In most cases, the unit should be tested and certified by the Home Ventilating Institute (HVI), and therefore also compliant with CSA C439-00. The only possible exceptions to this rule are imported units of very high efficiency which have been tested under a similarly rigorous national procedure (such as the relevant ISO, DIN or OeNORM standards) and approved by the Passivhaus-Institut.
Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) and Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs)
Ventilation
Good ventilation characteristics are important to maintaining a healthy building. Excessive ventilation results in unnecessary heat losses and higher greenhouse gas emissions; inadequate or poorly balanced ventilation can result in poor air quality and a higher risk of condensation and mould growth. Having optimised ventilation rates, it is then possible to make further savings by means of heat recovery ventilation: in winter, warm extract air is used to preheat incoming ventilation or furnace input air. [Typically, an HRV recovers only sensible heat, and an ERV also collects latent heat from condensed water vapour.]
It is important that your house be as well-sealed as possible before installation of one of these units.
What to look for:
Consider the following when selecting an HRV or ERV:
Proper Sizing
Make sure that the unit you choose is appropriately sized for your house. A useful rule of thumb is 7.5 litres per second per person in normal occupancy. (Large dogs count as persons!) Oversizing will result in waste of energy; undersizing will impact on indoor air quality. For more detailed sizing recommendations see here.
Effectiveness Ratio
Your supplier should be able to give you a percentage figure for the proportion of outgoing heat recovered. This is generally expressed as the Sensible Recovery Efficiency, or SRE. The best units achieve better than 80%, though it is currently difficult to find a small unit that rates this high.
Government Grants
Grants are available from government programmes for HRV & ERV units from provincial (Energuide for Homes) and (in some cases) federal (ecoENERGY) programmes.
The situation at present is however somewhat complex due to the phasing out of the federal government programme. For details see this announcement.
If you had a pre-assessment carried out before 2010:Mar:29, but have not had a post-assessment, then the applicable grant details (federal plus provincial) are listed here.
Otherwise, you are entitled to provincial grant funds only, listed here
Criteria
Recommended models
| Type |
SRE @ O°C |
airflow @ 0°C cfm | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hrv | VENMAR | AVS HE 1.8 | 84 | 111 |
| Hrv | vänEE | 2000 HE | 84 | 111 |
| Hrv | CARRIER | HRVCCLVU1200-B-- | 84 | 111 |
| Hrv | BRYANT | HRVBBLVU1200-B-- | 84 | 111 |
| Hrv | LIFEBREATH | 195 DCS | 80 | 117 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | AVS HE 2.6 | 80 | 117 |
| Hrv | vänEE | 3000 HE | 80 | 117 |
| Hrv | CARRIER | HRVCCLVU1330-B-- | 80 | 117 |
| Hrv | BRYANT | HRVBBLVU1330-B-- | 80 | 117 |
| Hrv | LIFEBREATH | 300 DCS | 79 | 119 |
| Hrv | FANTECH | SHR3005R | 78 | 117 |
| Hrv | LIFEBREATH | 95 MAX | 75 | 60 |
| Hrv | LIFEBREATH | RNC 95 | 75 | 60 |
| Hrv | vänEE | 1001 HRV | 75 | 60 |
| Hrv | CARRIER | HRVCCLHU1150-B-- | 75 | 60 |
| Hrv | BRYANT | HRVBBLHU1150-B-- | 75 | 60 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | AVS HRV EKO 1.5 | 74 | 64 |
| Hrv | vänEE | HRV 90H-V ECM | 74 | 64 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | NOVOFIT 1.0 | 73 | 54 |
| Hrv | vänEE | 60H NOVO+ | 73 | 54 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | AVS Constructo 1.5 V | 70 | 67 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | PRO225 PRO250 | 70 | 67 |
| Hrv | vänEE | 90H-V | 70 | 67 |
| Hrv | vänEE | 2001 HRV | 70 | 109 |
| Hrv | CARRIER | HRVCCLHU1250-B-- | 70 | 109 |
| Hrv | BRYANT | HRVBBLHU1250-B-- | 70 | 109 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | AVS SOLO 1.5 SOLO 2.0 | 69 | 66 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | AVS 1.5 Constructo 2.0 Constructo | 69 | 66 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | NOVOFIT 1.5 NOVOFIT 2.0 | 69 | 66 |
| Hrv | vänEE | 90H 190H 90H NOVO+ 190H NOVO+ | 69 | 66 |
| Hrv | CARRIER | HRVCCLHA1150-A-- 1250-A-- | 69 | 66 |
| Hrv | BRYANT | HRVBBLHA1150-A-- 1250-A-- | 69 | 66 |
| Erv | VENMAR | AVS Constructo 1.0 ERV (SP) (TP) | 68 | 45 |
| Erv | vänEE | ERV 60H (SP) (TP) | 68 | 45 |
| Erv | BRYANT | ERVBBSHB1100-A-- SVB1100-A-- | 68 | 45 |
| Erv | CARRIER | ERVCCSHB1100-A-- SVB1100-A-- | 68 | 45 |
| Erv | vänEE | 1001 ERV | 68 | 64 |
| Hrv | LIFEBREATH | 155 ECM | 66 | 66 |
| Hrv | AEROMATIC | S180D | 65 | 99 |
| Hrv | VENMAR | AVS Constructo 1.0 HRV (SP) (TP) | 65 | 50 |
| Hrv | vänEE | HRV 60H (SP) (TP) | 65 | 50 |
| Hrv | CARRIER | HRVCCSHB1100-A-- VB1100-A-- | 65 | 50 |
| Hrv | BRYANT | HRVBBSHB1100-A-- VB1100-A-- | 65 | 50 |
| Hrv | LIFEBREATH | RNC5 TPD | 61 | 85 |
| Hrv | LIFEBREATH | 200 MAX | 61 | 117 |
| Hrv | LIFEBREATH | RNC 200 | 61 | 117 |
| Hrv | FANTECH | VHR704R | 61 | 53 |
Vendors
Paid listings, sorted by location.
| Pioneer Co-operative Association Ltd | Swift Current | (306) 778-8883 |
Free listings, sorted by location.
| Nu-Trend Industries Inc. (Venmar) | ||
| Eneready Products Ltd | Burnaby, BC | (604) 433-5697 |
| VanEE / Venmar Ventilation inc. | Drummondville, PQ | (819) 477-6226 |
| Del-Air | Humboldt | 1-800-667-1722 |
| Lifebreath: Nutech Brands Inc. | London, ON | (519) 457-1904 |
| Regina Geothermal & Solar Inc. | Regina, SK | (306) 522-5326 |
| Venmar CES Inc | Saskatoon, SK | (306) 242-3663 |
| Suntech Systems Ltd | Saskatoon, SK | (306) 664-3060 |
| Air2000 | St Leonard, PQ | (819) 399-3400 |
| Nu-Air Ventilation Systems | Windsor, NS | (902) 798-2261 |