As the warm weather continues to ramp up and homeowners across Ottawa begin to transition from using their heating system to their cooling systems, they are often unsure about what to do with their HRVs. Although an HRV can drastically improve your indoor air quality during the winter, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should turn it off during the summer.
What is an HRV?
Before we dive into whether you should turn your HRV system off in the summer, it’s important that you understand what it is first. HRV stands for Heat Recovery Ventilator and the systems are designed to work in conjunction with your furnace during the winter to introduce fresh air from outside into your home without sacrificing any warmth. The fact that the name has the word heat in it has led many homeowners to believe that they should turn their HRV systems off during the summer, but that isn’t necessarily true.
How can your HRV benefit your indoor air quality during the summer?
Although you won’t want to use your HRV system during the summer as much as you did in the winter, it’s best not to turn it off completely. There are different schools of thought on this subject, but as a general rule of thumb, it’s best to only turn your HRV system off completely during the summer if you have your windows open. The sole purpose of an HRV system is to introduce fresh air into your home to reduce staleness and odours, so if you keep your windows shut and your AC cranked during the summer, your HRV can keep the air in your home fresh.
Will it cost a lot of money to run my HRV?
During the winter, you will need your HRV system to run more frequently, but during the summer, rather than turning it off you should set it to low or stand-by mode. The reason for this is if you were to run it on the high setting as you would during the winter, it could introduce too much humidity and warmth into your home, which are both things you want to avoid during the summer. However, on the low or stand-by setting, it will only run when it needs to ensure the air inside your home remains fresh.
Contact the experts at Team Harding with any questions you may have about HRV usage or installation!
The home comfort specialists at Team Harding have been proudly serving Ottawa’s HVAC needs since 1994. Our team of licensed technicians strives to provide our clients with dependable service and quality equipment.
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