HRV vs Whole House Dehumidifer

[Delphinus]

The HRV was well worth it in my case. I'll have one in any house I live in going forward, tanks or no tanks.

[rayjay]

I use my HRV year round. Power costs are much lower than a dehumidifier also.
That being said though, dehumidifying would probably delay having to use A/C for the house at a bit of a cost savings.
I use mine in summer to continually be bringing in fresh air as I shut the house up for the A/C, not to decrease humidity.
However, the drip line from the HRV definitely is showing that water is being removed from either the incoming or outgoing air, I don't know for sure which.
I suspect its coming from the incoming air as the outgoing air has had reduced humidity from the actions of the A/C.

[mark]

I'm back to the HRV.

Looking more into the WHD seems they would work as well as a HRV for what I want (removing moisture) but see even the smallest Honeywell (DR65) is 5.2amps and would need to run the furnace fan also. For that amount of draw and each unit costing similar might as well get the added benefit of fresh air being brought into the house with a HRV.

Though the installation would will be a little more involved since would be pulling from main floor, I was allowing a straight run up through a closet (return tying to existing FA ducting), I still can't understand the cost.

I hate crawling through the attic specially with the blown in insulation so might have kicked over a $1000 for a days work for 2 guys (sort of what I had expected), not $3000.

[cwatkins]

HRV sounds like a winner to me.

If I ever went with an HRV, I'd probably do a self install. I like to think of myself as pretty handy DIY.

My house is 5 years old and is pretty tight. The local code requires we have a hard-wired bathroom fan running 24/7.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by cwatkins

The local code requires we have a hard-wired bathroom fan running 24/7.

This is something I would personally fix if I were you, if dig into it you'll find that this particular feature isn't really because your house is that air tight, after all if it were that tight you would experience negative pressure issues from a 24/7 exhaust fan, chances are you even got some extra holes somewhere to let the house breath. The reason you have such a feature is a result from large insurance claims in the area back in the 80s after new Canada wide building codes were released from CMHC but they weren't up to par with your area and resulted in poor building practice and eventually mold issues leading to those insurance claims. Now you do require a ventilation system by code as do many other areas throughout Canada which is good. What's bad however is the fact the builders in the area are still cheaping out and selling houses with what they label as bathroom fan feature to enhance airflow in the house to prevent mold and mildew. Realistically this "feature" is more of a shortcut and even saves money as you no longer need a switch Nothing more than a cheap fix/gimmick to barely pass code and help sell houses. At the very least it needs to be on a timer or even better a humidistat.

[mark]

well this is embarrassing.

Downstairs looking how to run things and thought "never have looked at the a/c unit's A-coil". Pull off the cover for the humidifier on the side of the furnace and see the tray is full of water and water is dripping from the float!!!

I know I turned the water off like 6 years back. Try to turn the piercing valve but it's already screwed down tight and can't go tighter. Looks like it's been running a while from the deposits, maybe not 6 years but some.

Had a spare JG valve so installed that after the other valve.

[wingedfish]

Don't lose sleep over it, even if it had it's guts, those humidifiers didn't do anything anyways.