Is a HRV the way to go?-installed/update
 

Im Looking at getting a HRV system to help rid my high humidity , the house is moist, windows are full of water mold forming this winter, and all the cabinetry is swollen. I got close to 300 gal of salt water in the house all in the basement. The house would be fairly easy to plum in the HRV and we have a new high efficiency furnace. Ive read most people in BC/AB are happy with their HRVs,
Is this the right choice or is there a different way to deal with the problem, while keeping my tanks. IM in Kelowna.
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Brent

As a heating guy
Yes

I would say yes with or without a fish tank. I really like the fresh air i get from it

I installed a Vanee 90HV-ECM last fall due to the same problems you are having. The previous owners of my house should have installed one years ago as all of the windows frames had black mold on them and had suffered major water damage. After moving in and setting up my 225 galllon aquarium, it was absolutely necessary to install the HRV or my house would have been destroyed by the excess humidity.

I did the install myself and the hardest part was plumbing the exhaust intake vent from my basement to the top of my living room wall on my main level without tearing out any drywall or ripping the flexible venting while doing so. Other than this, the install went very well and after firing up the HRV, my humidity went from >60% down to 30-35% within a few days. I also vented the fresh air into my furnace plenum which is what I'd recommend to anyone doing a retrofit, especially if you have a furnace with a DC fan.

I ended up with alot of small cracks in my drywall and nearly all of my baseboards had to be redone due to the large gaps forming at all the corners and joints. I now have to replace all of the windows and frames in the house as the frames are shot and all of the window inserts seals are gone as well. Had an HRV been installed sooner, this likely wouldn't have been the case.

You won't see a new house being built now without a HRV and this should have been manditory years ago. I'd highly recommend installing a HRV in your situation as a dehumidifier may be the cheaper route, but this is only a bandaid and not a solution for such a problem.

I really need to get one for my indoor pool, way more efficient then the stupid system they put in. I have had to replace the motor twice in 2 yrs and now I can find another one because they are out dated.

I just have to correct you on this. New houses are NOT being built with a HRV, as this is not a requirement. You would have to request it from a builder. I am in the building industry, and I sure don't see many of them going in at all.

I believe that depends on just where you are as there can be local and provincial differences.
I put an HRV in many years ago and when I did the research on them, I found that it was a required item for new home building in many places. I'm unable to remember now just where those areas were but I'm sure someone else will chime in on it.
I should have put one in years earlier because I ended up replacing all the windows and doors due to the damage from the excess humidity.
I have a Lifebreath 300DC unit and it JUST works with the approximate 900g of open water I have in the basement.

Ugh toddler attack, sorry.

I always thought it was code for R2000 rated homes but not required by code for any other. Since most homes aren't R2000 it would stand to reason that most new homes aren't having HRV's put in as standard but I can't find a good reference easily that says R2000 code in Canada requires HRV so maybe even there it is not required although possibly "recommended."

Did come across this though in my poking around the R2000 standard for Canada and it's a nice reference that explains HRV (in case anyone's interested :) )

http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residenti...dex.cfm?attr=4

I had this problem too when I first moved into my house. 6 months in (on a brand new house) the humidity from the tanks caused me all those problems you just listed. And an HRV fixed every one of them.

Even without a fish tank I'd consider having one in my home pretty much forever.

I imagine they work better where the air is dry. Don't know how dry Kelowna is in the winter, but I imagine it's probably dry enough to make a go of things with an HRV. In Calgary where I am, even in the summer, what we call "rain" most other people would call "10% relative humidity" so the HRV works like a snap.