Energy Recovery Ventilator

Why are more people buying Energy Recovery Ventilator?

People who buy air cleaners and home ventilation systems are concerned about the health, safety, and well being of themselves and their families. And they have increasing reason to be concerned about indoor air quality.

After the energy crisis of the 1970s, the housing industry began building energy-efficient homes. Today, homes are tighter, better insulated, and have much less uncontrolled leakage of air through floors, walls, and ceilings. But tighter houses mean less natural air exchange. So pollutants and moisture are trapped once they enter, unless homes are well ventilated.

This doesn’t mean that an older home can't benefit from a home air exchanger. Even though an older home may provide more natural air exchange, that exchange may be spotty. In addition, older homes have a number of potential pollutants — lead dust, asbestos, and chemical residues to name a few — that newer homes may not have.

In addition, any home — old or new — can have pollution that requires full mechanical ventilation. Any home with computers, consumer electronics, gas appliances, woodstoves, and fireplaces will benefit from properly ducted fresh air ventilation. And people with respiratory problems — no matter how old their homes are — will benefit from air cleaners that exchange the air as well as filter particulates out of the environment.

Remember — all air cleaners are not alike. For the best air cleaning and filtration, buy an air exchanger that also offers filtration. Stirling Technology’s top-rated RecoupAerator® series features the best energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) and heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) on the market.

How can I compare Energy Recovery Ventilator  with other air cleaners?

First, we can’t stress enough the importance of bringing in fresh air. Many so-called air cleaners do not bring in fresh air, they merely filter what’s there — and often introduce new contaminants in the process.

With the growing concern about indoor air pollution, many families are looking for a quick fix to indoor air quality problems. The marketplace has responded with a barrage of appliances promising to purify household air. But very few bring in fresh air.

Home air cleaners generally fall into four categories:

• Ozone generators

• Ionizers

• Filtration devices

• Air exchangers with filtration devices

Ozone generators claim to kill undesirable organisms and cleanse particulates from the air. This tabletop appliance draws household air over a high-voltage plate. When oxygen molecules pass through the electric discharge, some are ionized. The ions combine with oxygen to form ozone, which theoretically kills contaminating organisms. However, ozone itself can produce toxic levels of chemicals known to cause irritation to lung tissue and has been proven minimally effective at removing many household pollutants such as nicotine and nitrogen dioxide.

Ionizers send out radio waves that electrically charge airborne particles within a prescribed radius (typically 60 feet). These negatively charged particles attach themselves to surfaces such as draperies, walls, and tabletops, which must be cleaned frequently or else the particles will become resuspended in the air.

Filtration devices rely on filters to trap airborne particulates, ranging in efficiency from about 20% to 99%. Filtration devices do not introduce fresh air into stale environments.

Air exchangers with filtration devices (like the RecoupAerator® series) exchange indoor air every several hours, filtering the air as it circulates. Air exchangers paired with filtration are the best filtration devices on the market today. The RecoupAerator® is the only air exchanger designed to maintain your home’s air temperature and humidity while refreshing indoor air. Compare the RecoupAerator® with the competition. The RecoupAerator® is an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV), which falls into the larger category of Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs).

How good is the Energy Recovery Ventilator filtration?

The RecoupAerator® is unique among heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) and energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) in its extraordinary ability to filter pollens from incoming air. It traps 95% of particles 5 microns and larger, which includes most pollens, and 72% of particles .22 to .3 microns! The heat exchange media, which also delivers this high-efficiency filtration, is easily removable for washing. Replacement material is very reasonably priced (see our online store prices). Larger particles are trapped in washable aluminum pre-filters, which are also easy to remove for cleaning.