You may have heard the term “air exchanger.” But do you know what that is, what it does, and why you should install one in your home?

Air exchange happens through an energy recovery ventilation system—or ERV—that exchanges the air inside your home with fresh outdoor air. At Bloomfield Cooling, Heating & Electric, we use the Aprilaire Model 8100, a whole-home ERV unit that is highly energy efficient. It enables you to freshen your indoor air without raising your heating or cooling costs. There are no windows to open or fans to run, and with an ERV, your indoor temperatures don’t fluctuate.

The idea behind the whole-home ventilation system is to expel stale indoor air and replace it with fresh, cleaner outdoor air. With so many of today’s homes being built with greater energy efficiency in mind (think of all those tight, energy-efficient windows and doors), musty air, unpleasant odors, and airborne pollutants become trapped indoors. The ERV can be installed as part of your central heating and air conditioning system or as an independent unit.

Key benefits of a whole-home ERV
Improving air quality in the home is essential for people who are very sensitive to environmental irritants, but anyone will benefit from the job performed by an ERV. The Aprilaire Model 8100 does a great job ventilating homes up to 4,500 square feet in size, enhancing indoor air quality and your comfort throughout the year. It transfers heat and moisture between the incoming and outgoing streams of air to cool or heat what’s coming in.

In the summer months, the stale, conditioned indoor air your system expels is used to cool the incoming hot air; in the winter, the ERV uses the stale, heated indoor air to preheat the incoming cold air that’s being exchanged. This reduces your energy bills because your HVAC system will use much less energy to heat or cool the air once it enters the home. Your home and your family will be more comfortable because the whole-home ERV:

• Reduces excess indoor humidity levels
• Reduces airborne allergens and toxins such as dust, viruses, volatile organic compounds, radon, formaldehyde, smoke, and CO2
• Gets rid of unpleasant odors
• Provides a constant, controlled supply of fresh air into the home – you can schedule your ventilation with certain models

Why Aprilaire?
At Bloomfield Cooling, Heating & Electric, we use high-quality Aprilaire products for their performance and reliability. The unit requires minimal maintenance, has low operating costs, and comes with a five-year warranty. We also install Aprilaire whole-home humidifiers and dehumidifiers.

Want to know more about how this unit uses energy to exchange stale air for fresh, and keep your indoor air quality at its best? Contact Bloomfield Cooling, Heating & Electric for a consultation about how an ERV system can help, at (973) 237-0505 or info@bloomfieldcooling.com.