Q&A: A Forum for Green Building Experts and Beginners

I have a humidistat sitting in my house the last few years, and have taken notice of the RH%.

I am concerned that an HRV will dry out my house too much. Location is Toronto which has cold winters (down to -18 celcius) and summers up to 30 and 35 celcius humid

With a forced air system with a humidifier installed, we go down to about 16% humidity in the winter on the coldest days. typical is around 20%-24% . In the summer we are at about 50-54% ish.

with these numbers would an HRV make it too dry, or would the numbers typically be affected only slightly?

Hey everybody,
I find Martin's article A New Way to Duct HRVs pretty fascinating. It seems pretty sensible for a well sealed/insulated home, however the postscript from Dr. Straube says that 10cfm of conditioned air wouldn't help with regulating the temperature in a closed off bedroom. I guess that makes sense at that rate.

I have an 8 year old structural-insulated-panel house. It is tight, has good siting, big roof overhangs and performs well with passive heating and concrete floor hydronics. It has no air conditioning. In my climate we can get a week of 110 to 115 degree highs and 70 degree lows when the small whole house fan makes it difficult to sleep due to noise.

Hi! I've been following a variety of discussions about ventend/unvented assemblies in cathedral ceilings, in low slope roofs, in different climates, on FHB, JLC for close to two years. I’ve read Martin, I’ve read Lstiburek, I’ve talked to the architects (hopeless) and structural engineers. I thought I had this nailed down, and now the builder (who also happens to be a SE - long story), comes at me with a new idea.

So I’m finally going to “vent” my worries and seek some advice specific to our situation.