Are you happy with your HRV?

just do it

Hopefully this poll gets a good number of replies. Are you happy with HRV? If you feel like posting you could mention both the pros and cons.


edit:
in order to keep this thread on topic and to prevent it from turning into a rant or shill thread...

i think posters should post some context as to their system, such as the two post below does.
perhaps include some info such as new build or retro fit, air tightness strategy or not, air tightness result or none, rough idea of house size and number of rooms contributing to hrv system,

keeping the pros and cons in a list style is also perfect, thanks!
sydthebeat

sas

My take on this is that I'm not going to list "recovers energy" as a pro, it's what it's supposed to do so it's a given. I'm listing things that are more experience of living with it.

Pro:
- the house is noticeably drier\less humid than our previous home. On the couple of occasions that condensation formed on our bathroom mirrors during a shower, they cleared before I'd manage to dry myself!
- if you keep the windows closed, you get no insects in. The occasions when we through open the slider resulted in infestation with flys etc.
- we don't have an outside washing line yet. Our utility has a HRV extract so we put clothes on clothes horses out there. 24hours and anything is dry. No condensation on back door etc. THe handle for the back door isn't thermally broken. During the build it was constantly covered in condensation, particularly at winter. Since HRV went is this hasn't happened.

Cons:
- uses about 1.8 kwh of electricity per day. That's €10 per month which isn't cheap
- it's not silent. However you don't hear it unless the house is deathly quiet. The 2 supplies nearest it are the noisiest though. I've over speced silencers so that's not the cause.
- if I've to change my filters every 90 days, this is going to get very very expensive. My system has 4 filters.
(1) One on the supply defroster. Similar material to standard kitchen hood stuff.
(2) One in the kitchen on the extract. This is again similar material to standard kitchen hood stuff. This filter is to protect the system from grease from cooking etc.
(3) One where supply air enters the unit
(4) One where the extract air enters the unit
The frequency of changing though still needs to be determined.

ShiresV2

I could not be happier with my retrofitted HRV setup.

Admittedly the below is quite specific to my situation and is in the context of a retrofit, but nevertheless:

Pros:

The largest impact is to the health of my young family. In spite of what seemed to be adequate ventilation, we variously suffered from constant runny noses, asthma, chronic sinus infections, infant bronchiolitis, ear infections, regular colds .. the list goes on. All of those were things of the past within the space of a month with HRV.

Secondly, and it may seem obvious, with the HRV working as one component of an extensive air tightness effort I have a house that is capable of being kept at a comfortable temperature with much less use of the heating, despite the fact that the house has comparatively little in the way of insulation.

Cons:

I am no construction professional but on the basis of one house and my own thoughts, achieving a good standard of retrofit of the typical centrally located HRV system seems potentially difficult and/or costly to do (both preparing the house and dealing with the system itself).

From what I can tell there may be some level of price gouging going on in the HRV space.

Hopefully those will only change for the better as time goes on and the technology becomes more of a commodity.

MicktheMan

Retrofit to 1970's 4 bed, 200m2 bungalow, installed 4 years now. Air tightness less than 3 m3/hr/m2.

Pro's:
-does what it says on the tin
-internal air quality
-no more rice in the saltseller
-less energy needed to heat house as air is dryer
-don't hear it
-bungalow specific: have access to all ductwork for future maintenance/cleaning

Con's:
-unit installed in attic, may become difficult to change filters as one gets older
-condensate drain pipe has frozen a couple times in extreme weather

just do it

ShiresV2 wrote: »

I could not be happier with my retrofitted HRV setup.

Dramatic improvement by the sounds of things:). Did you do an airtightness test? Given the difficulty with retrofit and benefits are only meant to accure at ~3 m3/hr/m2 (or 3 ACH) or less, you must have achieved good airtightness.

I'm very happy with the system I had installed but there are just two issues;
1, There is the "voice pipe" affect between some rooms, it could be resolved with sound deadening material in the pipes.
2, the missus still opens the window for "fresh air" (fresh air must be cold to be "fresh" :mad: :mad: women!!!!)

