Home Maintenance & Warranty Guide
Last updated April 14, 2020
HRV System
Your HRV unit is the lungs of your house and should never be turned off.
During the heating season the Heat Recovery Ventilator, or HRV, recovers heat from the outgoing, stale household air and uses it to preheat incoming, fresh outdoor air. The HRV then sends the partially heated incoming air to the furnace, which distributes it throughout the house. Broadview Homes warrants HRV’s for 2 years. The HRV core is covered by a limited lifetime warranty through the manufacturer.
How to Operate the HRV and Dehumidistat:
Turn the dehumidistat Comfort Zone dial to 0%, or off, in the humid summer months.
The dehumidistat is the control panel on the main floor next to the thermostat.
DO NOT turn the HRV to the Off position on the HRV unit itself as this will disable your bathroom exhaust fans.
DO NOT operate an air conditioner while the Comfort Zone dial is above 0% because they will work against one another.
Set the dehumidistat Comfort Zone dial back between 30% - 45% in the winter when the furnace is operational and the air conditioner (when applicable) is turned off.
The Comfort Zone dial controls how much fresh air is brought in to the home and should be operated as suggested above. The two additional settings should not be adjusted. The Range should be set to ‘Normal’, and the Mode to ‘Intermittent’.
HRV Maintenance
Like your furnace, the HRV has filters that require maintenance approximately every 3 months. To clean the HRV filters:
Open, lift and slide the front face panel off the unit. The HRV will automatically shut down when the panel is opened.- Remove the two blue filters over the heat exchange core and rinse them, or clean with mild soap and water. In cold weather, ensure that filters are completely dry before reinserting them so they do not freeze from the cold intake air.
- Typically the heat exchange core only requires cleaning once a year, but should still be inspected periodically. The core is the large white box in the center of the HRV unit. To clean the core, remove it and rinse with a garden or shower hose. We recommend cleaning in warmer weather so that there is no chance of a wet core freezing.
- Check the drain pan and clean if needed.
- Ensure all filters are reinserted correctly before replacing and closing the front panel.
How the HRV Works
The flow of air in and out of the house takes place simultaneously. Fresh outdoor air is filtered before it enters the HRV core and is then distributed by your furnace fan throughout the home via ductwork. A separate ductwork system draws the stale indoor air back to the HRV where it is pushed by a fan through the heat-exchange core. Here the stale air releases heat that is transferred to the fresh air being drawn into the house. Typically, an HRV is able to recover 70 to 80 percent of the heat from the exhaust air and transfer it to the incoming air. This dramatically reduces the energy needed to heat outdoor air to a comfortable temperature.
Note: All the parts shown here may not be found on all HRVs.
(Excerpted from Natural Resources Canada website)
For more information on HRV function, please visit Greentek's website at
