The HRV than installed in our house has two centrifugal fans, one each for intake and exhaust. Since all fan blades collect dust, I decided to clean the fans. I emailed the factory about cleaning the fans and was told they use compressed air. Compressed air would not have removed the caked-on dirt and is impractical in a small attic space. So, I did it myself.
I had to disconnect the ducts from the exterior of the HRV, and then dissassemble the HRV by removing the circuit board (carefully noting connections) to reach the fans – almost. I could access the blades with about 6″ long scrapers and scrapped off the accumulated caked-on dust and vacuumed it away (mostly).. It looked like it was never cleaned in the three years since it had been installed.
I want to install another HRV to provide filtration for clean air, and where I can easily access and clean the fan area and blades. The original is Lifebreath and all of their current units don’t look to provide easy fan access. I want to be able to manually clean the fans. Any recommendations?
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20 years of living with my HRV and I've replaced one muffin fan after I had longevity problems with other fans. Maybe 10 years now with the muffins
They do not collect dirt. However, my air is filtered to 5 microns, IIRC. I built my own HRV, similar to a Mitsubishi Lossnay, based on Popular Science plans from 1986. Swapped the exchanger material for a better one, works very well. Cleaning would be simple, if it was ever needed. What cfm do you need? I'm effecting .5 ach in my 20,000 cu ft.
I also used different sized fans to make air leaks go out. Very tight house here, concrete.
HRV fans
Sorry for the delay - got busy elsewhere. By muffin fans do you mean the fans used to cool a PC? The Lifebreath intake and exhaust sides are filtered by that spongy stuff like duct furnace filters - not worth much. I don't want to build one, just get a commercial system that's easy to clean and to install in lieu of the existing one into the existing ductwork.
Thanks for your interest and comment.
Frankly, there's really no need to clean most HVAC fans. Yes, they get dirty, but, within reason, the dirt does not affect operation (the units are sized to "expect" some dirt) and it's not, in any standard residential scenario, a health hazard.
Eventually, after 20 years or so, the fan will fail and need to be replaced. Until then the best strategy is to no look so you don't know how dirty it is.