Furnace and HRV

macdj | Posted in General Questions on March 22, 2015 01:23am

We are in the market for a new furnace and hrv, do they come as a single unit? Can you also recommend a list of reliable and efficient brands?

Thank you!

Answer

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STEPHEN SHEEHY | Mar 22, 2015 04:50pm | #1
Diane: HRVs move much less air than furnace fans do, so combining them wouldn't be wise. In addition, the HRV runs constantly, whereas the furnace fan just runs when you need heat.

I just had a Zehnder HRV installed, but it won't be running until the house is done. It is touted as very quiet and highly efficient. We'll see. The installer was very impressed with the quality of the various components. It was expensive.
macdj | Mar 22, 2015 06:05pm | #2
Thanks Stephen for the quick response. The home we purchased was built in 1992, it presently has a Venmar HRV, after much research we are leaning towards a new Nu-Air.
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Martin Holladay | Mar 23, 2015 06:15am | #3
Diane,
As far as I know, nobody makes a combined furnace plus HRV.

That's a good thing, since a furnace and an HRV have entirely different purposes. The purpose of a furnace is to keep your house warm during the winter. The purpose of an HRV is to provide a little fresh air while exhausting stale air.

In most cases, you don't want your HRV to share ductwork with your furnace. For more information on these issues, see these two articles:

Designing a Good Ventilation System

Ducting HRVs and ERVs