Great video, I a builder and mechanic contractor, I love the idea of tight homes and this equipment is a must, in NJ I have very limited work using any of it, people think I’m nuts when I start talking about it. Thanks for the time to make the video great job, I also used thermal buck and blue skin on my house, and 2” of ComfortBoard 80 on the exterior, love passive homes.
*Works great with **Fastly.Cool** ! Love all the features offered! Multidirectional, temperature controlled and various speed settings! This is our third of this product!*
@@HomePerformance Great video and I agree the information was overwhelming. Be great to do a follow up video and understand how those components work as an overall system. Along with a simple diagram. For example, I'm not that clear on which equipment helps with balancing pressure with drawing air from the outside. Keep up the good work.
One other point as well... when you bring in a “expert” and a “guest” . How about letting him take the show and explain things in detail and all the info. 90% of the time he spoke, it was a sentence and then he was interrupted and you over explained the item and made jokes in the meantime. That’s why people are saying it’s overwhelming. Fast talking, jokes , competing with him for talk time and over explaining real fast just to get to another item.
Phil Rivas - Fantech 0:07 1:26 Overview Exhaust ventilation. Purification and filtration. Air exchange and whole house ventilation. Pressure balancing 1:47 Radon System (in-line fan, EC) 2:57 Kitchen Exhaust - remote-mount (noise outside) fan with duct sound dampener, hood liner. 5:14 Dryer Booster. 6:18 Auxiliary Lint Trap 7:21 HEPA Filters, taking particles out of the air. Pre-filter, activated carbon filter, two year HEPA filter (traps 99.97% of particles larger than 0.3 micrometers) 10:05 Whole Home Ventilation 10:43 ERV Core 11:52 Ports in/out 13:41 Fittings 15:21 Make-Up Air System 16:02 Controller 17:00 Intake Vent w/ screen 17:12 motor-controlled variable Damper 18:08 Fan (EC, infinitely variable) 18:25 Filter Box 19:17 Homeowner Maintenance 20:11 Duct Dampener/Silencer 20:47 Heater & Controller 23:27 Verification Testing later On average, women and men need to consume about 11 & 15 cups of water from all sources each day. Probably 8 or less cups is from glasses of treated water. On average, we breathe the equivalent of about 2000 gallon bottles of unfiltered air each day. 0:53
Corbett, this is probably my favorite video of yours. Well done, some really good information for professionals and homeowners. One question, are you using a regular dryer or have you considered a heat pump dryer? We are typically recommending heat pump dryers in all our projects since they don't have an exhaust. They do take a little longer to dry, but about 50% longer, not 6 hrs like it use to be. Thank you!! FYI, I will have to remember the 2,000 gallons of air a day, I've never heard it in those units, about 30 lbs of air per day. I think cups are a much better idea that a client could relate to.
Great video really appreciate the longer-form videos going into the less well understood parts of building a high-performance home. Did you have a mechanical engineer draw out the entire system?
When you said that it was going to be a high performance exhaust system I was expecting more. Way back in the non computer days we ran all of the exhaust system into the attic. At the bottom was a condensation drain piped to a trap then outdoors. The main feature had a freon heat exchanger to save heat. Preheating the fresh air inlet. This system also was balanced to have 15% fresh air into the return air system. One outlet and one inlet. The inlet had a rolled filter at the inlet. Then pleated filter at the plenum. The kitchen exhaust always ran out as short as possible. We sheetrock ed a box with fire x on the inside. The idea was if it accumulated grease and had a fire, would it spread it or contain it? Last, was a power interrupt to the smoke detectors. One inside the exhaust air and two or three inside the home. They go off and shut down all fans. On a side note. Did you test for Radon?
The ERV manufacturers that we have been looking at expressly say that the ERV equipment should not be installed in a bathroom. We didn't understand that because, as you've pointed out, the ERV is built to handle the high moisture. Is the Fantech ERV different somehow to make the installation possible in a bathroom? Your videos are an amazing resource. Thank you very much.
the one thing i would love for all of this technology is for it to check itself if there is a problem and email the home owner when it needs servicing. annual service is one thing, but if it breaks or stops working in the middle of a cycle, you may not know unless you are constantly checking them. for example, the heater for the fresh air intake. if it stops, all of sudden it is cold one day and it may have broken 3 months ago.
