ᐅ Controlled residential ventilation in winter, dry air—what can be done about it?

Hello everyone,

how is it with your mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery? At the moment, we have a humidity level of 30 - 32% and unfortunately, that’s not very comfortable. Is it the same for you?
We have a Vallox system with heat recovery, and there is an option to upgrade to an enthalpy heat exchanger. However, that costs around €1000 and I’m not sure if it really makes a difference.

Right now, I’m quite disappointed with the mechanical ventilation system. In winter, the air is dry, and in summer, during the heat, you don’t get fresh air into the house either.

I’d like to hear about your experiences.

Sorry, but this topic has already been discussed here about a thousand times! Just get a desiccant heat exchanger and that’s that!

Tommes78 schrieb:
and in summer, during the heat, you don’t get any fresh air into the house either.

What do you mean by that?

That's right, I did some research and found topics on this... it seems that replacing the heat exchanger actually helps.
Regarding controlled residential ventilation and summer, it draws in 28°C (82°F) air from outside, and as a result, the air inside the house slowly warms up through the controlled ventilation system. The air being introduced into the house isn’t really pleasant either.

I don’t have a mechanical ventilation system myself, but how about running the system only at night during the summer when it’s cooler outside? People don’t usually keep their windows wide open during the day in summer, but rather at night.

Does your mechanical ventilation system have a summer bypass? I’m not saying that it solves the problem, but I want to find out if it actually makes a difference.

The question is whether the same issue wouldn’t occur with window ventilation. Of course, windows are usually kept closed during the day when it’s hot. But you could also turn off the mechanical ventilation system above a certain temperature.

Yes, it does, but it doesn’t really help because the air goes directly into the system without any delay, so if it’s 28°C (82°F) outside, that temperature will also come inside.

Regarding turning off the mechanical ventilation system in summer, opinions vary. Some say to keep it running continuously, others recommend running it at a reduced level. However, it should not be completely switched off.

Well, as I said, at the moment I’m rather disappointed with the mechanical ventilation system; so far, it has only worked reasonably well during the transitional seasons.