ShiresV2

just do it wrote: »

Dramatic improvement by the sounds of things:). Did you do an airtightness test? Given the difficulty with retrofit and benefits are only meant to accure at ~3 m3/hr/m2 (or 3 ACH) or less,

I have not had a test yet but it's on the cards. Subjectively, it's now far far less leaky than the average house from that era.

just do it wrote: »

you must have achieved good airtightness.

I would hope so, there is not a internal wall, ceiling or window reveal that I have not smashed and rebuilt upstairs much to dismay of my wife. The children are very enthusiastic about it though.

heavydawson

Would each of you who have HRV installed mind PM-ing me the details of your systems + installers? I'm at the footings stage of a new two story build and would like to know as much as I can about HRV systems that are running in peoples houses rather than on-paper efficiencies, etc.

The house is being built to a high standard with u values of 0.12 in the walls and 0.1 under the floor (on paper I know :-) )

I'm also curious to know how each of you handled airtightness. Did you hire a third party to create an airtightness construction plan, or did you educate yourselves and carry out the work? I'm pretty open to do's and don'ts and willing to answer any questions ye might have about the house. Thanks in advance!

just do it

heavydawson wrote: »

Would each of you who have HRV installed mind PM-ing me the details of your systems + installers? I'm at the footings stage of a new two story build and would like to know as much as I can about HRV systems that are running in peoples houses rather than on-paper efficiencies, etc.

The house is being built to a high standard with u values of 0.12 in the walls and 0.1 under the floor (on paper I know :-) )

I'm also curious to know how each of you handled airtightness. Did you hire a third party to create an airtightness construction plan, or did you educate yourselves and carry out the work? I'm pretty open to do's and don'ts and willing to answer any questions ye might have about the house. Thanks in advance!

sunday spec windows and doors are you going for?

heavydawson

just do it wrote: »

sunday spec windows and doors are you going for?

The Windows are a compromise. We're putting in Sliding Sash (I know I know). The missus is adamant. I'd love to get rid of them. They're one of the highest spec sliding sash we could find.
http://www.bfrc.org/Consumer/show_certificate.aspx?ID=6784

And before people jump, I know that isn't the Irish certification scheme. If any of you know of any higher performance sliding sash windows, I'm all ears.
Doors will be as high spec as we can afford. The front of the house has a draught porch with inner doors, and the back door of the house is sheltered.

sheff the ref

Spoke to a crowd about this at Millstreet today at the Self Build show. I find the running costs off putting to be honest.

Dardania

For those on a budget, I'd recommend what I did - DCV. http://www.aereco.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FLY510GB_DCMEV-Guidance-for-Residential-Installations.pdf.pdf

Retrofitted to an ex council mid terrace house, which didn't even have ventilation opes previously, so they had to be formed. Alongside this, I have a new front door, and am doing heating controls presently. I also put a balloon in the chimeny

Pros:
System is very silent, the house feels much more comfortable, and when the house is heated (still haven't found a non-messer EWI contractor yet) you can really see the vent opes closing, indicating that it does vary the ventilation rate.
No more condensation on the bedroom windows in the morning
Uses very little electricity (~12W demand)
1, very rough filter in the fan
Much reduced internal ducting
House is secure, as windows no longer opened
Cheap - approx €1.5k for system, and got it installed for €1k

Cons:
No heat recovery
Wall vents are bigger than is aestheically pleasing according to my fiance (valid point, if this is for the inside of your house)

If I were building a new home, or doing a major refurb, I would consider HRV still, but I do belive that the simplicity of this system is quite compelling even if it isn't the most efficient...

just do it

Good to hear from someone who has opted for DCV. How long have you it in?

Dardania

About 2 months at this stage. We only bought the house 6 months ago. We only got a glimpse of the effects of Irish autumnal climate on internal conditions prior to the system being installed, however even with that short before/after period, I'm quite impressed