See this page on choosing between an HRV and ERV, a heat recovery ventilator or energy recovery ventilator.Ĭalculating the fresh air requirements of a home as well as proper placement of ducts are not easy calculations to make, so this is best left to licenced HVAC installers.

The decibel level of the unit to avoid noise pollution in homes if it is near living areas.Performance, or heat recovery rate – meaning the percentage of heat recovered from exhaust air.Unit size according to the air volume of the house that will have to be replaced every hour (ventilation capacity), measured in CFMs, or cubic feet per minute.See more about plumbing and water heaters in Green Homes hereĬhoosing the right heat recovery ventilator should be based on the following criteria: And have a look at the company's promotional video if you want to see what exactly is going on inside that mysterious white tube. If you aren't sure you'll get your money out of this, there is an easy to use greywater calculator that can quickly tell you if your showering habits make you a canditate for saving some cash.

That's a lot more than the 0% you would previously have been able to get without sufficient space below your shower.

Since the summer of 2014, the Canadian startup company EcoDrain has been distributing greywater heat recovery units with the rare feature of being able to move horizontally, with a minimum slope of 1°. Despite horizontal installation limiting the effectiveness of the system relative to vertical systems, their flagship product, the A1000, posted an efficiency of 33%. Most systems are installed vertically, a drawback of that being that they require a height under the shower drain of at least 1.5 meters, which significantly limits the possibility of installation during renovations and sometimes even in new home construction. The price of such units can at first seem high, but they are very cost effective, with a heat recovery efficiency of up to 60%. Depending on the consumption patterns of users, they generally have a payback period of between 7-10 years, and in some cases a lot less. Utility rates in your region will also affect payback periods, you'll get your money out of it way faster in Ontario than Quebec for example, as the cost of electricity there is much higher. In order to work they require water tanks to be filling while hot water is draining, so the functional use of these units is pretty well limited to the shower, with a bath your water tank is refilled long before you drain tub. If you aren't familiar with the term, greywater heat recovery devices, as their name suggests, are used to recover heat from drain water before it is discharged from homes. Sustainable construction is on the move! It seems almost every day a new and innovative product shows up on the market that is more efficient, more effective, greener and healthier. We regularly cruise the web looking for such gems and our latest find is a new system for greywater heat recovery that looks quite promising.

Macclean greywatwr storage