I appreciate the respect for not making the woman's feet cold. One of the interesting discoveries that has arisen from the broader accessibility of hormone support for transgender people is that women's hormones restrict blood supply to the extremities more than men's hormones do. Women having cold feet is a real thing, and it's part of our survival-oriented physiology because we're better at keeping our core temperature stable, but also cold feet are uncomfortable and designing houses to keep them warm is IMPORTANT.
We used these dryer booster systems and they work well. With the lint filter. We can no longer use a dryer booster with the motor in line. They make another version.
Brian, I don’t know that much about these newer systems. However I was literally just on the website reading the brochure and data specs on the unit. It says in bold “do not run the exhaust ducts from the kitchen or bathroom straight to the ERV”... Hope that helps .
Very interesting! To make the story re restaurant air (at 17:50) more complicated, make-up air supplies are generally set up to supply 90% of the air being exhausted by the range hood and dishwasher fans. Where does the other 10% come from? The dining area. This is so cooking smells, smoke etc. stay in the kitchen. The building's HVAC system, separate from the kitchen system, supplies that 10%.
Nice video. Very helpful to me. Now you just need to make a video showing the design of the system and also installation methods. That'd be way cool. Not sure what the point was around 08:00 regarding a humid summer, a clogged filter and "not enough air flow across your coil." I'm assuming "coil" is referring to the cooling coil in an air conditioner trying to dehumidify the indoor air? A second trivial point is at the beginning the mention of drinking 8 cups of water per day while text on the screen says "1 Gallon per day." But 1 gallon = 16 cups !!!
Cups like glasses full, sorry for the confusion. Yes, we have TONS of videos on ventilation design, search our channel and you can go down the rabbit hole. And yes, coil means A/C coil. Installation vids coming soon!
768 sq ft house main 8’ 3.5” 2x6 walls vaulted ceiling 12’6” 16’x24’ total 24’x32’ master bedroom 12x12with 8’3.5”x 12.6” one master bath 6’x11’6” 6’x6’ laundry heat and air 750sq ft mini split Mr cool. What size Ervin would you need?
What is the filter cost for these systems a year? Also I love the idea of it all but as an average consumer with limited building experience this seems kind of daunting.
Yah its a bit much for average people. I am shooting for a lesser version. Its a bit of a struggle.. And costly.. But i am sure i will achieve desirable in the end. Spray foam top and bottom sealing the house and providing space for the hvac to be in conditioned space. I hate walking around a house and feeling hot air sudenly come out of the duct or hot spots because the system is not matched. In my area.. Most just want to toss something in. They give a price within 10min.
Only thing you could use to improve your erv system is posh timer kit from eneready from Vancouver BC. Motorized exhaust grilles, With touch sensitive wall controllers. You will like it!
With regards to humidity, at what point does an HRV system make sense? I read that a climate with over 60% humidity would require an ERV, but HRV is fine with less humidity. Your thoughts?
Are there any ventilation systems that would route the clothes dryer, bath and kitchen exhaust air to a heat pump (water heater or otherwise) to recapture the energy before it leaves the house ? It seems like running that 6kw heater for the kitchen replacement air is not energy efficient. Especially if you are like me and cook for hours at a time every day. That heater must need its own 30A 220V circuit ?
Yes, the heater takes that circuit size. Full vid on that system coming soon- stay tuned. And I'm aware of no systems that would reclaim the heat loss from all of those without being a major headache on maintenance. Heat pump dryer works great though.
Great video!! What do you think of running kitchen exhaust through the ERV and installing a recirculation hood vent, would that take care of the grease particles and reduce/prevent clogging of the ERV core?
No, I don’t buy that solution. The amount of tiny particles created by any form of cooking will not be caught by a simple grease trap. They’ll end up on your surfaces and in your body.
What is the feasibility/cost:benefit of using geothermal intake air to the makeup air system vs the 6KW intake air heater? Prob need multi buried intake pipes to a manifold system to feed that large intake fan box? I’m building a small off grid solar house with battery and diesel generator backup and 6KW would gobble up nearly all of the output of the panels and be worse at night when cooling dinner. Thanks for the excellent videos!
Excellent question, Cynthia. Check it out: There are 3413 Btu in a kW, so a 6 kW heater produces 20,478 Btu. The size of a coil needed to get that much geothermal transfer is basically a 2 ton A/C. Probably too much to be feasible.
About the ERV. When you say most all kinds of climate from extreme hot and extreme cold weather. ERV IS STILL ADVISABLE? I have a serious problem with high condensation particularly when I'm cooking and showering. What is your recommendations. Please help?
