ERV balancing with DG 1000
Jeremiah_Sommer
| Posted in Mechanicals on
Hello, I would like to use the DG 1000 manometer from my TEC blower door to balance an ERV (Panasonic IB 100). While I am to find tubing arrangements for various blower door and duct testing scenarios I have been unable to find any set up guidance for ERV balancing. I would appreciate suggestions from anyone who has used the DG1000 for this purpose.
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Most are balanced by measuring the pressure drop across the ERV core. The installation manual has a table of converting the delta P to CFM which you can use for adjustment.
That gauge has a set of ports for doing differential pressure measurement, you can connect it up to the ERV with the same piping arrangement as shown in the installation manual. Make sure the gauge is rated for the max pressure you are likely to see which is typically around 1" wg (250Pa).
The 2nd set of ports are for flow measurement, without a proper calibrated orifice of the correct size, you won't be able to use it. I've also found the flow rates of ERVs are so low that even with a proper gauge it is hard to get anything other than a ballpark number, I would stick to balancing based on the delta P across the core.
Thank you Akos, think I have a better understanding of the DG 1000 for this application now. Once to mentioned “differential pressure” I had something to go on when reviewing the manual. With two channel A taps and two B taps on the DG I was overthinking the tubing set up.
Start with clean filters in the ERV.
Configure your gauge for differential pressure as Akos has mentioned using the Channel A ports. Look on the table, page 14: https://panasonic.ca/brochures/EN/housing/ventilation/submittals-forms_OI/IntelliBalance/IntelliBalance_FV-10VE2_FV-10VEC2_Installation_en.pdf
Measure the pressure drop on the stale side, then fresh side using the four ports on the unit. You want a good seal at the test ports. If the pressure reads negative, reverse your test leads. The CFM values for fresh and stale should match up pretty closely, within 10%. Referencing the page 14 chart, if you have a FV-10VE2, at 50 CFM, the drop should be 34 Pa on the fresh, and 70 Pa on the stale side. Note the values in that chart from 50 to 100 CFM. It's pretty simple to do once you figure out what's going on. The reason the values will be different is primarily due to core design, and in that unit, the provisions for recirc. defrost.
That unit should be balancing itself, so don't be surprised if there is nothing to adjust :-)
Thank you Dennis, the Panasonic IB series is a very nice ERV but other than finding copies of the manual online, I haven’t really managed to find much else in terms of guidance, I appreciate your help.
Glad to help. Balancing is pretty straightforward but there are not a ton of YouTube tutorials out there targeted to DIY.