Hrv Questions

[unibob]

My house is on the smaller side, I am going to be tripling with possibility of quadrupling water quantity in tank setups.

Is a HRV needed, or would a fan running 24/7 keep things in line?

More or less looking to see who runs one, humidy they achieve.

My house is dry dry in winter as our dogs hair goes a bit patchy from licking.

Currently I have a small dehumidifier running.


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[BIGSHOW]

I would do both. I had one installed about 2 years ago and it has made a huge difference in the humidity levels and the "smell" of the fish tanks. Depending on what lighting you will use your humidity levels will significantly increase with the amount of water you are adding. I think you will see humidity in the winter with the size of the system you are planing.

I would do the fan first, see how it goes, but be prepared to invest the 2K to get the HRV unit which combined with the fan/dehumidifier, should keep the house and the wifey happy.

 

[Poseidon]

+ 1 to what big show said,

It's not a terrible investment either, especially for resale, always looks good on a listing.

 

[monizb]

I have it on our new home best investment always fresh air blowing through out the house

 

[teebone110]

Does it make a difference in the winter wit humidity on the windows?

 

[bart84]

What is hrv ?

 

[Pistol]

What is hrv ?

Heat recovery ventilator,usually connected to a forced air furnace using the existing ductwork to provide whole house ventilation while recovering the heat in winter and the cool in summer.

 

[bart84]

oh ok, sounds expensive.

 

[Pistol]

oh ok, sounds expensive.

I bought 1 for $500, need @ $200 for the vent kit and some ducting, so if you can DIY it's not too bad.

 

[unibob]

I would be looking for a company to do it, so anyone that knows someone if you can PM me there contact info that would be awesome.


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[theyangman]

I have one, but HRV's are code now on new houses.

I was told by my builder that I should leave it running due to the water volume. He had another client who had a similar sized setup (300 gallons) and they never ran their HRV and it has caused some pretty extensive damage.

 

[Reef Hero]

Hrv units are NOT code on new houses in most municipalities....

An HRV unit is not solely intended to introduce outside air into your house.... There are many ways to accomplish this actually and many ways may even be more effective. However, the hrv unit is intended to either warm up or cool down outside air being brought into your house in order to reduce your heating/cooling costs. Honestly, buy a humidistat and see what your humidity levels are at.... A lot of ppl who think they need a humidifier will already have humidity at 60% or more....
In our house, we have a vent that goes outside and then attaches into our return air plenum so that outside air will be drawn in naturally whenever required.... This works but is not quite as efficient as an hrv would be when it comes to cost savings...


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[theyangman]

From what I gathered it might not be code, but to get to the minimum requirements it pretty much is now a days. Houses are too airtight it seems and this helps the transfer.

Also check this out too Jerry:

http://www.homeperformance.com/ontario-rebates-toronto-hamilton-london-barrie-orillia.html#hrv

 

[theyangman]

Hmmm... After talking to some other ppl, apparently it IS mandatory in all new builds in Ontario since 2012.

Glen can you shed any light?

 

[Reef Hero]

I am seeing lots of new houses going up and they so not have the HRV units installed..... Maybe it is required in energy star qualified homes or certain municipalities but not in all homes. Again, here is the thing, an HRV is not needed or solely used for bringing in outside air into the home.... It is simply a way of heating up or cooling down the air being brought into the house in an effective cost saving manner. A lot of new homes are still simply putting the bathroom fan on the highest level on a three way switch so that ones with is in that bathroom with the fan and the other is usually beside your thermostat.


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[AdamS]

The Ontario Building Code requires new homes to meet certain energy efficiency standards. There are a couple of ways to achieve this. The easiest way is what they call the 'prescriptive' method, which means following a set of clearly defined requirements, an HRV is likely one of these (I dunno for sure, I design electrical systems). The other method of compliance involves modelling your building and demonstrating that you can achieve the requirements without following the prescriptive method.

This second method is rarely completed in the residential market as it is prohibitively expensive. Thus, certain requirements become 'code requirements' to people who build homes. In larger commercial applications, architects may choose to demonstrate compliance with alternative solutions because the savings on a 100,000sq foot building add up.

If anyone really cares, I think they may find the answer in the ontario building code, division B part 9. The whole of the ontario building code is available here

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/source/regs/english/2012/elaws_src_regs_r12332_e.htm

Have fun!!

 

[AdamS]

Oh, and Unibob, be careful cause an HRV will not dehumidify in the summer, it only really dehumidifies when the outside air is colder than inside. So in the summer it will just bring in really hot and often humid air. (Read into the diffs between an HRV and an ERV) You will still need an air conditioner or dehumidifier in the summer.