Loved the video Matt! So the section with the modeling was cool, but I couldn’t help notice around 9 minutes where the hole for the toilet was way off on the first drill lol. This is easily 7-10 years out, but imagine your labor having “Milwaukee vision” 😂 AR goggles. They could see the build plan overlayed in AR right on top of the job site and see the layout before they commit.
You know that’s actually something I could see being a thing. Meta VR2 with a 29.99 app where you import an.cad file. You could feasibly build your entire home.
Hey Matt , I like your work and the knowledge you share with everyone. But since you were visiting worksites in Norway, I'm curious if you had a chance to check out our way of doing ventilation in houses/apartments and what are your thoughts ? To me as a ventilation installer in Norway, your units used in the US are what we used 10-15 years ago. We have much more sophisticated units now , that are extremely efficient , silent and can work in extreme cold conditions. We have a full control of each fan 0-100% so it can be balanced based on the needs, we have ACTUAL filtration with a standard filter of min. grade ePM1 55% (F7) that can be upgraded for both Intake and exhaust fans. It uses a rotor heat exchanger that has heat and humidity recovery and keeps the air in the optimal 40-50% humidity range. All units are connected to the internet so you can control and trouble shoot them from anywhere on your phone. The ventilation units have a electric heater on the supply duct to heat up the air in the extreme cold days when it's not hot enough from the heat exchanger, so that way you have a 24/7 supply of fresh warm air in the whole house so that you're not cooling it down. In general I've been watching few of your videos about ventilation units in houses, and it just feels like here in Norway , the way we do it is many many grades above, without wanting to sound cocky or anything, just based on my experience I know that the systems used in US and both duct and the units would never be accepted in Norway with today standards. If you wish to get a really good look into how we do it in Norway let me know next time you're visiting Norway and we can arrange that.
Glad to see the "kids" bedrooms being adequate for an adult. The modern cultural demand to kick out young people as soon as they turn 18 is a very effective way to keep young people too poor to ever buy a house, and make landlords ever richer instead. If parents can support their kids to stay living at home past the end of their basic education, through professional or vocational education, into getting a real job with that qualification, and through to when each kid has saved up a good deposit and bought their own first home, that's when intergenerational wealth starts. But to make it work, you need to treat your kids with the same respect and consideration you give yourself - and that means either they get an ensuite too, or you don't. A person looking at the floor plan of your house shouldn't be able to tell which is your bedroom unless it's labelled as such. Also, that cutesy bedroom for a five year old daughter? In another 25 years that daughter could still be living there with a baby of her own and a live-in partner and they're now caring for her parents as old age or disability start to become serious issues. But if she and her partner are now paying the bills, raising a kid, doing the housework, and generally being the adults of the house, do they move into the "master" bedroom and move her parent(s) into one of the old "children" bedrooms? In summary, never make a small child's bedroom that an adult couldn't live in!
Also, if you're pulling air out of the bathroom and pushing air into the bedroom, either you have a duct between the bedroom and the bathroom, or you have really big gaps under your doors - which subsequent occupants will try to close up to soundproof their spaces and just get rid of that draughty feeling - or the system won't work whenever there's a door shut between the bathroom and the bedroom. I've lived in a house like that and not being able to sleep at night with the bedroom door shut because the air con didn't work unless the door was open and the room heated up unbearably just wasn't pleasant. The draught under the bathroom floor pointed straight at my feet when I stepped out of the shower wasn't great either .. so usually I'd leave the fan switched off until I was finished with the room, and switch the fan on as I walked out after a shower. Every room you're pushing air into needs a duct to let air out, and vice versa. Otherwise doors become a significant problem in your design. We put doors on our bedrooms and bathrooms because we want to be able to close those doors, so why design an air system that only works with the doors open?
I noticed the installer said he is using an Ecobee thermostat for the control for the variable speed equipment. That will only allow two speeds and defeats the purpose of having the ability to ramp down to 25% like the installer stated. Ecobees are great, but they are for 2 stage cooling and 3 stage heat max. I use one at my house and it controls as such on my two stage compressor plus controls dehum for my sante fe dehumidifier and slows the air handler for additional dehum. Hopefully the A/C system can still read temperature somewhere else so you keep the variable functionality.
How does the Rheia compare to sheet metal or other flex duct for resistance. Flex duct usually has issues with causing high resistance for the air handler and these tubes are pretty small.
Resistance is usually because the flex is installed wrong.. And Rheia is Uninsulated, so it's a lot easier to see that it's pulled tight.. it's also a home-run system, so no take offs or anything
Hey Matt, Can you share a flow chart simple design of the whoe mechanical system you installed in this house ? It is very clear between different equipements
Why not use the ERV for bathroom exhaust? Multiple holes in the house for the exhaust fans now? A little confused because one guy talked about having separate fantech exhaust in each bathroom
8:58 he literally shows the hole for the guest exhaust fan. Then later on the guy installing fantech talks about separate fans for each bath. Finally at the end Matt says they are using lifebreath for a couple of the baths. I’m just as much a Matt fanboy as the next guy but seriously if you are really paying attention it’s confusing.
