Hello-

I was contemplating adding mechanical ventilation to my home in the Boston area. I’ve got a couple of questions I was hoping all you experts could help me with:

1) HRV Vs. ERV: Reading through the posts on HRV/ERV, I am still confused as to what would be the appropriate choice for my geographic location (Boston, MA). Some say HRV and others point to an ERV. We don’t have an issue with moisture on the windows in the winter and during the summer the house “feels” humid for only short periods. Any thoughts on a choice here?

2) Placement of Air Intake: Given the location of my utility room and the intake/exhaust of my sealed combustion appliances, I am limited in where I can place the vents to draw/exhaust air for the ERV/HRV system. The easiest would be to put the vents on the front of the house which faces the street. As such I was wondering if I need to be concerned with the air being drawn in from that location since it faces the street. The intake would be roughly 40-50 feet from the actual road.

3) Optimal operating time: I’m confused as to the optimal operating time of the ERV/HRV. Should I have the controls set to run for, say, 20 minutes out of every hour? It will be tied into the return ducting of my existing forced air system.

Thank to all,

Allan