This is called MVHR (mechanical ventillation with heat recovery) in the UK. We're looking at putting it in, but have a fairly poorly insulated house, so it's not clear if the heat recovery is worthwhile. There is also PIV (positive input ventillation), which blows fresh air into a property (normally the hallways), but does not recover heat, or duct air from the rooms. So it's much simpler and cheaper to buy and install. It relies on the natural 'leakiness' of the property to vent stale air out.
xyzelement|1 year ago
These are actually two subtly different things. ERV (what I am talking about) recovers some of the moisture content along with heat, while an HRV (heat recovery ventilator and probably what you're talking about) does the heat but not the moisture. Depending on where you live this matters or doesn't matter (eg, if your winters are really dry and/or your summers are really humid, you want the ENERGY recovery ventilator to keep the house humidity closer to what you want vs equalizing with the outside.
// We're looking at putting it in, but have a fairly poorly insulated house, so it's not clear if the heat recovery is worthwhile
This doesn't make sense to me at all. First, if your house is "leaky" then why do you need mechanical ventilation at all, versus just relying on the natural air exchange (I can think of a valid reason but just curious how you think about it.) Second, if you DO put it in, your house is obviously better conditioned inside compared to outside so why wouldn't you want to recover that heat, at least for comfort if not economy?
// There is also PIV (positive input ventillation), which blows fresh air into a property (normally the hallways)
Yut but I think your hallway is then going to be as cold as the outside in the winter?