HRV supply in closets?
AKbuilding20
| Posted in Mechanicals on
Can you put HRV supplies in bedroom closets? The bedroom closets are approx. 2′ Deep by 12′ Wide and will have bi fold doors installed. The master closet is approx. 12′ x 9′ and will have a pocket door installed. Would this still allow Enough fresh air to be supplied to the bedrooms if installed in the closet? This is also a very convenient option for ducting with less turns in it than supplying fresh air into the bedrooms themself.
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Your supply air distribution will be dismal, but yes, technically you can do it. I'm not aware of any codes that prohibit it. It kind of defeats the purpose of a balanced fresh air system when only your clothes get the good stuff.
You won't lose that much static pressure if you get a nice wide radius on one more bend getting them to the bedrooms.
Here are a few threads you might want to review:
Discussion this year of this question:
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/hrv-supply-to-bedroom-closet-floors
General discussion of distributing supply air:
https://www.buildingscience.com/documents/information-sheets/info-611-balanced-ventilation-systems
My non-pro answer:
It probably depends on whether the pocket doors are cut at the bottom or tight to the flooring. For years, HVAC installers didn't put returns in bedrooms and relied on doors cut a little short. I think the conclusion was that it sorted of worked. In terms of HVAC, I think a lot of people don't like those solutions anymore because a lot of carpet has been removed from bedrooms which has caused more noise problems (ie don't want to cut their doors down). But for a closet door, it doesn't seem like it would matter.
A few questions/ideas:
- Could you soffit box it into one of the high corners in the closet to bring it to the front of the closet wall instead?
- Assuming it is coming in high in the back of the closet, could you install a grill or even an adjustable HRV duct cover into the front face of the closet?
- Is the closet on an interior wall or an exterior wall?
It seems like the big problems would be how to balance not the duct opening in the closet itself but the output from the closet (kind of tough to measure).
Well, just a DIY guy brainstorming with you. Hopefully one of the pros jumps on with more professional advice.
Be careful - this depends a lot on your climate. Also whether it's an HRV or ERV - the terms are often interchanged. An HRV (heat recovery only, no moisture) will have all the humidity of the outdoor air, at close to room temp - ie, it could be very high relative humidity air in summer. High RH and closets don't mix well. An ERV (heat & moisture recovery) would be better, but still possibly higher RH than is healthy for a closet, depending on its recovery efficiency. In a dry climate it probably won't matter at all.
Otherwise, I think the airflow distribution is generally ok as long as the closet doors have sufficient gap for the air to get out easily, and nothing stinky is kept in the closet.