Heat and Energy Recovery Ventilators in Butler, PA

The Problem of Ventilation, Air Quality, and Efficiency

As their name suggests, these devices are ventilators. But, at the same time, they also act as heat exchangers. Exactly how this benefits your efficiency and comfort is much better explained through an example:

During the summer season, you’ll be blasting your home with cool air from your air conditioner. That cooled air will recycle itself through the system and gradually become "stale." The normal solution would be to open the window and let some fresh air in—but that comes at the cost of raising the temperature inside the home. That will force your AC to work harder to bring temperatures back down. This ruins your efficiency.

Heat and Energy Recovery Ventilators Offer the Solution

Since you can’t just open a window without wasting energy, here’s how an HRV/ERV system fixes that: it takes some of your cool air and puts it in a heat exchanger. It then introduces warm air from the outdoors. The cooled air that gets released will absorb some of the heat from the outdoor air. The result is substantially fresher air entering your system, and it will be cooled enough that it doesn’t strain your air conditioner.

Heat Recovery Ventilators vs. Energy Recovery Ventilators

Regardless of whether it’s winter or summer, the phrase "heat recovery" in this context simply means that heat is being exchanged in one way or the other. Both of these systems can be used all year-round.

Heat recovery ventilators do just as described above, but energy recovery ventilators have the added benefit of balancing humidity levels between the air streams. If you’re not sure which recovery ventilator makes the most sense for your home, our team of air quality experts here at Kennihan Plumbing & Heating, Inc. will be able to determine that for you. Everything from the size of your home to the airtightness throughout it are essential factors in installation, so it’s best to let a professional do that work for you.