DuAll Heating & Cooling Blog : Posts Tagged ‘Energy Recovery Ventilators’

Can an Energy Recovery Ventilator Help Me to Live More Comfortably?

Friday, March 27th, 2015

At DuAll Heating & Cooling, we know how important it is for homeowners to live with the level of comfort that they desire and which we believe that everyone deserves. All too often, though, homeowners believe that they must make concessions if they are to live comfortably but also to do so in an efficient and affordable manner. The good news is that modern technology can really help to bridge the gaps between comfort, indoor air quality, and budgetary concerns. By using an energy recovery ventilator in Bolingbrook, for example, you can take some of the strain off of your HVAC system, reducing your energy usage, while also living comfortably and helping to promote great indoor air quality in your home. If you think that this all sounds a bit too good to be true, then read on to learn how an ERV can help you to live more comfortably. 

Today, energy efficiency is a major concern among many homeowners. In an effort to make their homes more efficient, many people take steps to ensure that their home is sealed up as tightly as possible. While this is an effective means by which to reduce energy waste in the home, it can also eliminate much of the necessary and natural ventilation that a home should have. With the installation of an ERV, or energy recovery ventilator, though, you can maintain comfortable temperatures efficiently while still adequately ventilating your home.

An ERV is a mechanized ventilation device which brings in fresh air from outside, while using outgoing air from within your home in order to precondition that incoming air. This means that, during the summer when you are cooling your home, the stale and low-quality, but cool, air leaving your home pre-chills the fresh, but hot, air coming in. It does this by passing the two air streams very near one another, allowing them to mingle just enough to optimize the humidity level of the incoming air as well. During the winter months, when heating your home, the system maintains the same basic operation; now, though the heat transfer process facilitates the warming of the fresh, cold air coming in by using the energy of the warm, stale air going out.

Obviously, this is a much more efficient way in which to get fresh air into your home than simply cracking the windows when it is very hot or uncomfortably chilly outside. Energy waste is greatly reduced as the ERV recovers the energy that you’ve paid to condition the outgoing air with.

To learn more about why you should consider the installation of an energy recovery ventilator in Bolingbrook, or to schedule service with a technician from DuAll Heating & Cooling, just contact a member of our team today.

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How Do Energy Recovery Ventilators Work?

Friday, June 27th, 2014

An energy recovery ventilator (ERV) is a home comfort and efficiency innovation that helps you circumvent a serious problem that many houses face today. Because of the heavy heat and air sealing on modern buildings to protect their energy efficiency (excess heat cannot enter in the summer, and cannot escape in the winter), very little fresh air circulates through the indoor ventilation system. This leads to stale and contaminated indoor air that runs through the ductwork gathering dust, dirt, debris, and other pollutants that can affect your health.

By installing one of the energy recovery ventilators in Bolingbrook, IL available from DuAll Heating & Cooling, you can bring fresh air into your home without losing or gaining heat; in fact, you will conserve power and “recover” energy that would otherwise be lost. To find out how our technicians can set up an ERV in your home today, call our expert staff. They can answer all your questions about ERVs and other indoor air quality appliances.

The operation of an energy recovery ventilators

An ERV brings in fresh air through and outside vent and into the ventilation system attached to your heater/air conditioner. Then, through a process called counter-flow heat exchange, the ERV runs this outside air past the stale air from the inside of your home. Energy transfers from one to the other, and the stale air gets removed without you losing or gaining heat.

During the summer, the warm air from outside your house transfers its heat to the outgoing air from inside, cooling itself down in the process and making your air conditioner need to work less to lower its temperature. During the winter, the warm indoor air transfers its heat to the cold incoming outdoor air, and your heater will need to work less. Before reaching the indoors, the air from outside runs through a filter to remove any particles that might have come in with it.

A properly installed ERV will recover 85% of the energy of the outgoing air, and so not only will you have fresh air brought into your home and better health, you’ll also save money on your utility bills each month.

We must emphasize “properly installed.” You cannot select and put in an ERV yourself; it requires the work of indoor air quality professionals with experience working with air conditioners, heaters, and ventilation systems. You’ll find the necessary skills at DuAll Heating & Cooling.

Our NATE-certified technicians handle installation of energy recovery ventilators in Bolingbrook, IL and many other ways to improve your home’s air and energy efficiency.

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How Energy Recovery Ventilators Improves Indoor Air Quality

Friday, June 6th, 2014

On average, people in the U.S. spend 90% of their time indoors, and that means the quality of the air found inside homes and buildings is vital for good health. Unfortunately, too few buildings have the proper ventilation to remove stale air, and the indoor air quality suffers as a result. The quality of your home’s air is probably much lower than it should be.

To combat this decline in air quality, you can open up your home to the outside through the windows and doors. However, this ends up breaking the energy efficient heat seal on your home, making it harder for you to keep cool in summer and warm in winter. During an Illinois winter, you especially don’t want to have windows and doors open!

But there’s a way to receive fresh outdoor air without energy loss and discomfort: have installation of energy recover ventilators in Bolingbrook, IL. Our team at DuAll Heating & Cooling is familiar with these helpful devices, and we’ll explain how they give you better indoor air quality.

How energy recovery ventilators work

Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) are installations in the ventilation network of your HVAC system that remove the stale air from your home—without losing excess energy, either too keep you cool or keep you warm. An ERV returns approximately 85% of its outgoing energy to the incoming fresh air.

Here’s how an ERV does this: The ventilation system runs to the outside of a home and pulls in fresh outdoor air. The ERV draws the stale air from inside the house and runs it past the incoming fresh air, and a process of heat transfer occurs between the two that is called counter-flow heat exchange. If the air from outside is cold, then the stale indoor air transfers its heat to it, helping you receive warm fresh air. If the air outside is warm, it will lose its heat to the colder air from indoors, helping you to receive cool fresh air.

So whether its winter or summer, you receive fresh outdoor air that has been conditioned to fit your temperature needs. This will also reduce the stress on your heating and cooling system.

An energy recovery ventilator is like having your home’s windows and door always open to fresh air—but without any of the inconveniences. In fact, you’ll save more energy than ever before.

Professional installation

ERVs are complex devices, and it takes professional installers to set them up so they fit a home’s HVAC system and ductwork.

Call the indoor air quality specialists at DuAll Heating & Cooling for fast and knowledgeable work installing energy recovery ventilators in Bolingbrook, IL. Our NATE-certified technicians are ready to tackle the job.

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