It feels a little stuffy inside, and you’d like to open up a window or let some air through the screen door. The only problem is that you’ve got your heater running. If you open up the window, you’ll let a breeze in. You’ll feel a lot less comfortable, to start with.
But what’s more is that your bills can skyrocket, forcing your heater to work a lot harder to attempt to heat your home. The same is true with an air conditioner in the summer, when opening a window will just cause trouble for your AC system and wear down the parts.
There is a system that will allow you to let some fresh air in, making the indoor air feel a lot less stale without affecting your comfort or raising your bills significantly. Learn more about energy and heat recovery ventilators below.
What’s a Heat Recovery Ventilator?
A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is a system that uses a heat exchanger to let fresh air in without impacting the overall temperature in the home. When it’s cold out, a fan moves in air from the outdoors into the ventilation system, but first it passes by a heat exchanger. The stale air leaving the home loses its heat, which transfers to the fresh air entering.
In the summer, the heat exchanger is still used. Warm, fresh air entering the system loses some of its heat to the stale air vacating the home, so that it can be sufficiently cooled.
Is an Energy Recovery Ventilator a Better Option?
An energy recovery ventilator (ERV) works just like an HRV, except it transfers more than just heat. It can also transfer moisture, so it’s preferred in warm humid climates, typically. Along with heat, moisture is transferred to the stale air leaving the home in the summertime so that humidity does not increase in the home.
Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning installs and services heat recovery and energy recovery ventilation systems in Colorado Springs, CO. Call our friendly team today!
