Paul's Passive House 1950's Retrofit Ep. 8

In this episode of Paul's Passive House I finish up the attic, cover my HRV, and walk you through my utility room. You'll get to see how I designed the two different attic spaces and learn more about how an HRV works and why you want one. Cheers.

[@db5250]

Found your channel/series by accident. Big fan of building science and it is really refreshing to see someone take on such a large project by themselves. Are you going to do any blower door testing to check for air tightness? It really doesn't matter in the end, but any data you can have would be cool to have, obviously a before air test doesn't really matter because like most non passive houses the numbers would be astronomical.

[@EarSeduction]

@@db5250 I’m planning on getting certified as a passive house planner and installer. So that means the house has to be certified also. That would include a blower door test. I’m really excited to get that data.

[@db5250]

@@EarSeduction - That's awesome. What does it cost to get certified? Hell, building science and architecture is something that has always interested me, even considering a career change into that field honestly.

[@EarSeduction]

@@db5250 I don’t know exactly. I have to pay a certifier to come and do it. The other option would have been to take the classes.

[@Hichinator]

Nice to get a look at your HRV. Here in Germany we dont have that arid climate, like you have in Colorado. I went with a decentralized ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilation) system. That means, instead of just having the "real estate signs" as a heat exchanger, i need to have a water vapor permeable membrane as the exchanger material, that also reclaims moisture. Otherwise I would have to deal with condensation within the unit during winter.

[@EarSeduction]

@@Hichinator do you know what it is made from? Mine is polybutylene. I’ve also seen them in aluminum. But I’ve never seen what they use in an ERV.

[@Hichinator]

@@EarSeduction I can only guess that its made from Polyethylene since most vapor permeable membranes are made from that plastic, the manufacturer only says "plastic".