Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery in arctic climate

Mechanical ventilations systems with highly effective heat recovery units in arctic climate have problems with condensing water from the extracted humid indoor air. If the condensing water freezes to ice in the heat recovery unit, the airflow rate will quickly diminish due to the increasing pressure drop. Preheating the inlet air (outdoor air) to a temperature just above 0ºC is typically used to solve the problem. To minimize the energy cost, a more efficient solution to the problem is therefore desirable. In this project a new design of a heat recovery unit has been developed to the low-energy house in Sisimiut, which is capable of continuously defrosting itself. The disadvantage of the unit is that it is quite big compared with other units. In this paper the new heat recovery unit is described and laboratory measurements are presented showing that the unit is capable of continuously defrosting itself. Nevertheless, extra heating is still necessary in very cold periods to avoid draft for occupants.