Was a bit confused about the last bit of the video where you were bringing in fresh air to help balance the system. Is this to provide positive air pressure to the house when you are using something like the range hood, where it goes beyond the normal erv
1. I would put a heat pump for a water heater in my crawl space. A heat pump sucks radon, moister from that space and saves me money on electricity 2. instead of buying a buster for a dryer I buy a dryer with built in heat pump. The difference in price v.s. a traditional dryer will be covered in 3 years with savings on electricity and that dryer do not need exhaust at all. 3. I install Chinese made multi splits with operating mode down to -22 F by doing so i get 2 in 1 heating and cooling where cooling 2x less expensive than from a traditional system. 4. since I save lots of money on heating and cooling systems I could consider installing CERV2 which is superb any HRV and ERV or I probably wait when Chinese product come to US market . 5. after all my projects complete I could estimate how much electricity my household consumes and install solar panels
@@HomePerformance A typical heat pump water heater moves at least 100cfm and can have its intake and/or exhaust ducted. Why wouldn't ducting from the crawl space suck up radon and then exhaust it outside after the heat has been extracted from the air carrying the radon away ?
Hello, I was to install LED UV in my AC. now I concerned that it could cause a chemical reaction? Looking to reduce allergies for my babies. Any suggest are welcome.
Love the video. Here's my POV: We're radically under-investing in filtration - even the people like you who care about filtration. Why? Because we're counting on homeowners to replace filters frequently - somewhere between monthly and annually. This is not realistic, and all the folks over at the HVAC subreddit talk about how ubiquitous clogged filters are. Not only do clogged filters choke off your HVAC system, even when things are working well relying on one small filter forces your fan to waste tons of energy & noise trying to push air through such a small manifold. I think the house should have a number of places with filter arrays: Take the biggest low-MIRV filter they sell at Home Depot and build a door-sized panel of a dozen of them. Slap a cyclone separator in front of that to get the big stuff (home woodworking shops are all using these now). Put another door of HEPA after all this. You trade that broom-closet-sized space in for a reasonable maintenance cycle and a reasonable energy usage for the ventilation fan - plausibly saving you more energy than entire classes of insulation. (This is part of the reason why small homes seem ridiculous to me: There are lots of opportunities to trade off space for efficiency, comfort, and performance)
Interesting thought, but isn't the solution described just kind of a longer-term bandaid? What if we upped the stakes- if you don't replace your filter, the IRS finds out and audits you. Bam. Solved.
I think I heard you say you'd talk about the bathroom exhaust but I don't recall hearing about bathroom exhaust and makeup air for the bathroom. In addition, how does the makeup air activate for your dryer fan if it is connected to your range hood? Great video overall.
Awesome vid. I love fantech products but it's good to see some of the thngs they jave for specific systems. Also, I have the sexy black fan as well. Let me tell you, its a scookum blower.
@@HomePerformance That's 'skookum', which is a Chinook word for strong, or fierce. We older Canadians use that word a lot here in western Canada, although no twenty-year-old does. The younger set just rolls its eyes!
Finally, a great in-depth discussion about home ventilation systems! So appreciated and agree that you need to research this stuff "exhaustively"! Love the pun! So, what type of kitchen exhaust fan besides bowl shaped is best? How much CFM extraction rate max is recommended? No recirculating types, right? Just outdoor venting types, right? Also, I read that mounting a kitchen fan about 2 feet above the cooktop is most efficient. Your thoughts? And induction cooktops only (not gas). And clothes dryers...we have a condensing dryer, so we don't need to vent externally. The guts of the house are critical, yet people spend so much time focussing mainly on the aesthetics. With climate change and the dangers it poses, we all need to change our thinking when constructing new buildings of any sort. Thank you for sharing your knowledge on and passion for this important topic.
Thanks for your comment, Gloria, and you definitely get the gist! Mounting height is based on manufacturer recommendations, though, because you might overheat or melt the electronics if you go too low (2 ft is pretty low). CFM is less important than Capture Efficiency, which we'll get into more here in future videos.
I was wondering about blowing makeup air in the kitchen when the outside air is freezing. A heater makes sense. I wonder about the exterior exhaust fan though, if it could have freezing issues when it's below zero and you're venting steam, etc. from cooking.
