Mechanical ventilation
Reaching out for some input on mechanical ventilation. We are building a new house and like anyone else, we are on a tight budget. We have decided to have our HVAC system designed and sized properly and going to use the folks at Energy Vanguard for the design. For the ventilation, as much as we’d love to include that in the services invariably the recommendations would more likely than not be cost prohibitive.
The specs on the house are: 3 story, ground floor is not heated and cooled. second floor is a bit over 800 sq ft and the main living area is about 2100 sq ft. Invariably we will have a challenge in not oversizing the HVAC for the 3d floor due to size. I’ve read a good many posts here and over at Building Science dot com. We have 3 1/2 baths. I am thinking to use the Pansonic Whisper Green bathroom fans in most of those baths.
For the main ventilation set up, I did some additional reading and watching some you tube videos on the new Panasonic Intelli-Balance 100 ERV for the second floor and installing one of their recessed inlets in the master bath. Also found some info on the Panasonic Whisper Comfort FV-0VE1 ERV. Size wise, I am thinking it may be a tad small and lastly, the Qufresh fan by Air King comes to mind.
We will absolutely get with our HVAC folks as well but this forum is top notch when it comes to recommendations. If we had a considerably larger budget, we’d opt to have the ventilation system designed as well but, that’s just not feasible.
The ceiling on the second floor is vaulted and at the peak, about 23′. Here are some basic elevations on the house.
Thoughts are greatly appreciated.
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Location is Pensacola Florida as in hot & humid summers.
Thomas,
I advise you to tell the consultants at Energy Vanguard that you would like them to made recommendations on your ventilation system. They'll provide good advice.
Briefly, your likely choices depend on the type of heating and cooling system you end up with. If you will be using ductless or ducted minisplits for your heating and cooling system, you'll probably use an ERV for ventilation.
If you decide to install a traditional forced-air heating and cooling system, you will probably be installing a central-fan-integrated supply ventilation system. If this type of system is new to you, you may want to read Designing a Good Ventilation System.
Good morning Martin, we are using a traditional ducted HVAC system. We had considered ductless. I do recall reading on that type of system and will review that material in greater detail.
Much appreciated.