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Student 07 · 01-03-12, 12:20 PM

Hi,
I just got off the phone with a representative of Thermal Air. The company is in Florida. The HRVs are manufactured in Canada. They are kind of spendy at $2,800.

One thing he pointed out which I kind of liked was that since it has two fans it is possible to adjust the speed of each independantly. Since most homes aren't 100% air tight and have a little leakage, some people turn down the exhaust speed and turn up the incoming fresh air speed a little.

This provides a little positive pressure to overcome any leaks in the house envelope. I wouldn't want to set these too far out of balance, because it would only waste energy; however, IMHO it is better to have a little positive pressure instead of a negative pressure, which would only suck in unconditioned air.

Another reason I like these is that a standard HRV is about 80% efficient; where as, the thermal air has a COP of 3.9 and an EER of 7.1. I know it would still use more energy than a standard HRV, but a standard HRV will blow cool fresh air into the house during winter. The heat pump HRV will blow warm fresh air in the winter, and cool fresh air in the summer. The heat it blows into the house would "lighten the load" for your primary heating system. The simplicity of this design makes it a good candidate for a hack.

AC: that Combi 185 is great. Although it is a much more complcated system it is much better. Using a Heat exchanger with the heat pump allows the heat pump to work less: that in itself makes it a better option than the Thermal Air. But, it also produces ~80 gl of hot water per day by working as an ASHP. I am sure they have it balanced out to where it doesn't take more heat out of the house than what it is supplying to the house, at least in the winter, in the summer this would work great.

I really wish our country would get with the program, great products are being made, but not in our country and we can't even import them. The Combi 185 uses 220V since it is made for the German market. It would be possible to use a transformer to step up our 110v to 220v; however, the transformer would provide 220v @60hz (in the states) and the machine is designed for 220v @50hz.

It is a very interesting time to be following these new inventions. And I am sure it is only a matter of time before they show up on our shores.

01-03-12, 12:20 PM	#182
Student 07 Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Gresham OR Posts: 35 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Hi, I just got off the phone with a representative of Thermal Air. The company is in Florida. The HRVs are manufactured in Canada. They are kind of spendy at $2,800. One thing he pointed out which I kind of liked was that since it has two fans it is possible to adjust the speed of each independantly. Since most homes aren't 100% air tight and have a little leakage, some people turn down the exhaust speed and turn up the incoming fresh air speed a little. This provides a little positive pressure to overcome any leaks in the house envelope. I wouldn't want to set these too far out of balance, because it would only waste energy; however, IMHO it is better to have a little positive pressure instead of a negative pressure, which would only suck in unconditioned air. Another reason I like these is that a standard HRV is about 80% efficient; where as, the thermal air has a COP of 3.9 and an EER of 7.1. I know it would still use more energy than a standard HRV, but a standard HRV will blow cool fresh air into the house during winter. The heat pump HRV will blow warm fresh air in the winter, and cool fresh air in the summer. The heat it blows into the house would "lighten the load" for your primary heating system. The simplicity of this design makes it a good candidate for a hack. AC: that Combi 185 is great. Although it is a much more complcated system it is much better. Using a Heat exchanger with the heat pump allows the heat pump to work less: that in itself makes it a better option than the Thermal Air. But, it also produces ~80 gl of hot water per day by working as an ASHP. I am sure they have it balanced out to where it doesn't take more heat out of the house than what it is supplying to the house, at least in the winter, in the summer this would work great. I really wish our country would get with the program, great products are being made, but not in our country and we can't even import them. The Combi 185 uses 220V since it is made for the German market. It would be possible to use a transformer to step up our 110v to 220v; however, the transformer would provide 220v @60hz (in the states) and the machine is designed for 220v @50hz. It is a very interesting time to be following these new inventions. And I am sure it is only a matter of time before they show up on our shores.