Hi, I have a new geothermally heated/cooled home. 5 ton forced air system with an open loop in a brand new house. The house is well insulated and tight. Located in New Hampshire. My concern is indoor air quality. With the house so tight, there is not much in the way of entering fresh air. the house is not already equipped with an HRV or ERV, and I was thinking this might be something I should be considering. I don't even know where to begin with this one. I really wish I had been able to get this in during the construction this past summer, but a retro-fit it shall be. Any advice about things I need to start considering, places for doing research, and people to contact for finding competent installers in my area? Also, is this something I need a pro to install? I am a competent DIY type with decent general carpentry skills, and I have a father with solid plumbing skills. We both can handle electrical work. So should I consider this a DIY project, or should I be looking for a good pro to get this in? thanks for any help.

I would look at some of them on line and see if you feel comfortable installing it. In my experience, it's really difficult to make a house so tight that indoor air is a problem. With exhaust fans in bathrooms and over the range, a lot air is moved in and out in the course of a day. I'll bet you have a good filter on the system, too.

I really like this website:  www.ourcoolhouse.com/hvac.htm

This couple completed several neat green projects, but in the link above he talks about how the V has been taken out of HVAC which I found interesting.  Also, if you keep digging into the website you will see that his ventilation consists of an ERV, he also addresses extra humidity (in certain rooms of a home) by removing 160 CFM from the kitchen and bathrooms then transfers the heat to the incoming outdoor air and brings it back to the return air in the geo system.

You might find this link useful when you are determining the size of HRV, ERV or whatever, it gives a good idea of how much ventilation you may need.:
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/homes/hip-ventilation.html


PS robkindovernh: It looks like your in Dover, NH, I am in Keene ,NH

Okay, time-out. Have you established that there is no make-up air to the home? International mechanical code has ventilation requirements in it. If your contractor and inspector did their jobs correctly, you may already have something.
While a make-up air is not an ERV, it is satisfactory, if you'd like to up grade to an ERV, then you would want to eliminate any other fresh air inlet. Modest ventilation requirements offer the lowest ROI on ERV's, so do your research.
Good luck,
Joe