Recovery Ventilator

Abstract

A ventilator may include a housing, fans, a divider, and an exchanger. The housing may define a fresh ingress, exhaust ingress, and fresh egress. The fans may direct air from the fresh ingress to a first channel. The fans may also direct exhaust from the exhaust ingress to a second channel. The divider may direct the air from the first channel to an opening. The exchanger may include an exhaust channel and a fresh channel. The exhaust channel may receive the exhaust from the second channel. The fresh channel may receive the air from the first channel via the opening. The fresh channel may also direct the air in a second direction that is counter to the first direction to exchange heat between the exhaust and the air to pre-condition the air. In addition, the fresh channel may provide the pre-conditioned air to the fresh egress.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A recovery ventilator comprising:
 a housing defining a fresh air ingress, an exhaust air ingress, and a fresh air egress;   a plurality of fans configured to:
 direct fresh air from the fresh air ingress to a first channel in a first direction; and 
 direct exhaust air from the exhaust air ingress to a second channel in the first direction; 
   a structural divider at least partially defining the first channel, the structural divider configured to direct the fresh air from the first channel to an opening; and   a heat exchanger comprising:
 an exhaust air channel fluidly coupled to the second channel, the exhaust air channel configured to:
 receive the exhaust air from the second channel in the first direction; and 
 
 a fresh air channel fluidly coupled to the opening, the fresh air channel configured to:
 receive the fresh air from the first channel via the opening; 
 direct the fresh air in a second direction that is counter to the first direction to exchange heat between the exhaust air and the fresh air to pre-condition the fresh air; and 
 provide the pre-conditioned fresh air to the fresh air egress. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the exhaust air traverses the exhaust air channel in a linear or serpentine manner; and   the fresh air traverses the fresh air channel in a linear or serpentine manner.   
     
     
         3 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of:
 the fresh air egress is fluidly coupled to a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) return such that the pre-conditioned fresh air is provided to a HVAC system via the fresh air egress and the HVAC return; or   the fresh air egress is fluidly coupled to an internal environment such that the pre-conditioned fresh air is provided to the internal environment via the fresh air egress.   
     
     
         4 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the housing further defines an exhaust air egress fluidly coupled to an outside environment; and   the exhaust air channel is configured to provide the exhaust air to the outside environment via the exhaust air egress.   
     
     
         5 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1  further comprising a filtration system positioned in the first channel, the filtration system configured to filter the fresh air prior to being directed to the opening. 
     
     
         6 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the second direction comprises a direction from a bottom of the heat exchanger to a top of the heat exchanger; and   the first direction comprises a direction from the top of the heat exchanger to the bottom of the heat exchanger.   
     
     
         7 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , further comprising a thermal material connected to walls of the first channel and the second channel to at least partially thermally isolate the first channel and the second channel from each other and from other environments. 
     
     
         8 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , further comprising a programmable control configured to:
 receive user input indicating a portion of the plurality of fans corresponding to the exhaust air are to increase a rate of operation; and   control the plurality of fans to cause the portion of the plurality of fans corresponding to the exhaust air to increase the rate of operation and a flow of the exhaust air in the recovery ventilator.   
     
     
         9 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , further comprising a pump and a sump volume, wherein the pump is:
 positioned in the sump volume;   fluidly coupled to the first channel; and   configured to direct water from the sump volume to the first channel to humidify the fresh air in the first channel.   
     
     
         10 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , further comprising a pump and a sump volume, wherein the pump is:
 positioned in the sump volume;   fluidly coupled to the second channel; and   configured to direct water from the sump volume to the second channel to evaporatively cool the exhaust air prior to being received by the heat exchanger.   
     
     
         11 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of fans comprise:
 a fresh fan positioned in the first channel and configured to direct the fresh air from the fresh air ingress to the first channel in the first direction; and   an exhaust fan positioned in the second channel and configured to direct exhaust air from the exhaust air ingress to the second channel in the first direction.   
     
     
         12 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises a multi-tube layered panel device. 
     
     
         13 . The recovery ventilator of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of:
 a footprint of the recovery ventilator is equal to one square foot;   the recovery ventilator comprises a heat recovery ventilator configured to warm the fresh air using the exhaust air; or   the recovery ventilator comprises an energy recovery ventilator configured to cool the fresh air using the exhaust air.   
     
     
         14 . A system comprising:
 a first recovery ventilator configured to:
 receive exhaust air from a building in which the system is positioned; 
 receive fresh air from an environment external to the building; and 
 exchange heat between the exhaust air and the fresh air in a first heat exchanger to pre-condition the fresh air; 
   a second recovery ventilator configured to:
 receive the exhaust air from the building; 
 receive the fresh air from the environment external to the building; and 
 exchange heat between the exhaust air and the fresh air in a second heat exchanger to pre-condition the fresh air; and 
   a control system configured to:
 cause the first recovery ventilator and the second recovery ventilator to transition between a power exhauster configuration in which only the exhaust air is received by the corresponding recovery ventilator to push exhaust air to the environment external to the building and a power intake configuration in which only the fresh air received by the corresponding recovery ventilator to pull fresh air from the environment external to the building. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of:
 the first recovery ventilator is fluidly coupled to a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) return such that the pre-conditioned fresh air is provided to a HVAC system via the HVAC return; or   the first recovery ventilator is fluidly coupled to an internal environment such that the pre-conditioned fresh air is provided to the internal environment.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first recovery ventilator comprises an exhaust air channel that is configured to provide exhaust air to an outside environment. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first recovery ventilator comprises a filtration system configured to filter the fresh air. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a programmable control configured to:
 receive user input indicating a portion of fans of the first recovery ventilator corresponding to the exhaust air are to increase a rate of operation; and   control the fans to cause the portion of the fans corresponding to the exhaust air to increase the rate of operation and a flow of the exhaust air in the recovery ventilator.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the fans comprise:
 a fresh fan configured to direct the fresh air in a first direction; and   an exhaust fan configured to direct exhaust air in the first direction.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first heat exchanger comprises a multi-tube layered panel device.