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The surface area of a Fine Wire heat exchanger is 10 times greater than a similar sized standard plate heat exchanger allowing for greater efficiency. A FiWi HRV unit can be built into a wall at the build stage. It can be built into your fitted kitchen and uses a standard 30cm x 72cm fitted kitchen door. It can be made from the same wood as your windows to blend in nicely beside your window frame. It can be fitted discreetly into your fitted wardrobes in a bedroom or you can mount a nice painting over the door to hide it completely. For a regular house one unit is fitted in the living area and another in the upstairs landing, the bathroom is ventilated with a humidity controlled fan that automatically opens the duct. Power consumption (6W/motor) is extremely low from the 2 long life EbmPabst fixed magnet EC motors.
4 electronic thermostats in the 4 airstreams are connected to the electronic Brain which controls the motor speeds, maintaining a high efficiency when the wind blows or a door is opened. FiWi HRV compensates for weather conditions while the efficiency of other HRV units drops below 70% when the wind blows. CO2 and Humidity monitors are fitted as standard to each unit to maintain air quality. There is no duct work requiring regular cleaning and the easily removed Heat Exchanger can be regularly washed in your dishwasher or under a shower to keep the house lungs clean and free from mould and dust. FiWi HRV is the most efficient heat exchange technology on the market with each Heat Exchanger containing 20km of 0.10mm copper wire as an exchange medium, making the surface area 10 times larger than most other HRV units on the market.
The CO2 -Humidity sensor slows the 6W fans down to the bare minimum when the inside air reaches 530ppm CO2 and 40% RH, the fans are not stopped to avoid draughts. The 4 air streams are continuously monitored by electronic thermostats so the fan speeds are constantly regulated to maintain the high efficiency of the heat exchangers. If you wish to dry your clothes in the Utility Room a third unit can be fitted, hot air is not required to dry clothes, just circulating dry air.
If we lived in sealed boxes the rise in RH% (Relative Humidity) and CO2 levels would make us and our houses ill.
So when a room is not occupied or when a window is opened the FiWi HRV stops ventilating. When a room is used more often the motors will rotate faster to refresh (exchange) more air. Whereas at 50 m3 air/hour (master bedroom) the FiWi HRV is not audible (25 dB) the noise level in the occupied living room can be 30 to 40 dB at a high rotating speed of 100 to 150 m3 air/hour, without being noticed because of daytime noise in the house. The usual traffic noise from outside is unknown in a Passive House.
The FiWi HRV units under continuous test in Holland have not suffered Ice build up at – 20° because the air is moving too quickly through the wires for condensation to occur which is remarkable for HRV systems. It delivered 18° air into the building when it was minus 10° outside and plus 20° inside. It’s extremely cost effective, efficient, hygienic, easy to install and each unit easily exchanges 100m3/hr, enough fresh air for 4 persons. German Passive Schools require 20m3/hr/pupil, so one FiWi HRV unit can exchange enough air for 5 pupils. German tests show a 20% performance improvement from kids in Passive Schools due to improved air quality. When the CO2 and Humidity levels in your living room drops, the air in adjoining rooms will also drop because CO2 and RH% levels equalise rapidly in air, to facilitate this we leave a 10-15mm gap under bedroom doors and vent the bedrooms out into the landing.
The prototype below is fitted with a specially developed low energy air mover pump developed by inventor Prof Jon Kristinsson which is extremely quiet and works at very low speeds. An air mover pump can remove stale air and deliver fresh air at the same time, improving the overall efficiency.
Airmover
