SERVING 
Feel good about every breath you take. PV Heating, Cooling & Plumbing helps you select the right fresh air system for your home, so you can reduce allergy problems, feel better, and be healthier.
What is a fresh air ventilation system?
Great question! Different people mean different things when they talk about getting fresh air for your home.
- Designed to fit your home and address your unique air quality concerns
- Involves one or more pieces of mechanical equipment
- May include an energy recovery ventilator or ERV
- May include a whole-house dehumidifier with a fresh air intake
- Always includes a high-quality air filter
- May interface with a HEPA filter
- Filtration of airborne outdoor pollutants
- Humidity management
- Fresh air intake design and HVAC compatibility
- Compliance with ventilation-specific building codes
- Efficiency, comfort, and HVAC system integration
There is no one-size-fits-all fresh air system for homes.
Every home is different, and every home requires a unique fresh air solution. In some homes, a balanced ventilation system, like an ERV, makes the most sense. In others, a ventilating whole-house dehumidifier is a better option.
Sometimes, all you need to do is supplement existing ventilation with a better air filter.
It just depends. At PV Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, our team can analyze your home and make well-informed recommendations based on house size, the needs of your family, and your budget.
An ERV provides balanced fresh air ventilation.
Many homeowners throughout the Atlanta region use energy recovery ventilators (best known as ERVs) to ensure a constant stream of fresh air to their living spaces.
- Reduce humidity in the incoming fresh air
- Remove heat from incoming air during summer and recover that heat during winter
- Provide balanced ventilation, so you’re always removing stale, “old” air and replacing it in equal amounts with fresh, “new” air.
- Integrate nicely with most existing HVAC systems and ductwork
Is an ERV the best fresh air system choice for your home? That all depends on your home’s attributes and your personal goals.
Ventilating whole-house dehumidifiers also work well in our climate.
The whole-house dehumidifier
- Integrates with your existing HVAC system
- Connects to a fresh air intake
- Filters the incoming air while removing humidity
- Runs whenever you have elevated humidity in your home
Whole-house dehumidifiers with the ventilation add-on deliver fresh air to your home in a controlled fashion, all the while minimizing the allergens and moisture content from that air.
Be sure your fresh air system helps you manage humidity.
Here in the sultry South, the air outdoors is usually much more humid than the air already inside your home. And you don’t want to ventilate with moisture-laden air!
Basic HVAC fresh air intake dampers do a poor job managing humidity.
That’s why your best bets for fresh air in our climate zone are usually an ERV or a ventilating whole-house dehumidifier.
- ERVs provide balanced ventilation and reduce the humidity of incoming air.
- Ventilating whole-house dehumidifiers provide positive pressure ventilation and directly remove humidity from incoming air.
Either way, you’re covered with fresh, clean air and humidity control. You’ll feel more comfortable, breathe healthier air, and better avoid the scourges of mold, insects, and dust mites that thrive in humid environments.
Every fresh air system needs a great filter.
While air filters come standard with ERVs and whole-house dehumidifiers, additional filtration – when it’s the right kind – can help you do an even better job cleaning your air.
- Media filters: These filters integrate with your ductwork and replace the cheap 1″ filters you’re used to. They improve filtration without reducing airflow and only require replacement once or twice per year.
- HEPA filters: Packaged as a complete system that includes a dedicated fan, HEPA filters provide medical-grade filtration and capture even the tiniest contaminants from your air.
Combined with the right fresh air system, either of these filters can help you achieve outstanding air quality in your home.
