HRV... is it worth it?

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466 posts

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#1367608 16-Aug-2015 20:36

michaelmurfy: HRV - don't go near them, they're expensive, pushy and actually not that good.

I had heard all the HRV pushy sales horror stories to. Which is why we went for DVS. My elderly in laws have HRV. Recently the red light came on the control panel. They rang HRV who told them it needs to be looked at urgently. Long story short it was just the filter. All in all HRV charged them over $300 for a filter change.

I got 2 filters for my DVS on trademe for $70. Fitted one in 10 mins.

michaelmurfy

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#1367610 16-Aug-2015 20:42

PoHq:
michaelmurfy: HRV - don't go near them, they're expensive, pushy and actually not that good.

I had heard all the HRV pushy sales horror stories to. Which is why we went for DVS. My elderly in laws have HRV. Recently the red light came on the control panel. They rang HRV who told them it needs to be looked at urgently. Long story short it was just the filter. All in all HRV charged them over $300 for a filter change.

I got 2 filters for my DVS on trademe for $70. Fitted one in 10 mins.

I had 16 phone calls from them after I was investigating on their website and asked for a quote. After the 16th I said "you realize this is the 16th time you've phoned me with the exact same story?" - they were also badmouthing DVS saying they're crap etc. All 16 times I said I was not interested and to remove me off their call list and the last time I said I would make a formal complaint about them for phone spam.

I bought a filter for my parents DVS straight from them and took me about that to fit it, they're excellent.

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Jase2985

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#1367613 16-Aug-2015 20:46

andrewNZ: NO. Positive pressure ventilation is a scam.

I have just unplugged the one in my house (installed by the previous owner) and my house is now a LOT warmer with no noticable increase in condensation.

i disagree

here are some photos from my house of the windows in the morning. We have a DVS with a vent in each bedroom and one in the living space. Built in 1955, 100sqm. 700mm off the ground on piles, no insulation in the walls, minimum spec in the roof and under the floor. Weather board, tin roof and single glazed wood framed windows that leak a bit

Taken in a smallish bedroom (2.7x3m) where a single person sleeps with the door shut. the tempertaure during the day and over night was within 1deg of each other and it didnt rain either day.

With DVS (Click for larger picture)

Without DVS (was turned off for 24 hours)

It does make a difference, but the results may vary and it does depend on your house. made a huge difference in ours

scuwp

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#1367629 16-Aug-2015 20:56

Just had a Smart Vent system installed a couple of weeks ago. I was sceptic but as the wife wanted one we got it, as you do. Definitely a convert!! Hype or no hype, overnight all the condensation disappeared from the usually sodden windows and the house feels warmer and dryer. We did have HRV around a year or so back but they were way more expensive and the salesperson was sooo pushy it was really off-putting.

Smart Vent was recommended to us and thus far very happy. Particularly as they will sell you the parts and you can do it yourself (i.e. they don't trap you into 'having' to get them in to change filters etc). The salesman actually talked us out of spending money on some features.

You can buy the Smart Vent systems at Bunnings and install yourself, or they can get a local agent to install it for you. I see some of the basic kits are even sold on TradeMe.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

BinaryLimited

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#1367634 16-Aug-2015 21:07

scuwp: Just had a Smart Vent system installed a couple of weeks ago. I was sceptic but as the wife wanted one we got it, as you do. Definitely a convert!! Hype or no hype, overnight all the condensation disappeared from the usually sodden windows and the house feels warmer and dryer. We did have HRV around a year or so back but they were way more expensive and the salesperson was sooo pushy it was really off-putting.

Smart Vent was recommended to us and thus far very happy. Particularly as they will sell you the parts and you can do it yourself (i.e. they don't trap you into 'having' to get them in to change filters etc). The salesman actually talked us out of spending money on some features.

You can buy the Smart Vent systems at Bunnings and install yourself, or they can get a local agent to install it for you. I see some of the basic kits are even sold on TradeMe.

Interesting, was just thinking about smart vent....

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Jaxson

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#1367654 16-Aug-2015 21:34

BinaryLimited: Hi all

Thinking of getting hrv....we live in an old home..no double glazing....
Is it really worth getting HRV or is it all just hype?

It's a draught that you pay to create and then have to deal with.

What exactly is your problem (not with you personally, but with the house that you're hoping HRV will fix?)

Too cold, too much moisture on the windows, damp, mould, other?...

scuwp

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#1367655 16-Aug-2015 21:36

BinaryLimited:
scuwp: Just had a Smart Vent system installed a couple of weeks ago. I was sceptic but as the wife wanted one we got it, as you do. Definitely a convert!! Hype or no hype, overnight all the condensation disappeared from the usually sodden windows and the house feels warmer and dryer. We did have HRV around a year or so back but they were way more expensive and the salesperson was sooo pushy it was really off-putting.

Smart Vent was recommended to us and thus far very happy. Particularly as they will sell you the parts and you can do it yourself (i.e. they don't trap you into 'having' to get them in to change filters etc). The salesman actually talked us out of spending money on some features.

