Which Heat Recovery Ventilator to buy? 1600 Sq-Ft home? HRV for Humidity

[Brent Thomann]

I need to get a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) to help tackle my humidity problem. what's a decent affordable unit for my home/situation?

Here's my details-
I live in Western NY (colder climate)
1600 Sq-Ft 2 story home. Gas furnace and A/C.
600 Total gals, 400gal display on 1st floor & 200 gal sump in basement.

I currently have an inline fantech exhaust fan sucking air outside from the main room where display tank is. I also have 70pt dehumidifier running 24/7 in basement where sump is.

Many Thanks,
Brent

 

[Brent Thomann]

Bump

 

[mcgyvr]

Whats the current humidity in the areas you wish to dehumidify vs the rest of the house?
define your humidity problem better..
Is it just the basement thats humid?
Is your basement heated?
can you cover the sump?
being that its winter now has the humidity gone down?

Air exchange is a complete cycle.. You can't just push air in without a good method to exhaust it too..

Is $1500-2000 affordable to you?
Do you plan to install it yourself?
Do you know it requires pressure balancing..requiring a magnehelic pressure gauge?

 

[Export Eh]

I have a Vanee Gold Series HRV in my house. It makes a huge difference in humidity! As soon as the temp dropped to -20/-30C my windows were waterfalls. The humidity in my house was 55 to 65%. Turned on the HRV now my house is staying at 30 to 35% humidity. I don't know what the system costs, it was in my house when I bought it, but it makes one hell of a difference and there's no noisy dehumidifiers running around the house

I don't know if it's a cheap solution. All of the air return vents in the house are routed through the HRV and after the HRV it's plumbed into the furnace. There's also 2 lines to the outside of the house to bring air in and push air out of the house

 

[das75]

After considerable research couple of years back ended up with a Greentek PH7.15 for a 1700sqft bi-lvl and did myself. Total equipment and material costs around $1000, but quotes installed for $4000. Even with a finished house was fairly easy and able to borrow a magnehelic from a fellow reefer to setup. Costumer service was for great helping select (verified by a independent) and questions about setup.

Tested just after installed and unit brought my rh from 48% to 30% overnight and really did recovered the heat (inserted a temp probe in the ducts a couple of feet from the unit (house side) exhaust 72°, fresh air 55° with the outside air measuring 16°F).

Installation

 

[Brent Thomann]

Thanks for all the great feedback and link to (das75) example install. I'll def look it over when I get a chance.

To answer mcgyvr's questions-

>>Whats the current humidity in the areas you wish to dehumidify vs the rest of the house?
define your humidity problem better.
Average humidity throughout house is 50%, One room really not much more or less than other rooms or basement.

>>Is it just the basement thats humid?
no, basement was the highest though at 55%

>>Is your basement heated?
I don't have any open vents or returns currently in basement. My basement is not that big, only goes half the distance of house since I have a split level house. Basement is only 5 to 10 degrees cooler then rest of house.

>>can you cover the sump?
I have it partially covered. I'm going to try covering it all the way soon.

>>being that its winter now has the humidity gone down?
Yes, don't recall how much. In summer we leave windows open most the time or run a/c on hotter days.

>>Is $1500-2000 affordable to you?
unfortunately not. Thought I seen units as low as $400-$500 few years ago when I looked into before.

>>Do you plan to install it yourself?
Yes, not a problem at all.

>>Do you know it requires pressure balancing..requiring a magnehelic pressure gauge?
I can borrow one from friend.