Indoor Air Quality
Home Ventilation, ERV and HRV Systems in Oakland County
Your furnace and air conditioner move air around the house, but they do not bring any in. Home ventilation with an ERV or HRV trades stale indoor air for fresh outdoor air and recovers much of the heat. Our family-owned crew installs and services them.
Tell us what it is doing. We will tell you straight what happens next.
- Family-owned for 7 years
- On time, as promised
- 100% satisfaction guaranteed
Home ventilation for houses that have been sealed up tight
Older houses ventilated themselves, badly. Air leaked in around the windows and out through the attic, and the furnace paid for it. New windows, added insulation and air sealing put a stop to much of that. Everything the leaks used to carry away now stays indoors: moisture from showers and cooking, smells, and the air people have already breathed.
A fresh air system does on purpose what the leaks did by accident, in a measured amount and without throwing the heat away. The short version of ERV vs HRV: an HRV moves heat between the outgoing and incoming air, and an ERV moves heat and some moisture. Either can work in Michigan. Maverick Heating and Cooling is a family-owned business with a crew of four, and we will explain which one fits your house and why.
What to watch for
Signs your house is not getting enough fresh air
This page is about air for the rooms you live in, not attic or roof vents.
Bedrooms are stuffy by morning
A closed bedroom with people in it all night gets no new air unless something supplies it. Waking up to a stale room that clears when you open the door is the classic sign.
Last night's dinner is still in the air
Cooking smells that hang around until the next day mean very little air is being exchanged, and that the range hood may recirculate instead of exhausting outdoors.
Foggy windows with no humidifier running
If the windows sweat in winter and you are not adding moisture, the house is holding on to what people, showers and cooking produce. A tight house needs a way to let it out.
Mildew on the bathroom ceiling
The bath fan is too weak, is not run long enough, or is not connected to the outdoors at all. A mirror that stays fogged long after a shower tells the same story.
Stuffier since the new windows went in
Very common after new windows, insulation or air sealing. The work did what it should. The house simply lost the leaks that used to be its only ventilation.
What we do
Ventilation and fresh air systems we install
ERV installation
An energy recovery ventilator with its own intake and exhaust hoods on an outside wall, sized to the house and the number of people living in it.
HRV installation
A heat recovery ventilator, installed the same way. It passes heat between the two airstreams and leaves the moisture to go out with the stale air.
Ventilators tied into furnace ducts
In most existing homes the ventilator connects to the ductwork already there, which spreads the fresh air to every room with a register.
Dedicated ventilation ducts
Separate small ducts that pull stale air from baths and the kitchen and deliver fresh air to bedrooms and living areas. Easiest in a new build or with open ceilings.
Fresh air intake ducts
A controlled duct from outdoors to the furnace return, with a damper, for houses where a simpler supply-only setup is the right fit.
ERV and HRV service
Filters cleaned or replaced, the core cleaned, the drain checked on units that have one, and the outdoor hoods cleared of lint, leaves and snow.
Bath fan ducting to outdoors
Exhaust ducts that stop in the attic or lie loose near a soffit vent, rerouted to a proper outdoor hood and sealed so the moist air actually leaves the house.
ERV vs HRV: what each one does
Both are a box with two small fans and a core. One fan pushes stale indoor air out and the other pulls outdoor air in. The two streams pass through the core side by side without mixing. In winter, the warm outgoing air gives up heat to the cold incoming air, so the fresh air arrives much closer to room temperature and the furnace has less to make up.
The difference is moisture. A heat recovery ventilator, or HRV, transfers heat only. An energy recovery ventilator, or ERV, transfers heat and some of the moisture as well. In winter an ERV hands part of the indoor humidity back to the dry incoming air. In summer it can keep some of the outdoor humidity from coming in with the fresh air. Neither one is a humidifier or a dehumidifier. They only soften what ventilating does to the humidity you already have, as our indoor air quality page explains.
Exhaust fans and gas appliances
A strong exhaust fan in a tight house, a large range hood for example, can pull air backward down the flue of a gas water heater or an older furnace and bring combustion gases indoors. Keep a carbon monoxide alarm on every level and outside each sleeping area. If an alarm sounds, get everyone outside into fresh air and call 911.
ERV or HRV in a cold climate like Michigan?
The honest answer is that there is no single right choice for a cold climate. It depends on the house. HRVs are the traditional pick where winters are cold, and they suit homes where winter humidity runs high: smaller, tighter houses with a lot of people, cooking and showers. An HRV sends that extra moisture outdoors.
An ERV keeps some moisture in, so it suits homes that already get too dry in winter, which describes many larger houses with forced-air heat. In cold-climate testing, ERV cores also resisted freezing better. So we ask before we recommend. Do your windows sweat in January, or do you get static shocks? How many people live there? How tight is the house? The answers point to one unit or the other.
Four ways to ventilate a whole house
The U.S. Department of Energy sorts whole house ventilation into four types. Exhaust-only uses a fan to pull air out, and replacement air leaks in wherever it can. Supply-only brings outdoor air in through a duct, usually to the furnace return. Balanced systems move equal amounts in and out. Energy recovery systems, the ERV and the HRV, are balanced systems that also save the heat.
