Door blower test came back 2000 below 4k sq ft - ERV recommended

tommygags

Hi all. Just had a company do a door blower test (they did it on the door to my attached garage and opened the garage door as it wouldn't work on my front doors). 

They said they've never seen numbers this low and ran the test a couple times to make sure. He said my home was coming in at 1300cfm, and was the lowest he's ever seen at a 3.8k sqft home. 

Started looking into EVRs, could I get away with one unit, like the Panasonic intelli-balance 200 or would it be much better to do the 100 on each floor?

Just found out about this yesterday and started doing research. 

Located in NYC
2016 built 2 story home
Central Air on both floors
Forced air heating on both floors as well as radiant heat on first floor.

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

The easiest option would be able to install it as a stand alone unit and have it installed in my attached garage and having the vents above my kitchen cabinets. My home is an open floor plan with an opening by the kitchen going up to the second floor. 

HVACNUT

They typically get tied into the HVAC distribution system. 
Usually an interlock to run the fan on an AE.
You could do bath exhaust on timers.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, Congratulations on your snug house! The amount of fresh air to bring in has a lot to do with how many people are or will be living in the house. Also, the ERV could be connected to the HVAC system or not. Here is some info on Zehnder, which is considered an expensive but effective unit. https://www.zehnderamerica.com/#:~:text=In the Zehnder Academy,,in high efficiency buildings.&text=In the,efficiency buildings.&text=Zehnder Academy,,in high
It's interesting, but with one of these running, air quality indoors is noticeably better.

Yours, Larry

tommygags

Larry Weingarten said:

Hi, Congratulations on your snug house! The amount of fresh air to bring in has a lot to do with how many people are or will be living in the house. Also, the ERV could be connected to the HVAC system or not. Here is some info on Zehnder, which is considered an expensive but effective unit. https://www.zehnderamerica.com/#:~:text=In the Zehnder Academy,,in high efficiency buildings.&text=In the,efficiency buildings.&text=Zehnder Academy,,in high It's interesting, but with one of these running, air quality indoors is noticeably better. Yours, Larry

Thank you!  For DIY purposes, a stand alone unit would work best for me as I don't have access to any of the ducts, only the air handlers. 

I did read about this brand being the best/high end, thanks for sharing!

tommygags

HVACNUT said:

They typically get tied into the HVAC distribution system. 
Usually an interlock to run the fan on an AE.
You could do bath exhaust on timers.

Thanks! My bathrooms all currently have timers on their exhaust fans

tommygags

Larry Weingarten said:

Hi, Congratulations on your snug house! The amount of fresh air to bring in has a lot to do with how many people are or will be living in the house. Also, the ERV could be connected to the HVAC system or not. Here is some info on Zehnder, which is considered an expensive but effective unit. https://www.zehnderamerica.com/#:~:text=In the Zehnder Academy,,in high efficiency buildings.&text=In the,efficiency buildings.&text=Zehnder Academy,,in high It's interesting, but with one of these running, air quality indoors is noticeably better. Yours, Larry

Thank you for this. They designed a nice system for me. I was talking to someone and they said my return is pretty short and I don't have much room to connect to the air handler. I've added some photos. I wanted to then use the evr as a stand alone unit but the rep said I would need to connect it to multiple rooms instead of one central area. 

Any thoughts?

tommygags

Any thoughts @Larry Weingarten @HVACNUT

Happy new years Eve!

HVACNUT

What's above the ceiling? Any room to duct it up there? Should be 6" round on the ERV, correct?
Is the return for the space right on the other side of the wall, or is it ducted to another location?
Is there room for a 6" collar between the air handler and the wall?

Larry Weingarten

Hi, The Zehnder system uses 3" flex duct, sometimes multiple runs of it to get sufficient airflow. It works best to have supply and return in the same room. For example, in a bedroom, you would have supply and return in areas opposite each other, placed to create a subtle airflow across where your head is while you sleep. In other places, like kitchen, they are placed to catch and exhaust anything that causes odors, like the trash or compost bins. I imagine it could do a good job for you, but would probably not be simple to run the duct work. It seems their preferred method is to be completely separate from any other air moving system.

Yours, Larry

tommygags

HVACNUT said:

What's above the ceiling? Any room to duct it up there? Should be 6" round on the ERV, correct?
Is the return for the space right on the other side of the wall, or is it ducted to another location?
Is there room for a 6" collar between the air handler and the wall?

Thank you, I actually have 10 inches on the bottom right. I may have misspoke and that is actually the supply, as the air is taken from there in the home and goes to into the air handler.  Yes it is right on the other side of the wall. 

I guess I could just duct it there and into the top of the air handler as well and then I should be all good?