Air conditioning is the main concern on homeowners’ minds when the Florida weather gets hotter. However, there are others ways to help out your home during hot weather that can relieve some of the stress on the air conditioner while also benefiting the quality of your indoor air and balancing humidity. One of these methods is an energy recovery ventilator (ERV).
The dilemma of hot weather and indoor air quality
During a hot day, do you often keep the doors and windows in your house open? Probably not, since this will let in the hot air from outside. Instead, you shut all the windows and doors and run the air conditioner. This will be standard for you during most of the spring and summer—but it has an unfortunate effect on air quality, since very little fresh air is allowed to get in. Opening up the house, however, makes the AC’s job harder and your house uncomfortable.
This is where the energy recovery ventilator comes in
An ERV is integrated into the ventilation system of your house so that it draws fresh outdoor air into your home, but pre-cools it before it reaches the rooms. It does this by running a counter-flow of the stale indoor air through the fresh air current. The fresh air loses heat to the outgoing indoor air, which lowers its temperature. In this way, the ERV recovers 80% of the energy that would’ve been lost to the outside. The air arrives already cooled-down, and your air conditioner won’t have to struggle with higher temperatures.
Humidity control as well
As the two air currents run through each other, they also transfer moisture. If the outdoor air is humid, it will lose most of its moisture to the dry air being exhausted to the outside. This will help balance the indoor humidity.
To find out more about installation of an energy recovery ventilator for your home in Lake Nona, FL, call Southeast Air & Heat.
