Image Credit: Air Pohoda
More Musings of an Energy Nerd
UPDATED on January 24, 2018
It’s time once again to take a look at a few interesting new building products. I recently spotted two potentially useful ventilation products — a new type of ERV and a fan for ventilating small rooms — and two products that are destined for attics — an insulating “hat” for recessed cans and a ventilation baffle that can be installed between rafters. I will also report on JointSealR, a tape distributed by Owens Corning for taping XPS seams.
An ERV for hot, humid climates
Air Pohoda, a ventilation products manufacturer headquartered in the Czech Republic, has established a new distribution network in the U.S.
[Editor’s note: As of January 2018, GBA has learned that Air Pohoda products are no longer being distributed in the U.S.]
Air Pohoda manufactures HRVs as well as ERVs. The manufacturer claims that two of its products — the Ultima240E ERV and an add-on module called the Cool Breeze — are particularly appropriate for hot, humid climates.
The Ultima240E ERV is rated at 240 cfm. It is the first ERV that allows users to set a desired indoor humidity level. According to the manufacturer, the ERV is capable of adjusting the amount of moisture that is transferred between the two air streams (the exhaust air stream and the supply air stream) to meet a desired humidity target.
While other ERV cores have membranes that allow moisture to pass through the membrane and be transferred from one air stream to another, the passageways of the ERV core of the Air Pohoda core are made of a type of plastic that will not allow moisture to pass through the walls of the passageways. Instead, the machine reverses the direction of its exhaust and supply air flows periodically, so that the moisture that has condensed and accumulated…
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6 Comments
Lunos Competitor
There's a seemingly very similar product to the Lunos e2 from vents-us. I'd be very interested to see you write about it and how it compares to the lunos product. Distribution seems a bit spotty, though it seems one of the big box stores has recently started carrying one of their through wall ERVs.
http://vents-us.com/cat/663/
Response to Joshua van Tol
Joshua,
Thanks for the suggestion; I'll look into the Vent-Us products. Have any GBA readers used these products? If so, any comments or feedback?
What's a Dumpster?
I'd google it, but googling "Dumpster" isn't going to get me the answer, I don't think.
Vents-US
Great find, Joshua.
$450 through HD: http://www.homedepot.com/p/VENTS-TwinFresh-Comfo-32-CFM-Power-5-in-Single-Room-Energy-Recovery-Ventilator-Twinfresh-Comfo-RAI-50-2/204785337?keyword=twinfresh
They also have an HRV to compete with Panasonic WhisperComfort:
http://vents-us.com/cat/664/ Don't know the price yet though.
Has anyone else noticed that ducts are gradually being eliminated from forced air HVAC?
but how loud is it?
The vents-us product is listed as 1.0 sone at 32cfm. IF you have an out of the way location, I guess it would be ok. I'm afraid it would be too noisy in my great room where I would want it.
Maybe I just need to think of a better place.
I starting thinking (uh oh) about the sense of having one of these units cycling instead of the pair system by Lunos. I decided is was aok. Obviously, makeup air in cracks/cavities will be cycling back and forth synchronously with the vents-us unit, and building materials (e.g. FG) could provide heat regeneration there, or the air might be poorly mixed and just cycle back and forth. Hmmm.
Vents-US looks like Lunos Clone
@John - it is listed "as low as 0.1 sone", and has the ceramic core and reversing fan just like the Lunos, so no air cycling back and forth within the building shell (path of least resistance and all). Still, $450/room X 3 BR, 1-2 bath, kitchen, dining/living/great room, etc. adds up pretty quick versus a single, ducted solution.
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