Trail Talk
Well-known member
I seem to recall articles that stated the opposite, but perhaps that was related to your second point?
Heat Recovery Ventilators
- Thread starter Trail Talk
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I seem to recall articles that stated the opposite, but perhaps that was related to your second point?
When you get a chance can you elaborate? I wasn't sure what you are referring to.
ITTOG
Well-known member
I do not know what they are indicating with "sensible effectiveness".
No because they would only be able to calculate assuming the temp was increased only by the HRV and they know it can't do that given the HRV doesn't provide raw heat as it doesn't have a heating element. To truly calculate it they have to know the heat added to the camper in the form of a rate of heat applied.
Trail Talk
Well-known member
Sorry for being unclear. While combing through online discussions, one of the pitfalls repeatedly stressed was to pay attention to claims of efficiency and note the temperature that measurements were taken. Apparently it is easier to claim higher heat efficiency when the temp difference between "fresh" and "stale", ie, inside and outside, isn't that far.
Agreed, the theory is that greater differences in temperature produce greater rates of heat transfer. It seems, however, that properly designed mechanicals makes this work or not; length of run, speed of flow, and direction of flow within the HRV seem to be critical. As I'm looking at the extreme edge of performance for these devices, I'm cautious in evaluating manufacturer claims.
Thinking about how the system applies to your environmental conditions and that the condensation drain may tend to freeze up if the port is outside of the heated envelope. Would it make sense to run the drain on the inside into a container or grey water tank?
A random alternate thought about a system that might work for you is a two component system. It wouldn't be an HRV but it would be fresh air and dehumidification.
If you don't need much air exchange to manage CO2, you could make a small insulated intake and exhaust duct and force air through with a small computer size fan or something.
The other part would be to construct a forced air duct that runs through a cool area of the camper. Maybe not directly exposed to the outside since you have really low temps but in a storage compartment or somewhere with less insulation. Part of the duct would be aluminum or a small air cooler maybe a mini intercooler with a catch basin / box to capture condensation and pipe it to a small tank. This could also run via a low velocity low amperage fan.
A random alternate thought about a system that might work for you is a two component system. It wouldn't be an HRV but it would be fresh air and dehumidification.
If you don't need much air exchange to manage CO2, you could make a small insulated intake and exhaust duct and force air through with a small computer size fan or something.
The other part would be to construct a forced air duct that runs through a cool area of the camper. Maybe not directly exposed to the outside since you have really low temps but in a storage compartment or somewhere with less insulation. Part of the duct would be aluminum or a small air cooler maybe a mini intercooler with a catch basin / box to capture condensation and pipe it to a small tank. This could also run via a low velocity low amperage fan.
Trail Talk
Well-known member
I submitted the question of managing condensation to AccuraSEE, which had my interest for their claims of -40C efficiency. Although they initially answered some simple questions, this topic was met with absolute silence! It appears their website inquiries are handled by sales so it must be inconvenient to relate info back and forth to the tech people. Or perhaps they don't like what they hear back?
Contrast this with my recent experience purchasing lithium coach batteries; I received a case number assigned to a tech person who answered every query promptly for months. IMO that is a great way for a company to establish consumer trust.