I am designing a house to build in NC [similiar to ATL climate] and am going the same direction you are. Curious about ducting. I am assuming you are doing a separate duct network for the ERV system yes? what about the makeup air? is it dumping into a single location? would it be possible to dump it into the ERV outlets?
Yes, separate ducting, no, don’t mix ERV and makeup air. The ventilation rate for our living space is 150 cfm, but the makeup air goes up to 750 cfm when needed- way too much for a skinny little duct system.
Great video. Regarding the dryer, you mentioned the potential need for a booster, and you said you would get to the makeup air for the dryer, but the video only discusses the makeup air for the kitchen hood. Given a super tight home, how do you plan to provide makeup air for the dryer? Is the makeup fan for the kitchen hood also monitoring the dyer vent?
Hey guys, to clarify we went with a heat pump dryer because there is no single solution on the market (or even theoretically possible) that would work for this whole house pressure control. Video forthcoming.
Building a 2000 sq ft house for my family down in McDonough ga. What’s the cost for a system like this? Seems like it’d be out of reach for most people. Thanks, I’ve been really enjoying these videos. 🤙
What’s the cost for having humidity and chemistry problems in a house that makes kids sick and wives unhappy? If you want that stuff to be taken care of, it takes money. If you’re comparing the cost of this system to a couple of builder model bath fans, then you’re right, it’s out of reach.
@@HomePerformance Yea I get it. I plan on using a legitimate ventilation system in my home (ERV). I guess what I'm asking is does it need to be as complicated as this to provide "fresh" air to the occupants?
It's not as powerful as I thought it would be, but it works very well. ru-vid.comUgkxGjG43--gYqIoT4Xkur2PqCrtbKwTv2h6 There are three options to circulate air, and best of all a remote control for us lazy people. Installation was a breeze (no pun intended). It actually took longer to open the box then it did putting the side extenders on and sitting it in the window opening. It's a perfect alternative when you want airflow, but not the AC. Just might order another one for a different room. UPDATE: Bought another one like I said. They work great. Why not have two...
Hey I have a question? I have a 200 square foot tiny house with closed foam insulation and because I also use it as a greenhouse in the winter time and of course because of transpiration of the plants and evaporation of the soil after a watering… on top of two adult people breathing, I am getting a lot of humidity in the winter time. I also live in the SW Virginia area so we have pretty humid summers here too. Which system would work best for this application and HRV or ERV? I know both clean the air Im just more concerned with excessive humidity. I see a lot of people in tiny houses using HRV but what do you think I should do. Also I am looking for a very small unit… any ideas there because its again only 200 sq ft?
Hi Becky- thanks for your message, but you're not going to like my answer. A home and a greenhouse are totally different things, and should never be combined. You need two separate spaces. There is no way I know of to maintain a steady humidity level when you're watering a ton of plants in a tiny home.
Nice video. I have a question concerning bathroom ventilation concerning humidity. In another video, you described two exhaust ports (one wall-mounted near the water closet and another ceiling-mounted over the shower/bathtub). Please share your experience so far with the exhaust leg carrying humid air from the shower/bathtub back to the ERV? Are there any issues associated with condensation?
@@HomePerformance I am planning to follow your path and since my building will start soon, it seemed a good time to learn from someone using the system. Your videos have been very helpful. With any home, my largest fears are stormwater and condensation so that's why I asked. Thanks again for sharing your build.
The dryer vent length depends on where the dryer is placed and where the termination will be. And no, you can’t run the range hood into the ERV- grease will clog it, and the total flow is only 150-200 cfm.
Why are you not running the kitchen exhaust through an ERV? Seems a huge waste to dump your entire heat load of the house to use electric heat as a replacement.
Because cooking creates lots of particles and chemicals you don’t want floating into your space. The grease particles would clog an ERV core. This is the best approach for controlling HOMEChem. Saving energy should always take a backseat to human health.
@@HomePerformance haha ok. It just seems like a gap in terms of performance for hot weather people. Let me keep researching to figure out how to pre-cool it. (In Thailand everything is ductless inverter systems for AC)
@@HomePerformance ahhh that is a handy tip, bring it in but then suck it out again add quickly as possible instead of our high quality ERVed air 👍👍👍. Thanks for that
Any more info on the erv inlet and outlets? They look tiny. Thoughts on pressure vers vacuum in the house. Postive pressure hrv systems are common here but i hear depresserision is better in cold aeras.
@@HomePerformance here we typically use 150mm vent for smaller rooms and 200mm for larger. Yours looks like 100mm. Are you going gor smaller size to increase throw?
