Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
silvercanadian

distance from HRV input to heating output vent?

silvercanadian
12 years ago

We just moved into a new house and they are still in the process of finishing the basement. The downstairs bathroom has a separate stall or room, with door for the toilet (29"w x 71"d). The room currently has a heating vent on the ceiling and I was told there would be a dual sided air exchanger vent (to share with the bathroom outside of the toilet room), unfortunately, they didn't put in the air exchanger vent. I am in contact with our builder about this, but I wanted to be pre-armed with some info.

Any location they put an air exchanger vent, will be within a couple feet of the heating vent, which is the same vent that the air exchanger vents out of. Thinking this will reduce air circulation in the toilet room since any fresh air coming out will get immediately sucked in by the air exchanger vent up by the ceiling. So, maybe the HVAC guys left out the air exchanger vent on purpose?

We had a similar sized toilet room in our last place and the builder didn't put in an air exchanger vent into the toilet room or a heating vent, so the room was super stuffy and got really hot with no air movement, if you closed the door (not to mention the smell would stay with you until you opened the toilet room door!!).. So, with this house I wanted to make sure there was ventilation. Maybe having the vent pumping out fresh air into the room is enough and an input vent isn't needed inside the room?

Any opinions? If you need clarification on anything, please ask as I am likely not using the correct HVAC terms! Thanks!

Comments (3)

  • annzgw
    12 years ago

    Well, I am a little confused. :~)
    When you refer to air exchanger do you mean the ducting that is bringing in fresh air from outside?

    I don't think you need anything more than an exhaust fan for the toilet area. If you want heat and AC in the toilet area then you could install a vent but that small an area is going to get either too hot or too cold. The heat/ac from the rest of the bathroom vents should be sufficient for the toilet area.

    The exhaust fan should have it's own ducting and not share with any other line.

  • silvercanadian
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    The venting is already run. By air exchanger I mean the HRV - heat recovery ventilator that is installed in all new homes around here. They are called air exchangers because they exchange air inside air with fresh outside air. All the vents here are attached to the HRV. When you turn on your "fan" (which isn't turning on a fan, it's button to turn on the HRV), it pulls air through an intake and then swaps in fresh air through a vent which is the same vent where heat and A/C come through.

    They don't put exhaust fans in new houses here due to the air tightness of the homes. If there is something vented outside, the air has to be brought back in and so this is done by making the air exchange system work throughout the house.

    There is already an output vent, putting heat/ac/fresh air into the toilet stall. There currently is no intake to take air from the toilet stall outside. The intake for that is only in the main bathroom area. There is also a heat/ac/fresh air output in the main bathroom area. I want to know where I can put an input vent to haul smells out of the toilet room for when the door is closed. Right now, that placement will put it too close to the output vent, which means everything coming out will get sucked directly into the intake without circulating through the room. Maybe I don't need an intake in there, I am trying to figure out if I do. The one that is in the main bathroom area was supposed to be double sided into the toilet stall but for some reason that didn't get done.

  • silvercanadian
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    This is the HRV in our home Venmar Solo 1.5

Sponsored
Koura Remodeling
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars1 Review
Virginia's Top Choice for Reliable General Contractors