Air Exchanger Cleaning

A stuffy bedroom, a clammy basement and a film of dust on every surface can all feel like "bad air," so it's tempting to buy one device and expect it to fix everything. The air exchanger vs dehumidifier question comes up a lot for exactly that reason: the two machines sound similar but solve different problems, and an air purifier solves a third. Dun-Rite Vac cleans air exchangers for homes across Saskatchewan and Western Manitoba. This guide sorts out which device answers which question, so you can spend money and effort in the right place. Quick Answer: An air exchanger swaps stale indoor air for fresh outdoor air, a dehumidifier pulls moisture out of the air, and an air purifier filters particles from the [...]

Most homeowners never touch their air exchanger controls until a cold snap fogs up the windows or a humid July afternoon makes the house feel stuffy. Then comes the question: what is the right air exchanger winter setting, and does it change in summer? The honest answer is that it depends on your specific unit, your house, and what your manufacturer’s manual says. This guide explains what the seasonal controls are generally doing, how to think through each season’s decision, and how to tell an operating question apart from a maintenance one. Quick Answer: There is no single correct winter or summer setting. Controls such as speed, humidity control, and any summer or recirculation mode vary by brand and model, so your manufacturer’s manual [...]

Most homeowners can tell you where their air exchanger is, usually in the basement or a utility room. Far fewer can say whether it's an HRV or an ERV. That matters because the HRV vs ERV question affects how your home handles winter humidity and how the unit should be maintained. This guide will help you work out which type you have and what it needs. We clean air exchangers, but we don't install, replace or convert them, so for those questions you'll want an HVAC contractor. Quick Answer: In general, an HRV (heat recovery ventilator) is designed to transfer heat between outgoing and incoming air, while an ERV (energy recovery ventilator) also transfers some moisture. Both need regular filter care and occasional core [...]

It usually starts with a small clue: a puddle under the unit in January, a fan that sounds strained, or a fresh-air hood outside that looks like it's wearing a fur coat. If you've noticed an HRV freezing up in winter, the first question is whether you're looking at normal cold-weather behaviour or the beginning of a real problem. The answer depends on how much ice, where it's forming, and whether it clears. Here's how to tell the difference, what tends to cause the bad kind, and when cleaning is the right fix versus when it isn't. Quick Answer: If you notice your HRV freezing up in winter, light frost during a cold snap can be normal, since many units run a defrost cycle [...]

The HRV in the mechanical room is still running. The light's still on. But the air in the house just feels a little stale, a little heavier than it should. That's usually the first thing homeowners notice — not a diagnosis, just a nagging sense that something's off — and it's often the starting point for the calls we get from homeowners across Saskatoon, Yorkton, Regina, and Weyburn.Most of the signs your air exchanger needs cleaning — the dirty HRV symptoms homeowners describe to us most often — show up gradually. You may notice weaker airflow, more noise, dust around the vent covers, or new condensation. The harder part is knowing which signs mean "time for a cleaning" and which mean "time to call [...]

Walk into a newer Saskatchewan home and you'll often find two separate systems in the mechanical room. The furnace heats and circulates air. A smaller box nearby handles ventilation. That second system is the HRV. So, what is an HRV, exactly? If you've heard the term "air exchanger" from a builder, inspector, or technician, you may still have questions. This article explains what an HRV does, how it works, and what parts it uses. An HRV is a dedicated ventilation system with its own fans, filters, heat-exchange core, and duct connections. Quick Answer: An HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator) is a mechanical ventilation system. It exchanges stale indoor air for fresh outdoor air while recovering heat from the outgoing air. It runs independently of your [...]

If your air exchanger smells musty, the whole unit is rarely failing. Instead, something inside your ventilation system is holding moisture longer than it should. In a well-sealed Prairie home, that moisture has nowhere to escape. As a result, the odour builds instead of airing out. The tricky part is that a musty smell can come from four different places, and each one has a different fix. Some of it you can handle yourself. Some of it needs a technician to get inside the unit. And occasionally, the smell is your first warning sign of a moisture problem that has nothing to do with the air exchanger at all. Quick Answer: An air exchanger smells musty most often because of a dirty filter, a [...]

If you've got an air exchanger (HRV or ERV) running in your Saskatchewan home, the filter and core schedule that works in Ontario or BC simply doesn't apply here. Our winters keep these units running near-continuously for months at a stretch, and that changes how often you should clean your air exchanger compared to a milder climate. Quick Answer: In most Saskatchewan and Western Manitoba homes, check and vacuum or rinse HRV/ERV filters every 2-3 months during heating season (roughly October through April). Schedule a full professional core and duct cleaning once a year. Acreage properties, pet households, and homes running the unit continuously on low often need filter checks closer to monthly. Recommended heating season maintenance schedule for Saskatchewan homes. In this article: [...]

Cleaning your HRV filter is one of the few HVAC maintenance tasks that actually belongs on the homeowner's to-do list — it's straightforward, takes about fifteen minutes, and makes a real difference in how well the unit performs. But the filter is only one part of the system, and it's worth understanding what you can handle yourself versus what genuinely requires a professional to do right. Quick Answer: To clean an HRV filter, remove it from the unit, vacuum off loose debris, then rinse it gently with lukewarm water and let it dry completely before reinstalling — aim to do this every one to three months during the heating season. The HRV core (the heat-exchange element inside the unit) is a separate component that [...]

Many Saskatchewan homeowners know they should replace an HRV filter occasionally, but far fewer understand what proper HRV system maintenance actually involves. A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) works quietly in the background, bringing fresh outdoor air into tightly sealed homes while exhausting stale indoor air. When maintenance gets skipped, airflow drops, efficiency suffers, and indoor air quality can gradually decline. The challenge is that maintenance is more than a quick filter change. Filters are only one piece of a system that includes a heat recovery core, drainage components, fans, and connected ductwork that all need attention over time. Quick Answer: HRV system maintenance includes regular filter checks, cleaning the heat recovery core, verifying drainage components, inspecting airflow pathways, and assessing the condition of connected [...]