You can buy the Smart Vent systems at Bunnings and install yourself, or they can get a local agent to install it for you. I see some of the basic kits are even sold on TradeMe.

Interesting, was just thinking about smart vent....

We just got the standard system with a wall controller, but the tablet version looked cool and had the geek factor. We will get the summer kit installed eventually.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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Jaxson

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#1367656 16-Aug-2015 21:38

Moisture comes from water laden air touching cold things.

Windows are cold.

If you blow the moisture out of the house, you don't have much water in the air to condense on cold things any more.

Dryer air also heats up with less energy, so that's a plus.

On the downside you've also just pushed the air you paid to heat out of the house also.

In many cases ensuring you remove as much water from its source and airing the home is a good compromise. Eg range hoods over boiling pans, shower extractors, hanging wet clothes outside/in the garage etc.

andrewNZ

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#1367659 16-Aug-2015 21:49

I liken the PPV craze to the practice of venting bathroom fans into the roof space. That seemed like a good idea at the time too.

BinaryLimited

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#1367663 16-Aug-2015 21:58

scuwp:
BinaryLimited:
scuwp: Just had a Smart Vent system installed a couple of weeks ago. I was sceptic but as the wife wanted one we got it, as you do. Definitely a convert!! Hype or no hype, overnight all the condensation disappeared from the usually sodden windows and the house feels warmer and dryer. We did have HRV around a year or so back but they were way more expensive and the salesperson was sooo pushy it was really off-putting.

Smart Vent was recommended to us and thus far very happy. Particularly as they will sell you the parts and you can do it yourself (i.e. they don't trap you into 'having' to get them in to change filters etc). The salesman actually talked us out of spending money on some features.

You can buy the Smart Vent systems at Bunnings and install yourself, or they can get a local agent to install it for you. I see some of the basic kits are even sold on TradeMe.

Interesting, was just thinking about smart vent....

We just got the standard system with a wall controller, but the tablet version looked cool and had the geek factor. We will get the summer kit installed eventually.

The app does look cool!

Anyone using nest (https://nest.com/thermostat/meet-nest-thermostat/) ??

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RunningMan

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#1367667 16-Aug-2015 22:20

andrewNZ: I liken the PPV craze to the practice of venting bathroom fans into the roof space. That seemed like a good idea at the time too.

So, if I set the bathroom fan to blow not suck, instant new ventilation system!

richms

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#1367669 16-Aug-2015 22:24

HRV actually installed a system in my mothers place with the intake about 2m from the bathroom fan that was venting into the roofspace.

If the idiot installers dont pick up on that being a slight problem then I dont really trust them with much.

Oh, and they also tapped into the power feed to a sensor light so if you turned that off the HRV was off. Quite handy to stop the floral shampoo smells cycling thru the whole house from the bathroom fan.

Richard rich.ms

Jaxson

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#1367691 17-Aug-2015 02:35

Shocking Richms, would be funny if it sadly wasn't true.

Re the power feed take off, this is rather common unfortunately, grabbing whatever power is close by. You see that a lot in Air Con installs also.

Ventilation is important, it's just worth remembering that it will be costly if you are over ventilating. At work we trigger ventilation based on CO2 levels, ideally either having fans off or on minimum speed unless the CO2 indicates that it's necessary. Humidity is more significant in the home as people tend to do a lot of 'water creation' type activities such as baths and showers, boiling food, opening hot dishwashers, drying clothes, running portable gas heaters etc on top of just general breathing.

It's always a question of balance between a stick hut that's really well ventilated and an insulated shipping container that's very well insulated.
Heating, Ventilation, Insulation ~ they are all important and often companies have a product that's just one part of the triangle, rather than looking at the system as a whole.

Jase2985

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#1367694 17-Aug-2015 06:03

andrewNZ: I liken the PPV craze to the practice of venting bathroom fans into the roof space. That seemed like a good idea at the time too.

you can be as negative as you like about it, but in most cases it works as described. It doesn't work every time due to house layout or how the occupants use the house.

my parents had the same result as we did in the 2004 built, crying windows before DVS, not a single trace of moisture on the windows after.

just because it didnt work in your case doesnt mean it doesnt work in others and thats its a craze or a scam.

sir1963

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#1367702 17-Aug-2015 07:26

RunningMan:
BinaryLimited:
shrub: Just remember its a fan in a box..... But it does work very well and keeps the moisture out by forcing the dry air down.

Take it that the dry air comes from the roof,therefore i need to make sure insulation in the roof is 100%?

Ceiling insulation will make zero difference to the air in the roof space. All it's doing is sucking air from outside and blowing it through the house - it's that simple.

Not quite, the air in the roof space can be a LOT warmer than the outside air thanks to a large surface area ( the roof), good conduction into the airspace (iron roofing), and the air tends to be drier (no people breathing, now cooking, no showers etc0. So warmer, drier air is good.

HOWEVER, as someone else said, it is not much more than a box , a thermostat and a fan.

DVS/HRV/etc systems are grossly over priced.

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