Keeping your Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) or Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) unit clean and maintained is a necessity that you should be performing once a year. In addition to annual maintenance your HRV filter needs to be cleaned on a regular basis.
When to Clean Your Filters
We recommend either you do a cleaning in early spring or in preparation for winter. It’s a fairly simple process, but when looking at a machine that may be foreign to you, the task can seem daunting.
What is an HRV/ERV?
If you’re unsure what an HRV/ERV is, it’s essentially an air-to-air exchanger. It ensures that your house is being consistently filled with fresh air by exchanging the old, stale air for fresh air from outside while maintaining the proper humidity levels. Keeping your HRV filter clean is necessary to maintain the ventilation efficiency of your unit. Click here to learn more about HRVs and ERVs.
Allowing your HRV to work efficiently will help keep bills low and having the filters clean will allow it to operate with more effectiveness. The purpose of an HRV is to increase the indoor air quality of your home, and when the system isn’t cleaned, debris is transferred into the air that is entering your home.
Why Clean HRV Filter
Over time, an HRV filter can accumulate a lot of dirt and debris from all the air passing through them. The best way to clean them is by sliding them out from their tracks in the unit and washing them in warm, soapy water. Do not use a pressure washer to clean your filters as you will likely damage them and have to buy new ones, when a soapy wash would have done the trick! Make sure to let them dry thoroughly before you place them back into your unit.
In some HRVs the core is removable and you can give that a wipe down as well, although that can be a little more intimidating and may be something you want to leave to the professionals.
Maintaining and cleaning your HRV unit is a quick, easy job that can save you a lot of money and hassle in the future, and ensure that you are comfortable at home with clean, fresh air.
If you have any other questions about cleaning or servicing your HRV unit, click here to contact us today.
