Panasonic Intelli-Balance 100 Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV), 30-100 CFM, Standard Plug-In, Cold Climate, FV-10VEC2

Work as described. Easy installation. need 2 person to hang it up. Worth every penny. My room air fresh with minimum noise.

We were having issues with higher levels of radon in the unfinished portion of our basement. Rather than install a mitigation system which would only address one issue, we installed this.We hung it from the basement ceiling; it exhausts air from the unfinished side and is vented to bring the new air to the finished side and it cycles around. We have two electronic radon monitors and no longer have a problem. More importantly, it is providing air changes as we work to better insulate and air-seal the home.The filter is easily replaced, and there are controls for balancing airflow and operational cycles.Very happy with it. Plan on getting a second unit next year to put in the attic for serving the upper level.

I was skeptical about my air quality in my house and because in summer and winter we don’t open windows and co2 levels build up . I am in the HVAC industry and I know the air quality is important. I bought this product. It was easy to install and I can tell that my CO2 levels are lower. It works as it is meant.

ERV works fine. Panasonic makes good fans. It is what it is. The filter price is outrageous. I like to change the filter every 30 days. $500 for yearly filters is nuts. Actively searching for generic replacements. No luck yet. Will update if I find anything.

FAQ about this ERV:An HRV essentially just gets fresh air from outside your house inside your house, and uses the air inside your house to heat or cool this fresh air. An ERV is the same thing, except it also keeps humidity consistent too. This Panasonic does this at around 75% efficiency, meaning you will lose about 25% of the energy from the fresh air you get, so don't over-use or over-size it.Why is "fresh air" needed? Humans, pets, gas appliances (and sometimes Canada) all produce CO2, and can affect people's energy levels, ability to think, and other health issues. It is useful to buy a CO2 meter and see which rooms in the house have which values, and what a typical value is outside (which is the best the house is likely to ever see) and adjust this ERV accordingly. Turn it up if the CO2 is high, pull air from rooms that are high, etcThe unit comes with 4" and 6" duct connections, but all internals to the unit are 4". This means that the whole reason to use 6" ducts is to reduce air resistance throughout the house. It will be more difficult, louder, with each bend adding air resistance, if 4" ducting is used. But if 4" ducting is needed, it is always better to switch to 4" only in those places, and keep 6" whenever possible.The unit should be installed in a spot to reduce the amount of ducting required and also reduce the bends. Again, 6" ductwork helps to overcome longer/bendier ductwork.The ducts must be insulated both from and to the outside, this can be seen by the Styrofoam duct connections. From the outside is obvious, to reduce escaping cold air and attracting condensation. But I also discovered that the air *to* the outside is also quite cold. I believe while the air to the inside is being warmed up, the air leaving the house is being cooled (in the winter, of course). So contrary to what you may think, both these ducts should be insulated as well as any ducts in "non living" areas such as attics.The unit can be ducted into existing ductwork (installation options are in the manual) but any expert I've read says to AVOID THIS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. The biggest reason in my mind is that most home HVAC units have a very high CFM. This ERV is less than 100W of small fans. This is bound to cause major problems/disruptions to how the ERV operates (imagine the HVAC pulling more air though the unit than it is even set to, making the HVAC work harder to heat/cool the outside air) Plus, then you have to sync "heating/cooling" with "fresh air" (you can't have them running at separate times) but maybe you want one without the other. And lastly, the whole purpose of an HVAC system is to distribute air throughout the house. So if a "main area" in the house gets clean air from this ERV, it will be distributed throughout the house by the HVAC anyway, even if it is not ducted into the HVAC.The differential pressure must be tested and adjusted once the whole system is installed. This means buying a differential pressure meter (there are some on Amazon for around $40 - B01680C4C2 with B0BWCQ8Z5X adapters) and testing. If you can install this ERV, using the meter isn't much more difficult. You simply attach it to the ports as shown in the manual, and adjust the CFM dials to make the incoming air and outgoing air pressure equal, or mostly equal. If you don't do this, the ERV could end up producing a negative pressure in the house, thereby sucking outside air through small cracks, and reducing home efficiency. A positive pressure is preferred, but as close to neutral is best. I suppose you could also achieve this by making the runs going into the house as short and straight as possible, and leaving the longer/bendier runs for the air leaving the house.Because this unit is essentially a metal box with fans and a plastic heat exchanger, the unit can be installed any which way (on a wall, on a ceiling, upside down) but you will need to change or service things at times, so I think the wall is best.There is just 1 filter that needs cleaning/replacing. I would suggest measuring and buying a washable one of the same/similar size. The K&N VF1002 fits, but there are others including custom options.There are 2 main ways to run this unit. A "minutes per hour" setting (essentially, what percentage of the time do you want it to run) and an "on/off" switch. The benefit of the on/off switch, is that you can attach it to a WIFI switch timer, and then control the unit with an app, or set a schedule. It would have been nice for the unit to be a bit more "digital", with integrated temperature displays, and intelligent timers. Though, I guess sometimes simpler is better.I tested this on a cold day, and the incoming air was just a few degrees colder than indoor temperature. So 30 degree fresh air is being heated to 65 degrees before entering the house...pretty amazing!My 2700sqft (2 people, 2 dogs) passive house CO2 was in the 1100-1400 ppm range, now with the ERV set to 100CFM supply and 90CFM return, the CO2 is down to 600-700 ppm.

Quiet, like the size, controls are easy to adjust

I purchased this to replace a defunct April Air Fresh Air Exchanger that was original to my 1997 HVAC system. I had an electrician add a timer and my HVAC tech adjusted the install for optimum performance. They'd never seen one in a residential system - but said they are typical in schools and hospitals. NOW, every 4 hours, FRESH AIR replaces stale air! Floating dust is almost eliminated and CO2 build-up is not an issue in this extremely well insulated timber frame home. NICE PRODUCT, Panasonic!

Simple to install and easy to use. Quiet operation. I have a home gym in my basement where the air quality is poor, and on top of that I had high levels of radon. This ERV is getting the radon levels under control in less than a week operating 30mins every hour, and the air quality is noticibly better.