Hacking the Panasonic WhisperComfort Spot ERV into a Tiny Ducted Ventilation System 

Very useful video. This small units also seem to be accessible for people living in appartments.

My inquiry to Panasonic about doing this "McGyver mod" yielded this response: "You cannot use this device as a bathroom exhaust fan." I even mentioned that I had seen it on your channel!

Instructions specifically say: Newver install in bathroom or high humidity area.

I have a 780 sq ft home I built, it’s pretty damn air tight. Lots of time went into making it this way. But boy one thing I wasn’t thinking about when building it is how bad Everything off gasses the kitchen cabinets couch and dressers in bedroom, stick the whole place up. I open a window some and run my exhaust fan above my stove it vents outside of course, I turn it on and run it all day at 80 cfm close turn of and close window at night, by morning the fumes build up again. The issue with what I’m doing is, clearly it’s not a good option if humidity is high outside and when it’s cold that’s a lot of cold air. Iv been reading into a hrv system, but I would also like to have something that helps get rid of indoor humidity, even though I have a a really good exhaust fan over the shower that gets rid of all the steam. There is still the water that is left behind in the shower that evaporates back into the air and wet towels you dry off with, not to mention the Washing machine is Always has some water left behind that also will evaporate into the Air, with two people living here it adds up, so the cracking the window in winter time with exhaust fan on helps there, another issue is in the summer the air conditioning really never runs zero it’s insulated well, it can be 100 degrees outside all day and it be 68 inside without air on. So this leaves me running a dehumidifier to dehumidify the air, is there one that exchanges air and can also dehumidify the air but also keep some of the heat lost in the winter time?

Hello! I know this is an old video, but what would you recommend today for a ducted ERV? I live in Atlantic Canada, which has a humid and cold climate. It sounds like an ERV would work well in this case. I've been following your projects and I'm planning my tiny house build now. Thoughts on a ERV unit to buy this year? Would you still recommend the Panasonic WhisperComfort using your modifications in this video?

Thank you for great videos

For a single unit what room should be vented?

That is awesome! We just finished a tiny house design competition, would've been great to include. Thanks fo the inspiration - keep rocking!

Thank you!

Love your content, I have learned more about ERVs in the last 4 videos of yours than in months of looking stuff up. What would be a good way to attach a duct to the hole you created here?

Reading the comments, I see why I can't find part two... Had you stuck to this plan, how WOULD you have finished it off? I have an 1100 sf house with 200ish sf space I'd like to turn into an ADU. I'm thinking of using the Intellibalance 100 for the main house, but I'd like something smaller like your hacked WhisperComfort for the ADU, which won't get as much use. I'll be checking out the newer modular system video you have, but cost is key here. The house and the location are such that there's only so much investment that will actually translate to equity, and this is likely going to be a rental for a while. Thanks!

I am building a 200 sq ft house. I am wanting to install it in the shower/toilet area. This hack would not be for me, right? Also, am I remembering you that said to steer clear of Panasonic ERVs in another video?

Great idea. Where is the installing video? You said you were going to show something else you were doing to help. I’m new to all this so I’m doing all my research before install mine Thank you

I've found this ERV model for sale for $175. I am wanting to install it in my tiny house shower/toilet area. Am I remembering that I saw or read another thing from you that said to steer clear of Panasonic ERVs? I don't know how important ERV type is for me. I don't want to overthink it. Just want an ERV to serve it's purpose for my small space because my house is pretty airtight.

We have a condo in NJ built in 1966 with just a 16*8 crawl space vent as a "basement window" for our 500sqft basement. There is a dryer venting out of this 16*8 space at the moment. Would one of these help the basement stay fresh through summer and winter and provide fresh air for our living space upstairs through the stack effect? As of now we have a dehumidifier in the basement running in the summers (winter humidity levels are 50% so it doesn't run) and outside air coming in through the 8*8 "window"

I have a long winded question.I live in North alabama near water. In the winter my lofts are hot. I have a gable vent in my front loft and a small window in the back loft (bedroom). The kitchen is in the front of the house and the bathroom is in the back; both on the first floor. If I have a top vented bathroom door, what is best exaust for the kitchen and bathroom (with a centered ceiling fan)? My house runs on 12v and I have a 115v ac inverter.

Does this mean your bathroom door needs to be open all the time for this circulation to be proper?

+home performance Just wondering if you could suggest a more affordable alternative? Thanks

That ERV is not for use in a bathroom, according to Panasonic.

