Being energy efficient is a good thing. Itb s good for you and your home, and it is also good for the Earth. Homeowners take lots of steps to ensure that their homes are as energy efficient as possible, including installing insulated windows and doors, properly insulating their homes, and cutting down on drafts and other areas of air loss. These kinds of actions are great for preserving your heating and cooling and reducing energy usage, but it turns out those drafts actually did have one good aspect: they provided some ventilation. Without good ventilation, your homeb s indoor air becomes stale and unhealthy. Throwing open a window isnb t an option, so what can you do? Consider installing an energy recovery ventilator.
What Is It?
As you can guess from the name, an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) is a ventilation system b but the way it works allows the ERV to offer more benefits than just fresh air. The key is using the latent thermal energy from your stale indoor air to pre-treat the incoming fresh air. The best way to demonstrate this is to look at the process by season.
During the warm summer months, an ERV helps expel your stale, cool indoor air to the outside, but does so by first directing it into the heat exchanger at the core of the component. At the same time, an outdoor fan pulls fresh, warm, moist air into the component and directs to the heat exchanger. Inside the heat exchanger, your stale indoor air cools and dehumidifies the warm fresh air while minimally crossing the air streams to preserve the freshness of the outdoor air. The pre-treated air moves into your HVAC system to be used in your home and the stale air is expelled. In the winter months, the opposite occurs: the outside air is warmed and moistened with your outgoing indoor air.
Why Choose This?
The benefits an ERV can offer your home are:
- Fresh, continuous air during the warm and cool seasons
- Better energy efficiency
- Less wear and tear on your HVAC system
If you are interested to see if an ERV is a good choice for your home in Asheville, NC, call the indoor air quality specialists at Comfort Central, Inc., today!