When it comes to maintaining a healthy and comfortable home, having balanced heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) and energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) is essential. This ensures that the intake air and exhaust air are equal which is crucial for proper system balance.
This guide will explore why balancing is so critical to help you make sure that your health and safety in your home always come first!
Why Does Balancing Matter?
Equal Air Intake and Exhaust: For an HRV or ERV to work effectively, the air coming in and going out must be balanced – ideally within 10%. Failure to achieve this balance can create positive or negative pressure in your home.
Avoiding Pressure Issues:
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- Positive Pressure: If the home has too much air pressure, it can push conditioned air out through the cracks and crevasses in your home, making it more expensive to cool during summer months as well as wasting energy. In winter, positive pressure creates a worse impact as this can force warm, humid air outside, leading to moisture issues in the walls and potentially cause the growth of mold.
- Negative Pressure: Negative pressure can pull in unconditioned air from outside, and indoor contaminates such as ground source gases like radon or sewer gases, leading to health hazards.
Proper Defrost Cycle: Balancing is also important for the defrost cycle of HRVs and ERVs. Lack of system balance can cause ice to build up and affect performance, leading to lower efficiency and potential water leaks.
Professional Advantage: Many retail HRVs are installed without proper balancing. By ensuring proper system balance, installers can differentiate themselves from competitors and provide better service.
What Are The Dangers Of Not Balancing?
Ice Buildup: In colder climates, if the unit is not balanced, ice can form and then rapidly melt during the defrost cycle and overflow the drain pan, which can lead to water damage to ceilings and floors.
Lower Efficiency: An unbalanced system will work harder, leading to higher energy bills and less comfort within your home.
How Can You Prepare For Having A Balanced System?
| Assess the Balancing Charts: | The HVAC installer needs to access balancing charts for your specific unit. Each Lifebreath unit includes its balancing charts (if applicable) in the corresponding Installation Manual. These manuals are available for viewing and download in the Residential Indoor Air Quality Products section on our website. You can also find more information in our Resource Library. |
| Seal the Ductwork: | Make sure that there are no leaks in the HRV/ERV ductwork. |
| Check the System: | Confirm that all components are installed and working well. |
| Open Balancing Dampeners: | Fully open the dampeners for proper airflow. |
| Turn Off Exhaust Devices: | Disable all exhaust fans, such as range hoods and bathroom fans. |
| Set the HRV to High Speed: | This will help during the balancing process. |
| Adjust Airflows: | Set the airflow in branch lines to specific areas of your home (partially or fully dedicated installs). |
| Check the Temperature: | If it is below freezing, ensure that the unit is not running on defrost mode. |
| Use a Magnehelic® Gauge: | Place the gauge on a level surface, adjust it to zero, and operate the furnace or air handler at high speed for accurate readings. |
Learn more about balancing your systems through the Lifebreath Balancing Video
Balancing the HRV or ERV unit is a must when it comes to system performance and the comfort of the home. By following these guidelines, you can ensure a successful installation and ensure a healthy indoor environment.
Remember, selling the job right and doing it right will pay off in the long run!
Sign Up for the Lifebreath Academy!
Education and training of industry partners have been an essential part of Lifebreath’s support. Sign up for our installation and balancing course to learn more about balancing your systems here.
