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moistureMASTER HEAT RECOVERY VENTILATION
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE TO RUNNING THE SYSTEM
A heat recovery ventilation system is not in itself a heating system. It helps to preserve the heat
within your home at the same time as it replaces the indoor stale air with fresh air from outside.
Fresh air from outside is unheated of course but the system is designed uses the existing heat that
are already generating within your home to warm and temper the incoming fresh air. In many new
homes where heat preservation is highly achievable you should not need extra heating to compen-
sate for the little heat that you lose through ventilation. The system is simple to operate and in
most cases you never have to interface with the controls once you have selected the ventilation
rates that work best for you.
ABOUT HEATING
The overall performance of the heat recovery mechanism and its ability to help prevent indoor tem-
peratures from cooling is very much dependent on the temperature of the indoor air. The warmer
it is inside the home the more effective the system will be in maintaining indoor warmth and pre-
venting fresh air from cooling the house down. We are using the indoor warmth to heat the incom-
ing fresh air.
Particular attention needs to be paid to homes with radiant underfloor heating. Because of the
characteristics of this form of heating the occupants of a home may feel warmer with the air at a
lower temperature. For the best performance and comfort when you are operating a heat recovery
ventilation system and radiant underfloor heating during the coldest winter months here in New
Zealand you may need to operate the underfloor at a slightly higher temperature.
ABOUT VENTILATION
The amount of ventilation required to keep your home healthy and dry is very little, usually only
about .35 air changes per hour. We suggest that you run the system on the lowest setting. A simple
way of gauging whether or not you have enough input air can easily be determined by putting your
hand to diffuser outlet. If you are able to feel a gentle wisp of air exiting the diffuser outlets then
that should be enough. Too much ventilation without sufficient heat could have a slightly negative
affect to your indoor temperature.
If condensation is a problem, keep increasing the airflow until morning condensation does not
occur.
BALANCE
It is important to ensure that the correct balance between heat and ventilation be maintained. It
may be necessary to experiment a little to achieve the optimum balance for your home. Balance is
achieved when you feel that there is sufficient fresh air and warmth within the home.
The system should also be operated in a balanced way with a similar amount of air being pushed
through the heat exchanger from both the Fresh air and Exhaust air fans in the winter time. The
fans are able to be run at different flow rates so it is possible to over-pressurise or under-pressurise
the home but generally it is better to have a balanced flow in and out of the home.
CONDENSATION CONTROL
Condensation control is easily achieved when there is sufficient drier air being introduced into the
home. The airflow must be continuous and enough heat must be maintained within the home.
Once you achieve the correct airflow and it is balanced with the heating, the control, prevention
and elimination of condensation is easy to achieve and more importantly it is achieved in a com-
pletely unobtrusive way.
Eliminating condensation and problems associated with dampness is delivered through a process of
dilution and the displacement. There indoor air is made drier by introducing drier air and the damp
air is continuously removed by the ventilation system. The moment ventilation stops moisture lev-
els quickly start to build up again. So ensure your system is always switched on during the winter
months.
