Are the Ultra-Aire XT Ventilating Dehumidifiers also HRVs?

We get this question a lot and it is easy to understand why. These units do feature a heat exchanger similar to the technology found in HRVs but the Ultra-Aire XT units utilize the heat exchanger to pre-cool the incoming air stream, which allows the air to reach dew point faster. When the temperature of the evaporator coil drops below the dew point faster, the result is water pulled out of the air and dropped down the drain in less time than any other conventional dehumidifier on the market – all while using very little energy throughout the process.

Example: Air is pulled in through the heat exchanger (filtered intake of the dehumidifier) and passed over the evaporator coil, which cools the air down. This cool air is then passed back through the heat exchanger, pre-cooling the incoming air stream, and is then passed through the condenser and out of the dehumidifier (this is our dry, dehumidified air).

All Ultra-Aire whole house ventilating dehumidifiers can bring in the fresh filtered air to meet the current ASHRAE 62.2 standard.

Fine Homebuilding featured the Ultra-Aire XT technology in the “How It Works” section of the magazine.

The video below also showcases the XT technology.