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HRV vs ERV: Which is Right for This Climate?
Detailed Heat Recovery Analysis
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How to Use the Heat Recovery Calculator
SRE at 0°C is the most important input, because it sets how much of the exhaust heat the core returns to the supply air. Use the rating tested at an airflow close to what you will actually run, not the unit's maximum. Published ratings for certified models sit in NRCan's searchable product list, and the ENERGY STAR Canada specification for H/ERVs sets the label floor at 65% SRE at 0°C and 60% at −25°C.
ASHRAE 62.2 gives a whole-home rate of 0.03 CFM per ft² of floor area plus 7.5 CFM times (bedrooms + 1). A 2,000 ft² home with 3 bedrooms works out to 90 CFM. Canadian provinces set their own ventilation rules under the building code, so the ventilation rate calculator is the better place to size a system for a specific house. Most principal systems run continuously at low speed and boost for kitchens and bathrooms.
Savings are measured against a house that heats the same volume of cold incoming air with its own furnace or heater. The HRV or ERV returns the SRE fraction of that heat, and the electricity its fans draw is subtracted to give a net figure.
The suggestion keys off your city's design temperature: at −15°C or colder the tool favours an HRV, because most winter moisture in a Canadian house comes from cooking, bathing, and breathing and is better vented than kept. An ERV becomes worth a look when winters are very dry or summer humidity drives the cooling load. The HRV vs ERV selection calculator weighs those factors house by house.
Heat Recovery Ventilation in Canada: HRVs, ERVs, and What They Save
A tight house has to be ventilated on purpose, and across most of Canada the fresh air arrives well below room temperature for months of the year. A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) or energy recovery ventilator (ERV) lets you keep the fans running around the clock without paying full price to warm that air. The calculator above puts a number on the trade: heat recovered, fan electricity spent, and the years it takes for the difference to cover the installed cost.
How Heat Recovery Works
Inside the unit, a stale exhaust stream and a fresh supply stream pass through a shared core without mixing. Warmth crosses from the outgoing air to the incoming air, so in January the supply leaves the core well above the outdoor temperature. The share of that available warmth the unit actually delivers is the sensible recovery efficiency, or SRE. It is a tested value that already accounts for fan heat, leakage, and defrost, so it runs lower than a core’s raw effectiveness.
An ERV uses a core that also passes water vapour. That moves some moisture back into the house in winter and keeps some humidity out during humid summers. An HRV passes heat only. Which one suits a house depends mostly on moisture: a family that cooks, bathes, and dries laundry indoors generates plenty of it, and an HRV lets that go.
What the Building Code and ENERGY STAR Say
Under Section 9.32 of the 2020 edition of the National Building Code of Canada, a new dwelling unit needs a principal ventilation system with a supply and exhaust component, and provinces adopt and amend the code on their own schedules. Where an HRV serves as a required fan, the code sets a low-temperature ventilation reduction factor of not less than 50%, tested to CSA C439, and does not set a minimum SRE. The code has since been succeeded by a 2025 edition, so check which one your province currently enforces.
The SRE figures on the gauge come from a different source. The ENERGY STAR Canada program requires certified units to reach 65% SRE at 0°C and 60% at −25°C, with fan efficacy of 1.2 CFM per watt for units below 75% SRE and 0.8 CFM per watt at 75% or above. Those numbers are a voluntary label, not a code rule. A unit that falls short can still be legal to install, but it recovers less heat per dollar of fan power.
Sizing an HRV for a Canadian Home
An undersized unit fails to deliver the required fresh air, and an oversized one wastes fan power and can dry the house out. ASHRAE 62.2 gives the whole-home minimum as 0.03 CFM per ft² of floor area plus 7.5 CFM times the number of bedrooms plus one. A 185 m² (2,000 ft²) house with three bedrooms comes to 60 + 30 = 90 CFM. The example values in this calculator use 100 CFM, which is a realistic low-speed setting for a house that size.
Most residential units are rated for 50 to 200 CFM at continuous low speed, with a boost mode for cooking and showers. Heat recovered scales directly with airflow, so the same unit running at 150 CFM instead of 100 CFM recovers 50% more heat. In practice the fans draw more power at higher flow too, but this calculator takes fan watts as an input you enter for the flow you choose, so update that figure when you change the airflow. Size to the requirement, not above it.
Keeping an HRV Performing
Performance drifts if the unit is neglected. NRCan’s HRV owner guide recommends cleaning or replacing filters every one to three months, checking the outdoor hoods for leaves and frost, and inspecting the core and condensate drain twice a year. A clogged filter or an unbalanced airflow cuts the recovery you are counting on and can push the house toward negative or positive pressure. A yearly service visit that includes measuring both airflows and testing the defrost cycle keeps the SRE you entered in the calculator close to what the unit delivers. For a wider look at where a house loses heat, the energy audit calculator builds a prioritized upgrade list.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on airflow, SRE, climate, and fuel. For a Toronto house with 100 CFM of ventilation, a 78% SRE unit, a 96% efficient gas furnace, and gas at $0.35 per m³, the calculator shows about $250 per year in heating savings and about $150 after subtracting fan electricity. The same unit in Edmonton (10,647 heating degree days) saves about $400 gross and $295 net. Oil, propane, and electric resistance heat cost more per kWh, so the same recovered heat is worth several times as much: in the Toronto case with the calculator’s default prices, about $850 net on heating oil and about $835 net on electric baseboard heat. A 90 W fan running all year uses about 788 kWh, which costs roughly $100 at $0.13 per kWh.
ENERGY STAR Canada certification requires at least 65% SRE at 0°C and 60% at −25°C, plus a minimum fan efficacy. Many units sold in Canada test well above that, in the high 70s to low 90s at 0°C, and a higher number recovers more heat from the same airflow. The −25°C rating matters as much in cold cities, because it shows how well the defrost control holds up when frost forms in the core. Look up the tested values for a specific model in NRCan’s searchable product list rather than relying on a brochure figure, since ratings depend on the airflow they were measured at.
For most Canadian homes an HRV is the usual choice. Winter brings moisture from cooking, bathing, and breathing, and an HRV exhausts it with the stale air, which helps keep windows and cold surfaces from fogging and growing mould. An ERV returns some moisture to the house, which suits very dry winters or homes with high summer humidity that add to the cooling load. This calculator suggests an HRV wherever the city’s design temperature is −15°C or colder and treats an ERV as worth considering in milder cities. If moisture is your main worry, the HRV vs ERV selection calculator linked above works through it in more detail.
The federal Canada Greener Homes Grant is closed to new applicants, so it should not be counted on. Rebates now come mostly from provinces, municipalities, and utilities, and eligibility for ventilation equipment varies by program and changes often. Enter whatever incentive you qualify for in the rebate field and the payback figure will adjust. The rebate calculator on this site lists programs by province.
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