The simpler types cost less to install and have real drawbacks in a climate with cold winters. The incoming air is raw outdoor air, in January and in July, and you pay to heat or cool all of it. A recovery ventilator costs more at the start and wastes far less heat. In a new house or a full renovation the ducts can be planned in from the beginning, which is how we approach new construction HVAC.
Bath fans, range hoods and dryers: exhaust belongs outdoors
Whole house ventilation handles the background air. The big bursts of moisture are better caught where they start, with a bath fan, a range hood and a dryer vent that each end outdoors. A fan whose duct stops in the attic, short of a real outdoor hood, just moves the moisture to a place where you cannot see the damage.
A quick test for a bath fan: hold a square of tissue up to the grille with the fan running. If it does not pull flat against the grille, the fan is moving very little air. Run it through the shower and for a while afterward. If the whole house still runs damp after that, see our page on whole house dehumidifiers. If it runs dry all winter, see whole house humidifiers.
How it works
How a ventilation job goes
Call and describe the house
Tell us its age and size, what has been done to tighten it and what you notice: stuffiness, smells, wet windows. Mention any gas appliances with a chimney flue.
We look at the layout
We arrive on time and check the furnace and ducts, where a ventilator could sit, where the outdoor hoods could go and where your exhaust fans end.
Unit and price explained
We explain which unit suits your house and how it would be ducted, and give you the price before any work starts.
Installed and balanced
We mount the unit, run the ducts and hoods, set the incoming and outgoing airflow to match and show you the controls. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
Why Maverick
Family-owned, on time and honest for 7 years
Family-owned
A family business with a crew of four, in business for 7 years.
On time
You planned your day around us. When we give you a time, that is when we are at your door.
Honest work
We show you what is wrong and tell you the price before we start. If a small fix does it, we say so.
100% satisfaction guaranteed
We stand behind every job. Your satisfaction is guaranteed, 100%.
What is the difference between an ERV and an HRV?
An HRV transfers heat between the outgoing stale air and the incoming fresh air. An ERV transfers heat and some moisture. Everything else about them is alike: the fans, the ducts, the hoods on the outside wall. The choice comes down to whether your house tends to be too humid in winter, which favors an HRV, or too dry, which favors an ERV.
Does my HVAC system bring in fresh air from outside?
Almost certainly not. A standard furnace and air conditioner recirculate the air already in the house. The outdoor unit of an AC moves heat, not air, and no air passes between it and the house. Unless someone added a fresh air duct, an ERV or an HRV, the only outdoor air you get comes through leaks, exhaust fans and open windows.
Can an ERV be added to an existing furnace and ductwork?
Yes, in most homes. The ventilator usually hangs near the furnace and connects to the existing ducts, with two new ducts running to hoods on an outside wall. The furnace blower then helps spread the fresh air through the house. It works best when the ducts are in decent shape, so we check them first and fix leaks as part of our ductwork service.
Should an ERV or HRV run all the time?
They are typically set up to run continuously at a low speed, or for a set part of every hour, with a boost for showers and cooking. Switching the unit off for long stretches defeats the purpose in a tight house. A wall control sets how much it runs.
Is opening windows enough to ventilate a house?
On a mild day, yes, and it costs nothing. The trouble is the rest of the year. In a Michigan January or a humid July, nobody leaves the windows open, and that is exactly when a closed-up house gets stuffy. A ventilator gives you a known amount of filtered fresh air in every season.
How much does an ERV or HRV cost to install in Oakland County?
The unit is only part of it. The price depends mostly on the ducting: whether the ventilator can tie into your furnace ducts or needs its own, how far it sits from an outside wall and how easy the route is. A basement with open joists is much simpler than a finished one. We look at the house and give you the price first. Call 248-930-2080.
Keep reading
Related services
Other work we do alongside home ventilation.
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Air quality
Indoor Air Quality
Dust, dry winter air, a damp basement or stuffy rooms. We find the cause before we suggest equipment.
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Air quality
Dehumidifiers
Ducted dehumidifiers that drain themselves and keep the basement and the whole house from turning damp.
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Air quality
Humidifiers
Furnace-mounted humidifiers installed, repaired and serviced, so winter air stops drying out the house.
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New builds + additions
New Construction
Heating and cooling designed in from the start for new homes, additions, basements and remodels.
Where we work
Ventilation across Oakland County
We are a family-owned crew of four serving these communities and the towns around them.
- Troy
- Rochester Hills
- Royal Oak
- Southfield
- Farmington Hills
- Novi
- Waterford
- West Bloomfield
- Pontiac
- Bloomfield Hills
- Birmingham
- Auburn Hills
- Clarkston
- Lake Orion
Do not see your town? Call 248-930-2080 and ask, or see our full service area.
Too hot or too cold?
Call the family that shows up
On time. Honest about the problem and the price. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
248-930-2080Maverick Heating and Cooling · Family-owned · Oakland County, MI