| Fresh air exchange systems, such as an ERV or HRV, bring in fresh air to a home or commercial space. As the fresh, unconditioned air is brought in, it is tempered with the stale conditioned air that is being exhausted. These types of systems are necessary in tight construction. As insulation and advanced building construction reduce the heat loss/gain of a building, it increased the need for fresh air for our comfort and health. |
We primarily specifiy Venmar products due to thier quality construction,
performance, and optional digital controls. There are many models
to choose from, depending on the size and construction of your
home or ofice.
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| COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS: Almost every
public building requires a certain amount of fresh air to be introduced
to the building envelope. Building codes usually require 15 cubic
feet per minute (cfm) of air per person. Introducing air from the
free atmosphere into a conditioned building requires a great amount
of design and knowledge to ensure that it will work well with other
air systems such as exhaust hoods. |
RESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS:
The construction of the residential envelope is getting tighter
and tighter. Products such as icynene, high density spray, and cellulose
insulations are creating little or no infiltration into the building.
This is great way to reduce the heat loss/gain of a building. However,
fireplaces, gas appliances, and the finishes of a building require
fresh air to function correctly.
In the residential application, we eliminate the bathroom exhaust
fans normally installed by the electrician. We replace these exhausts
with ductwork that will connect to the heat exchanger in an ERV
(energy recovery ventilator) or HRV (heat recovery ventilator) unit.
From the unit, this exhaust will continue and terminate to the free
atmosphere outside. We then bring in fresh air from outside through
ductwork that is also connected to this unit. It crosses through
the heat exchanger, picks up the heat from the outgoing exhaust
air, and is delivered to an alternate location of the building,
or into the supply of the warm air/cooling system. This unit is
then activated with the same electrical switch installation that
would normally power the electrician’s bath fan. In the
summer, operation can be reversed and warm fresh outside air can
be cooled by outgoing cool stale exhaust air.
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