Lakeview Manor Nursing Home

Nursing homes are unique in that they can require up to 100% outside air, placing a tremendous load on their heating and cooling equipment. By installing five RenewAire HE2XRT energy recovery ventilators (ERVs), the outside fresh air is preconditioned by recovering up to 70% of the heat and air conditioning in the exhaust airstream. Not only does this represent a significant energy savings, but it also can greatly simplify the heating system design and extend its life. Ancillary furnaces can be sized to temper air in the range from 45°F to 70°F, instead of having to temper air from –15°F. This reduces temperature and condensation stresses to the heating equipment, and provides for far more consistent and comfortable air supplied to the facility.

Lakeview Manor had a problem with cold drafts across the floor of the tenant rooms. Each room had its own wall-mounted electric heating and air conditioning unit, which also supplied fresh air. The solution was to capture the exhaust air on the roof, pass it through the RenewAire unit, and use the energy from the exhaust air to precondition the fresh air. This conditioned air is then brought up to room conditions in the winter using inline gas furnaces and delivered to individual rooms. This eliminated the electric resistance heat (very inefficient) and reduced the load on the air conditioning units in the summer. The savings were substantial, and the residents were comfortable!

Lakeview Manor also took advantage of financing through the State WEI-2 program, rebates from the servicing utility, and additional financial incentives from the State Medicaid program, further maximizing the advantages of adding energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly heating and cooling equipment.