and gas bills. There is a potential
downside to an airtight house, though. Unless the home has an effective
ventilation system, there’s no way to exchange stale inside air with fresh
outside air, other than opening windows. This is where a balanced ventilation system — for example, a heat recovery ventilator —
can play an important role in preserving indoor air quality. The bonus with an
HRV (or its close relative, an energy recovery ventilator), is that it also
helps with home heating and cooling.
A heat recovery ventilator (or HRV) addresses this issue by maintaining
separate but parallel airstreams, incoming and outgoing. As the air moves in
both directions, heat energy from one airstream is transferred into the other.
In the winter, heat from out flowing air transfers over to the incoming cold
air, making the injection of outside air less of a challenge for your heating
system. In the summer, heat from inflowing outside air is transferred over to
the air that’s leaving the house.
An HRV has
an additional capability: It not
only transfers heat energy but also transfers moisture. As a result, during
cold winter weather, when the air gets especially dry, some of the marginally
more humid indoor air that’s being exhausted will transfer over to the dry
inflowing air to help maintain a comfortable humidity level inside. To a
limited extent, an ERV may serve the opposite purpose during hot, muggy summer
weather, helping your A/C dehumidify the indoor air.
For more information on the benefits HRV/ERVs
can provide your New York area home, please contact us at All Plumbing
and Heating Service .
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