Pretty disappointing, if the blower door test is better than passive spec why have an exterior dryer and kitchen stove vent? Current dryer technology would dictate a heat pump dryer that condenses moisture and dumps to drain! My home is 12 years old and the air to air exchanger exhausts from bathrooms and kitchen and returns to living room. Stove hood is internal and filters smoke and smell and exchanger exhaust takes care of humidity.
We ultimately did go with a heat pump dryer, but the science is pretty solid on exterior vented kitchen exhaust being critical. Too many small particles that the basic carbon and grease filter just can’t capture.
I mean this sounds great to be so concerned about the air quality but I can’t help but worry about the huge energy demand this adds to the home. The power has to come from somewhere. One house...that’s ok but can you imagine a whole block? A city? I understand these are probably efficient motors and such but regardless this is an enormous addition of energy waste. There must be a more passive way to accomplish this.
There is not a passive way. But the house is so efficient otherwise that it leaves 90% of other homes in the dust. For example, 45,000 cu ft of enclosed air across 3,015 sq ft heated and cooled with less than 30kBtu. Furnaces traditionally start at 40k.
The math shows that equipment like this is an enormous energy win. Passively exchanging CO2 by opening windows just burns money - it's the most wasteful solution by far. What you want is an active fan with a heat exchanger - this is enormously cheaper.
Maybe I missed it, but what is the cumulative power consumption of a setup like this, averaged out, compared to what is commonly used. Otherwise, how big a hit on the electric bill.
These are among the most efficient units made today. As explained in the vid, you can’t do without any of these in a very airtight home, so the exact consumption is beside the point.
@@HomePerformance Here in Australia, we have the solar advantage. A 6kW system installed that the power company only allows you to produce/draw 5kW from!
@@tweake7175 Hey Tweake, Phil from the video here(I'm no longer at Fantech but am still involved in the industry), hadn't seen these questions before but essentially my engineers at Fantech explained the following about the heat transfer: Plastic being thinner and more capable of conducting the heat faster through the membrane performs better at most temperatures. Aluminum takes longer to transfer the heat through but remains more efficient at very low temps. Plastic has a point of diminishing returns and cannot outpace the aluminum for performance at extreme temps. That's not to say the plastic cores aren't good, they are. Aluminum is just more stable in extreme cold. Hope that made sense.
Good video but I’m in two minds about this. Simplicity v moving with the times. The drawbacks as I see them: 1. Remember when we opened the window? We are moving a long way from simplicity and lots of motors and electronics to go wrong = cost. 2. Filters = forever operating costs as they have to be replaced. 3. Filters = obsolescence. They’ll stop making them in two years!
Ok, but… Remember when taxes didn’t exist? Remember when there was no traffic? No pollution? No jobs? Just little family clans, hunting and gathering and living their best life? No cell phones in sight. We can’t go back.
@@HomePerformance I get your point. Don’t get me wrong. I was just questioning if the road would ultimately prove to be the right one. As an example of thinking we were on the right road: remember when we used leaches, we took arsenic for health, we inhaled mercury for invigoration. Sometimes the path looks right but is ultimately wrong. In my new build I am planning to install: balanced passive air with hrv , hvac, range hood and makeup air, solar, battery 😁👍🏻
I hear you. I’m frankly more worried about us going too far in this direction… the complexity in this vid is nothing compared to IoT connected ‘smartness’ and where we could be headed. Maybe we never take masks off again? :(
That will happen to your house too if it goes without your AC running. If there’s no gas, society breaks down. No medicine, same. We live in a society.
Home Performance I have an Air Dr purifier which has a carbon and hepa in it right now becuz I’m in a moldy house, the purifier is in the room I spend most of my time in, its all I know to do til I can get out of here.
This is a funny comment because normally I'm the guy who doesn't shut up. Phil here DLG, and the whole point is that this was Corbett's build and I was there to add the explanation of product specs and a bit of depth, etc but not host the show. This is Corbett's home and his channel, I was just happy to be a sidecar for this one. :-)
Start talking $ for installation , $ power requirements , $ maintenance ps . Active UVC IN PROPER FREQUENCY BAND will disinfect air and surfaces without creating ozone .Maintenance (professional vs home owner) break it down. You MUST TAKE into consideration most people will not do or contract needed maintenance even fewer will pass needed knowledge to subsequent owners. Failure points
