Staying indoors during the winter (which you’ll be doing even more than normal this year) can get stuffy and unpleasant. You’d love to enjoy some nice, fresh air, but you know that opening up the windows to bring in that fresh air means bringing in the cold. The heater will then need to work extra time trying to get the house warm again. You end up with some fresh air, but also a chilly household and higher energy bills.
Well, whaddya gonna do?
Actually, there is something you can do! There are ways you can have the fresh air you crave, helping to exhaust the stuffy, stale air in your house outdoors but also avoid giving your heater and your pocketbook extra grief. The secret is in these three letters: ERV. No, not an emergency response vehicle. Not an estimated rental value. Not even an English Revised Version. It’s an energy recovery ventilator and it can work a special kind of magic for your home.
Use the air in your house to heat the fresh air coming in
That’s the simplest way to describe what an ERV does. The “energy recovery” in the name refers to how this device uses the already existing heat energy inside your home. Instead of letting it escape outside, as when a window or door opens, the ERV recovers and directs this heat energy toward the incoming fresh air and transfers its heat to it. You’ve already paid for the heating system in your home to heat up this air, and around 80% of it will also warm up the incoming fresh air.
Professionals install the ERV into the HVAC system, where it pulls in a current of the fresh, but cold outdoor air. It also draws in the warm, but stale, indoor air into it. As the two currents pass through the ERV, heat transfers from the outgoing air to warm up the indoor air. The fresh air arrives in your home pre-heated, taking the strain off the heating system, while the stale and stuffy air is exhausted outside.
It also works in the summer
This is one of the best parts: the process works in reverse when the weather is hot. The fresh outdoor air loses its heat to the cool indoor air, so it reaches the living space pre-cooled. The ERV will always work for your house, no matter the weather.
And one more bonus: moisture moves between the two air currents in an ERV, which helps to balance indoor humidity. It works whether your house is too humid or too dry.
If you want to find out more about installing an energy recovery ventilator in your house, simply call our team. We offer a whole range of IAQ services, so whether you need an ERV or air purifiers in Vancouver, WA to help your house, we’re the people you can rely on every time.
At Clawson Heating & Air Conditioning, we’re “Connecting People to Comfort.” Get in touch with us to learn more about your indoor air quality and other HVAC options.