The Ins and Outs of Home Ventilation
Ready to breathe healthier air, improve your indoor air quality (IAQ), and save money on energy bills? Our comprehensive Home Ventilation Guide walks you through the essentials of residential ventilation. Learn the science behind energy recovery ventilators (ERVs), master optimal installation strategies, and discover simple maintenance tips to ensure your home ventilation system is efficient and effective.
The Need for Ventilation
Proper ventilation is important to maintain indoor air quality (IAQ). When stale indoor air isn’t sufficiently exhausted, contaminants can build up and diminish IAQ. Contaminants come in many forms, but mainly come from off-gassing sources like cleaning chemicals, cooking, perfumes, and more. Increasing ventilation indoors helps to expel these contaminants and keep IAQ at a healthy level.
Home Ventilation Strategies
Natural, supply-only, exhaust-only, and balanced are the four main home ventilation strategies. Natural ventilation uses open windows or doors, whereas exhaust-only ventilation expels contaminants from a localized source. Balanced ventilation with energy recovery is a whole-home system that brings fresh air in and expels stale room air in an energy-efficient manner.
Home Ventilation Codes and Standards
Building codes were created to ensure occupant health and safety. ASHRAE standard 62.2 provides the minimum airflow required in residential spaces. For optimal health and safety, homeowners are encouraged to exceed the minimum ventilation rate. RenewAire ERVs can provide increased ventilation in an energy-efficient manner.
What is an ERV?
ERV stands for energy recovery ventilator. ERVs are HVAC systems with two airstreams that cross each other and transfers latent and sensible energy between the two. In the winter, cold, dry outside air is preheated and humidified by the outgoing warm interior air, and in the summer, the warm, humid outside air is precooled and dehumidified by the outgoing air-conditioned interior air.
ERVs vs HRVs
HRV stands for heat recovery ventilation. HRVs and energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) are similar but have key differences. HRVs require a drain pan, which limits ventilation potential and prevents them from being installed in different orientations and climates. ERVs don’t need a drain pan, can be installed in any orientation or climate, and offer consistent ventilation as they don’t require active defrosting.
ERV Installation Execution
Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) can be installed in new construction or retrofit projects. ERVs provide new construction applications filtered outdoor air, capturing energy from bathrooms and kitchens that would otherwise be wasted. Similarly, for retrofit applications, the ERV system will use the existing exhaust fans and ductwork. This is commonly known as partial bypass.
Controls for Residential ERVs
There are two types of controls for home ventilation systems: intermittent flow and continuous flow. Intermittent flow is manual control; these are controls that have timers or on/off controls. Continuous flow is an automatic control; these systems offer occupant-based activity control to regulate the air quality within the space.
Maintenance
In general, home maintenance for a RenewAire ERV is easy; change the filters regularly, vacuum the core with a soft bristle brush, spin the motors and listen for vibrations or other noises, and check the duct connection to ensure everything is properly sealed.
Working with RenewAire
Working with RenewAire is easy. Visit our website RenewAire.com or contact one of our technical sales support specialists at 1-(800)-627-4499 where we will be able to assist your ventilation needs.