Heat Recovery Ventilators: What They Are and How They Work

It certainly is nice to open up your windows and bring fresh air into your home. But natural ventilation isn’t always a practical way to refresh your home when outdoor temperatures are too cool or too warm. A whole-home ventilator can help, but only if it’s the right type. Read on to learn how a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) works and how it can help keep your home’s air fresh without taxing your HVAC system or energy budget.

What’s an HRV and How Does It Work?

HRVs are whole-home ventilators that bring fresh air into your home while simultaneously removing stale indoor air. This type of whole-home ventilator is referred to as a “balanced” ventilation system, which is considered the safest and most efficient kind.

The component that separates HRVs from standard balanced ventilation systems is a heat exchange core, which is a matrix of crimped metal plates. Fresh supply air and stale exhaust air circulate inside the heat exchange core, yet do not mix. Since heat energy naturally moves from a warmer to a cooler place, an HRV is able to preheat or precool fresh supply air, depending on the season.

For example, your fresh air supply is typically going to be quite cool during the heating months. As warm indoor stale air and cool outdoor fresh air circulate inside the heat exchanger, heat is transferred through the thin metal plates. This helps reduce the burden on your heating system to heat fresh air intake. In fact, select models of HRVs are more than 90 percent efficient at recovering heat energy.

Fresh Air and More

The benefits of ventilating your home daily are many. Stale, stuffy, and humid air can exacerbate allergies and promote the proliferation of germs, mold, and dust mites. Moreover, humidity problems inside your home can cause damage to your belongings, furnishings, and your home’s structure. HRVs help prevent these problems with minimal impact on your energy bills, which should be a breath of fresh air.

To learn more about the benefits of a heat recovery ventilator, contact us at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning today!

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heat recovery ventilators and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Jesse Kunerth/Shutterstock”