Are you tired of the stuffy, hot air in your Bloomfield Hills home? While today’s homes have lots of modern comfort and are better sealed and insulated, they often lack fresh air. In addition, up to 40 percent of energy costs go to keeping your home a comfortable temperature. You can address both of these issues with the help of an HRV, or heat recovery ventilator.
What is an HRV? How does it work?
While an exhaust fan can blow air out, that negative pressure causes your home to draw in air, odors, dust and contaminants to replace it. Balanced ventilation is a better solution — one fan blows out polluted air and one blows in fresh air. However if fresh air is hot, you may need to cool it down. HRVs have this function, but with a heat-exchange core. HRVs transfer heat from the incoming air and transfer that heat to the outgoing air (similar to a car radiator). Running an HRV does require some energy costs; however, an HRV can recover up to 85 percent of heat, more than making up for energy costs with efficiency. They even have filters to help improve the air quality in your home, adjustable fan speeds and the option of programmable controls.
The benefits of HRVs
Homes with poor ventilation often have pollution issues. Combustion appliances release carbon monoxide and pollutants into the air. Rugs, cabinets, furniture and other items in your home can also release toxic fumes. HRVs are ideal for these homes because they replace the polluted air with fresh air. An HRV can reduce both heating and cooling costs and is a good fit for climates with extreme summers or winters. If your home also has moisture issues, an ERV may be another option. ERVs work in a way similar to HRVs, but remove excess humidity from your home in the summer by transferring the excess to the dryer, outbound stream.
If you’d like to learn more about how to freshen up the air in your Farmington home, contact Aladdin Heating & Cooling. Our family-owned company has been serving Southeast Michigan for more than 65 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Detroit, Michigan about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about HRVs and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock