Impact of Intake and Exhaust Ducts on the Recovery Efficiency of Heat Recovery Ventilation Systems

Tom Marsik, Riley Bickford, Conor Dennehy, Robbin Garber-Slaght and Jeremy Kasper
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Tom Marsik: Alaska Center for Energy and Power, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Riley Bickford: Alaska Center for Energy and Power, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Conor Dennehy: Cold Climate Housing Research Center, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Robbin Garber-Slaght: Cold Climate Housing Research Center, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Jeremy Kasper: Alaska Center for Energy and Power, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: The heat recovery efficiency of ventilation systems utilizing heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) depends not only on the heat recovery efficiency of the HRV units themselves but also on the intake and exhaust ducts that connect the HRV units to the outside environment. However, these ducts are often neglected in heat loss calculations, as their impact on the overall heat recovery efficiency of HRV systems is often not understood and, to the knowledge of the authors, a mathematical model for the overall heat recovery efficiency of HRV systems that accounts for these ducts has not been published. In this research, a mathematical model for the overall heat recovery efficiency of HRV systems that accounts for the intake and exhaust ducts was derived and validated using real-life data. The model-predicted decrease in heat recovery efficiency due to the ducts was in reasonable agreement (relative error within 20%) with the real-life measurements. The results suggest that utilizing this model allows for more correct ventilation heat loss calculations compared to using the heat recovery efficiency of the HRV unit alone, but more field studies are needed to verify the accuracy of this model in a wide range of applications.

Keywords: heat recovery ventilator (HRV); recovery efficiency; ducts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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