Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV)

chicken · #1 01/27/2005, 04:23 AM

Does anyone know any good online places to purchase a HRV? I have my sump and fuge for my smaller tank in my garage and the humidity is starting to kill me.

Thanks,
Chris

reefboy1 · #2 01/27/2005, 12:58 PM

Chris,

Is the problem the humidity in the garage? If so, why not just ventilate to the outside with a wall fan?

Anyways, here's one for around $500 http://www.smarthome.com/3033.html

Art

chicken · #3 01/27/2005, 01:09 PM

Problem is if I vent it to the outside I cool the garage down even more which causes me to run the heaters even more and as you know our PG&E rates here in San Ramon are not cheap

With an HRV I can recover about 90% of the heat on the old damp air. Thanks for the URL I'll check it out.

Reefin'247 · #4 01/27/2005, 01:25 PM

dehumidifier.

chicken · #5 01/27/2005, 01:27 PM

Except they use a ton of power and my electricity bill is already over $500/mo. We have low humidity here, so venting to the outside is a viable option, but I just want to retain as much heat as possible.

reefboy1 · #6 01/27/2005, 02:11 PM

Yeah, my electric bill is pretty over the top as well. Could you enclose your sump/fuge? My sump is also in the garage, but I have it in a small closet that I can close off. Definitely keeps the temp in check.

Art

chicken · #7 01/27/2005, 02:25 PM

Mine is in a larger cabinet in the garage that does not have doors currently. That is #1 priority this weekend to enclose. But on top of that I have a 75g hospital tank and sump in there and currently a 300g rubbermaid mixed up with ASW to do a water change on the new 600g tank I am setting up. So with that much open water it has been quite interesting to keep humidity in check. I am going to buy a bunch of rigid foam this weekend and build the door to see how that helps out. So where in SR are you at? I am over off of Alcosta.

reefboy1 · #8 01/27/2005, 03:09 PM

PM'ed ya.

Art

H20ENG · #9 02/09/2005, 12:34 AM

Chicken,
Try Ebay. I've found them there, and links to suppliers. They are not chep to buy, but you will get it back in elec. savings.
Also, try insulating all sides of the tanks and sumps with the foam. You'd be suprised how much it'll hold the heat. Are any sumps on the concrete floor? It'll suck the heat right out of the tanks.
And any sumps, water storage, etc that do not need light, cover them with a piece of foam too. It all adds up.
Hi Art, hows the new tank coming?
Chris

reefboy1 · #10 02/09/2005, 09:22 AM

Hi Chris,

Hmmm, my sump is directly on the floor...I guess I should set it on a piece of foam...

The new tank project is moving smoothly. I spend every spare moment (of course I only get 10-15 minute chucks due to the family) doing the remodeling for it. I'm hoping to get the tank in early April.

Art

Gudwyn · #11 02/09/2005, 12:09 PM

When I was looking for an HRV, I saw you could buy fantech HRV over the internet. They were less expensive than buying one from an HVAC installer. My install was a little complicated, so I went with a pro.

http://www.hvacquick.com/frhrconfig.asp?fm=HRV

Also, a dehumidifier is actually more energy efficient at heating than electric space heaters. It's reclaiming the energy that was used to evaporate the water (lights and aquarium heaters). So if you want to both heat the air and reduce the humidity, that may be a good option.

vair · #12 02/09/2005, 05:59 PM

http://www.lifebreath.com/life.htm

sorry for the double post thing

vair · #13 02/09/2005, 06:01 PM

http://www.lifebreath.com/life.htm

I have a big unit from this company, it's Canadian but I know they sell lots in the States.

It is amazing, much much more then a dehumidifier. It does that no problem; it also supplies fresh clean air to your house all the time.

For big tanks, if you care about your house these things kick ***.

I've also been planning on a direct vent out side from my fish room but have yet to install it since installing the HRV unit.

Dave