Comments:
Heat recovery ventilation (also known as a heat exchanger, air exchanger or air-to-air
exchanger) is a ventilation system that employs a counter-flow heat exchanger between
the inbound and outbound air flow. The Daikin HRV (Heat Recovery and Ventilation)
system provide fresh air and improved climate control, while also saving energy by
reducing the heating (or cooling) requirements.
Heat recovery ventilators (HRV’s), as the name implies, recover the heat energy in
the exhaust air, and transfer it to fresh air as it enters the building.
Benefits
As building efficiency is improved with insulation and weather-stripping, buildings
are intentionally made more air-tight, and consequentially less well ventilated.
Since all buildings require a source of fresh air, the need for HRVs has become obvious.
While opening a window does provide ventilation, the building's heat and humidity
will then be lost in the winter and gained in the summer, both of which are undesirable
for the indoor climate and for energy efficiency, since the building's HVAC systems
must compensate. HRV technology offers an optimal solution: fresh air, better climate
control and energy efficiency.
Technology
HRVs can be stand-alone devices that operate independently, or they can be built-in,
or added to existing HVAC systems. For a small building in which nearly every room
has an exterior wall, then the HRV device can be small and provide ventilation for
a single room. A larger building would require either many small units, or a large
central unit. The only requirements for the building are an air supply, either directly
from an exterior wall or ducted to one, and an energy supply for air circulation,
such as wind energy or electricity for a fan.
