Heat Recovery Ventilators

[KarstenP]

To echo the use case for the "suitcase" style units. I attended the allrad show in Germany last may and found this unit by Bayernluft. I too am looking for cold weather passive ventilation, so seeing a company on this side of the pond like Pioneer building basically the same unit is pretty neat.

As far as use case for RV use? Well, Bimobile is one of the largest players in Europe and wouldn't be placing these units in their campers if they fail. As pictured below they've attached it to the entry door on that specific camper. Utilizing this dead space on the door is great if you arn't planning on having a window in your entry door.

Heres a link, they offer simple manual units all the way up to humidity sensing wifi enabled units:
BayernLuft

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Being the senior sales guy at bimobil, I can personally vouch for the Bayernluft / Bavariavent system.
We use those for about 7 years now in most of our builds, even as mandatory accessoiries when equipped with KCT windows and hatches which don't have any ventilation.
One thing is, we need to get fresh air (oxygen) in and used air (moisture and CO) out. There's about a litre of moisture a person emitting per night with sweating and breathing, this is what you see as condensation where the coldest point in the cabin is (about 7°C difference inside/out).
We've tested those down to -30°C with great effect. Talk about 3 people and 2 big wet dogs in a 22' camper with tight KCT windows / hatches and extremely air tight cabin. We've seen 10" icicles hanging from the outlet vent in the morning.

 

[Trail Talk]

Being the senior sales guy at bimobil, I can personally vouch for the Bayernluft / Bavariavent system.
We use those for about 7 years now in most of our builds, even as mandatory accessoiries when equipped with KCT windows and hatches which don't have any ventilation.
One thing is, we need to get fresh air (oxygen) in and used air (moisture and CO) out. There's about a litre of moisture a person emitting per night with sweating and breathing, this is what you see as condensation where the coldest point in the cabin is (about 7°C difference inside/out).
We've tested those down to -30°C with great effect. Talk about 3 people and 2 big wet dogs in a 22' camper with tight KCT windows / hatches and extremely air tight cabin. We've seen 10" icicles hanging from the outlet vent in the morning.

Is the Bayernluft available in Canada?

 

[KarstenP]

I don't think so. This is a small manufacturer. Might be worth dropping them an email:

info@bayernluft.de

 

[Dtrom]

Might be late the the party. I made an HRV for my sprinter 170 that uses the same basic concept as a lunos with 2 ceramic cores, fans, CO2 sensor embedded in a wall mounted stat/controller. It all runs from a single 12VDC cable.

Looking to help a few people build their own to test my design on some other installation. I live in Ontario Canada in a cold climate down to -10C. Looking to help you build yours to get feedback on how it work on other vehicles and houses.

Prefer if you have some technical skill and access to a 3d printer. You do have to buy some things and 3d print a few parts. I can share sources and model files.

Pls reach out if you are interested.

 

[charlesrg]

Might be late the the party. I made an HRV for my sprinter 170 that uses the same basic concept as a lunos with 2 ceramic cores, fans, CO2 sensor embedded in a wall mounted stat/controller. It all runs from a single 12VDC cable.

Looking to help a few people build their own to test my design on some other installation. I live in Ontario Canada in a cold climate down to -10C. Looking to help you build yours to get feedback on how it work on other vehicles and houses.

Prefer if you have some technical skill and access to a 3d printer. You do have to buy some things and 3d print a few parts. I can share sources and model files.

Pls reach out if you are interested.

That’s awesome. Please share pictures. I’m also interested in building one and do have a 3d printer. Are you using 2 fans like ego models so air can be always set in one direction for each, allowing an air filter ?

 

[Dtrom]

That’s awesome. Please share pictures. I’m also interested in building one and do have a 3d printer. Are you using 2 fans like ego models so air can be always set in one direction for each, allowing an air filter ?

 

[Dtrom]

I'm running 2 fans and heat recovery modules with a space between them. My fans are reversible, so they take alternate directions taking turns bringing air in one site of the van and then the other. It feels kind of interesting when you lie in bed and feel the cool air wash over you. Here is basically how it work. It is -10C outside and 20C in the fan. A fully charged core is 20C and you start pulling cold air through it. The air pulled into the van enters at roughly 10-15C. I've worked with some of the best commercial HRVs in Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems (DOAS) and in a cold climate like Canada, they still have a preheater coil.

Here is the strategy I've applied; The plan is that you have to bring in fresh air to control the CO2 so you don't wake up with a headache and remove the humidity so you don't rust the van from the inside out. If you don't make big holes in the van, like big stupid roof fans and open windows you can control the fresh air, the heat lost and the direction of the humidity. I setup my system to modulate the fan speed on the CO2 level in the van to keep it around 1000 PPM.

I have a background in building commissioning and I was an HVAC Tech so I might come at things from a different angle. Anyone else see things differently? Curious to see how other work around this.

I remember building up a well sealed sprinter 170 last year with spray foam and the first few outings my UEI CO2 spiking to 3500PPM and waking up with all the front windows iced up.