From research I've done don't waste your time with HRV and DVS as they just force air into the house from the ceiling cavity.
You want to get a Cleanaire or SmartVent system as they bring in fresh air from outside and gets heated as it passes through the system. And they have an extraction system where it exhausts stale air to the outside which HRV and DVS don't do.
We are building a new home soon and we are looking at getting a Daikin Ducted Heat Pump with VAM unit (the VAM unit is a extraction system). We were looking at the Mitsubishi Ducted Heat Pump with Lossnay which someone suggested to me here, but found out that Daikin have their version with VAM.
You could do the work yourself. What you need is the rooms able to breathe.
I had massive moisture and mould problems and put in a smart vent and it is absolutely amazing the moisture disappeared overnight and the house dried up and is so much more pleasant to live in. My roof was almost impossible to get into which is the main reason I didnt do it myself. But you could get away with spending $800 bucks and doing it yourself rather than $3000-$4000. But It was such a mission to get into my roof that i was happy to pay someone to deal with it.
So addressing the moisture problem is a great idea. But to be honest HRV/DVS and all these other companies out there charge a lot.
Late to the party, but I have a DVS at my place. Very rudimentary system, as we don't have a ceiling cavity, just a crawl-space down each side of the upstairs rooms (ceiling is vaulted). It's been in for a good decade. The house is south-facing and backs into the bush, so it always had a lot of damp issues in the winter - streaming windows, mildew growing on shoes and bags in closets. No help that the bathroom, laundry and kitchen had no venting mechanisms.
The DVS made about a 70% improvement in the overall condensation/mildew issue, but as others have said, if the air in the crawl space was cold, it made the house cold (or in the summer, way too hot). Adding a dehumidifier in conjunction really made a big difference, and then in 2007 we got heat pumps installed, and they seem to dry the air a lot.
These days I use the DVS mainly in spring and autumn, when the sun hits the roof and the air warms. It means turning the heat pump on much later in the day than would otherwise be needed. Other things that were helpful - when I renovated 4 years ago I had a range-hood fitted to the kitchen, an extractor fan in the bathroom and the tumble dryer vented externally (rather than just opening a window when it was on). Also I invested in insect screens for the upstairs windows so I can open them while at home and get a cross-breeze when the weather is warm enough, and security screen front and back doors for downstairs. This means the house naturally vents in the summer and cools rather than getting too hot with the DVS. In the winter the heat pumps plus dehumidifier keep the place really dry, and the DVS just gets turned on if the roof gets any decent sun on it. I could probably live without it now, but it's nice to have and good if we go on holiday for stopping the house smelling musty after being closed up for weeks.
Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.
scuwp: It includes a basic android tablet. While it looks cool and has the geek-factor we decided to save a grand and use the conventional controller. The humidity sensors is the only real difference, and requires the summer ventilation add-on to work. IIRC you can download the app and run it on any device.
The conventional controller, may last a lot longer than the tech involved with android controller. Apps have to be continue to be updated for new android releases, and this can become a major problem I have found when companies don't keep them upto date, and technology moves on. It is also a way a company could collect a monthly fee, if they make it a subscription service. eg Mazda have released a subscription service on their cars, where you can start your car remotely via your phones app, so the engine is warm when you get in.
540trickzter: From research I've done don't waste your time with HRV and DVS as they just force air into the house from the ceiling cavity.
You want to get a Cleanaire or SmartVent system as they bring in fresh air from outside and gets heated as it passes through the system. And they have an extraction system where it exhausts stale air to the outside which HRV and DVS don't do.
We are building a new home soon and we are looking at getting a Daikin Ducted Heat Pump with VAM unit (the VAM unit is a extraction system). We were looking at the Mitsubishi Ducted Heat Pump with Lossnay which someone suggested to me here, but found out that Daikin have their version with VAM.
Smartvent have a new system called the synergyplus essentially its a synergy but with a reverse cycle AC unit attached.
As I understand it has a ac coil in the extraction part of the system, so the air from inside passes through the heat exchanger then goes passed an ac coil with no external unit needed.
Its only really suited to new builds because of the size.
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