This is great! I'm curious: if the ERV is supplying and exhausting air from different rooms, would that create a difference in pressure ? I'm thinking of using a similar set-up in a tiny house I'm building with my school.

Did you get it installed? How is it working? Video link? I REALLY like that Panasonic tech support helped with the where to cut & modify the unit. Love to know how it ended up as I plan on doing the same type of installation in our THoW ! Great vids!

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?

Hello. Thanks for the video. I was considering a similar mod and installation. I'm seeing some conflicting info from you in the comments. Did you install this modified ERV in a bathroom (per the blessing of Panasonic), or did you not? If not, which ERV specifically did you use? Also: It seems to me that using an HRV would be better for exhausting the humidity of a bathroom, because ERV's are designed to retain some moisture levels (if I recall). Thoughts?

Wow. Thank you for sharing this! I look forward to the followup videos. I'm curious how you will maintain maintenance access to the core and filters. And I assume the bathroom will have a jumper duct or similar, for when the door is closed? This ERV really hits a price sweet spot that nothing else does... the ability to duct it, quasi-sanctioned by Panasonic, is a big deal. I might end up doing this myself.

I'm considering purchasing this model you reviewed and modifying it as shown in your video. I see that you didn't actually install this model but rather a Broan model. Because of the limited space I have to install a HRV unit in my house, this particular Panasonic unit that fit between floor joists seems to be the best unit I've seen thus far in my limited research. Given this, would you recommend the WhipserComfort Spot ERV or would you recommend another unit?

I just saw a video where you discouraged us from ductless spot ervs. :(

Hi mate, I’m currently building a tiny house here in Australia too. Might be a silly question...It’s going to be pretty much air tight but will also most likely include a woodheater. How do i go about, making sure I don’t die at night, from carbon monoxide poisoning? I mean, in Aus., power outages are pretty common and the last thing I want is to rely on a fan to “keep me alive” :D Thinking of installing the Lunos e2 system. Thanks in advance.

Where can I buy just the core ?

So would this option be okay for areas with cold weather?

Where could i buy one of these to ship to the netherlands, 230vac?

health hazard : the Contega solido exo membrane is not suited for interior use ! This product failed the REACH PBT/vPvB for hazardous and toxic substance. Using an exterior product inside your house, ... inside the vent that drives the air inside your house is a really bad idea. * PBT substances are substances that are Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT). vPvB substances are substances that are very Persistent and very Bio-accumulative (vPvB). PBT substances and vPvB substances pose big threats to human health and the environment. When you register a chemical substance or identify its hazard, you often need to determine whether the substance belongs to a PBT substance or vPvB substance or not. In this article, we try to give you an overview and comparison of PBT and vPvB criteria in EU and USA. *

Great video, thanks for sharing. I'm wondering if you can help me understand something? I would happily just pay you to tell me the answer but I can't find any way to do that on your website. If there's an option for that please let me know. So, I live full time in a tiny house I put a huge amount of effort into insulating and air sealing, but to keep the indoor CO2 below 1000ppm I need the windows open (on top of my passive air vents). Massive heat loss here in the northwest. So I'm trying to find a small HRV and I'm having zero luck. There is this really poorly made Russian thing. Then there is the Lunos which is $$$ (which I don't actually care about) but sounds like a small airplane in your house (which I do care about) then there is the Panasonic which says it can't be used in a high humidity area (where I need to install it) has poor heat recovery, and turns itself off in freezing weather (when it would do the most good). Are there ANY other options?? I want the kind of core you can get in a higher end model, but I need the airflow to be controllable down to 20CFM so it doesn't cancel it's own benefit with too high of an airflow. I imagine if anyone knows the answer to this it's you, so I thought I'd write. As a 20 year sustainable building veteran, I had no idea that I was going to have such a problem finding a small well made HRV. What are your thoughts? happy to pay for them if there's a way to do that. My email is fairly easy to find through my RU-vid channel and website.

You should have just bought an HRV and run stale air from the bathroom and fresh air to bedroom. 40cfm wont really be enough for a bathroom unfortunately. As far as balancing an HRV has dampers to dial in the airflow to what you need. Dont let the H in HRV fool you its a higher efficiency rate of temperature exchange, and ERV is less efficient and doesn't require a condensate drain making for easier install, thats all there is to it.

Uhm... I would disagree that everyone like an airtight house. I have seen lots prefer not to have it...

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