@@mitchdenner9743 i dont think they specified anything about using an ERV for bathroom exhaust. @8:50 Matt talks about having an exhaust fan that goes right out the gable like a traditional exhaust fan setup. When talking to Jeff (the contractor @32:50) he talks about remote blowers for exhaust but an ERV wouldn't need those since it has it's own fan system. I am with you @ebros3, I am a little confused as well
Merv13 is what i use in my house only. Built my house in 2019 and in phoenix desert. So lots of dust and dirt in the air. Since j did it since day 1, i dont have thr brown/black buildup of dust and dirt at every register where they statticly charge so it sticks, all 30+ registers are good as new!!! Only have some dust and dirt at the returns/filter grates. So i just vacuum brush them every few months. But its a bit pricey when i have 7 air filters in my house and all but two are different sizes.
About commissioning ERV. They mention that for each ERV speed you can set the amount of air delivered to a room. However how do you do that when the ERV is ducted to the HVAC (no separate ducts) and the air handler modulate air velocity as well?
Very respectfully as an IEP and hvac contractor I think it’s shameful to be using any form of flexible ductwork in 2024. These ducts hold onto dust and contaminant’s and are difficult or impossible to adequately or properly clean in the future. Go the extra mile and use rigid metal. Love your channel and your work overall. Thanks
"The right amount of air" how is he determining that? Does he have CO2 meters and hygrometers on the walls? How does he decide where to place those to get accurate measurements of how stale the internal air is getting and determine how much fresh air to pump in?
My concern here is what happens in 15-20years when the flexi plastic pipes start breaking down? Then there's microplastics being distributed in your air, they'll all need to be replaced and at what expense? Seems to me like using plastic duct is kicking the bucket down the road for future owners to have to remediate... Metal piping at least lasts the lifetime of a house.
Nah if your erv is working properly, the air you're expelling from the house should have a very similar temperature and humidity profile to the air you're pulling into the house. If the incoming air needs an insulated duct, so does the outgoing air.
Hi, I watch a lot of UA-cam and I also watch a guy called homes and he comes into houses when the owner have been ripped off and puts thing right. One of his major points is when they use fleii pipe to do heating ducts as he always says that you should use straight pipe and only use flex pipe for very tight corners. The problem is that you both cannot be right.
Wouldn't it have been a simpler, cheaper and better design to just plumb the dehumidifier parallel with the main furnace stack and instead of dumping dehumidified air into the bathrooms, pull humidified air out of the bathrooms directly into the ERV instead? Pulling the air out of the bathrooms would pull conditioned air from the bedrooms/living spaces, quickly drying them out, and the design wouldn't involve dumping hot dehumidified air into the bathrooms. Also, with air going into the bathrooms rather than out, if the person using the bathroom forgets to kick on the exhaust fan it's just going to push that post-processed food smell into the rest of the house. I think I'd rather ditch the bath fan entirely and just have constant flow out of the bathrooms through the ERV, constantly containing any odors or humidity without the need for an extra fan.
I’m with you @chaseweeks2708. Seems like Matt and team are over-complicating the system, but as others have pointed out, it’s difficult to figure out exactly how these different systems are interfacing and interconnecting from this video. Would be nice to see an explanation of the engineering and a walk-through of the systems integration in a separate video. I prefer the “simpler is better” approach and separating systems that perform different functions (i.e., heating and cooling separated from ventilation and dehumidification). I’m not trying to throw shade, but could the complexity of this system be a function of trying to accommodate too many sponsors?
I think he meant while recording the video-you were getting increasingly sweaty towards the end, there 😂. Always the professional, you didn’t miss a beat! Nice job 😊.
Places I don't want microplastic generation: in my air supply, in my water supply, in my living space, and in my clothing. What's the point of putting a wonderful filter on fresh air coming into the house if you're then piping that fresh air through plastic pipes and picking up a new load of microplastics right before people have to inhale it? I'll stick with metal pipes only for my air and water supplies.
I’m sure it’s likely apples to oranges, but unfortunately, as a consumer, the production of houses in the US still seems largely like a buyer-beware, 1960’s era, Detroit Big 3 product. Sigh…
There no way you get enough air to heat or cool the room. You would have to have a couple of linein each room. They talk about flex duct has so much resistance for air to flow, and using a 4" line.What about return system. Why is this house built what looks like 12 inches on center. Overly built an wasting products.
How do we get from what Matt does to where we actually are. Almost every spec home built in Florida is still using improperly installed flex duct with ridiculous runs, distribution boxes and in the hottest attics on the planet. Absolute garbage and passes code. Isn't there a middle ground?
There are many things that have to change, the biggest being price. Next would be craftsmanship. Unfortunately lobbying also has a play in what ends up in code. Biggest thing is do your part to make sure your house is what you want it to be.
@@mattc3650 We are trying. When I asked the builder he said any changes would result in an additional $20,000 in cost plus the new equipment and delay the home by months. No deletion credit for their crappy system. Florida is dominated by spec builders at the sub $2mm mark. Custom won't even talk to you unless you have your own land already. You can't buy just land in most of the subdivisions.
As a insulation contractor in Delray Beach, I could not agree more, and yet they still allow these useless flex ducts to be installed. Where is the FL energy code enforcement ?
Well, you're definitely not getting an Oscar for your acting, guys. Reminds me of horribly scripted this old house episodes, where some random guys is measuring a cut piece of wood totally unrelated to the "clip". I still live your videos Matt, just not a fan of the recent formats. One man's opinion
lol. I caught a recent episode of TOH and was surprised to see they were using Zip sheathing and high end European flashing tapes. Matt's show must be influencing them.
Has anyone else wonder just how long Matt can get away with Rattling on for like some times 10 t0 45 mins at the beginning of each SHOW? YO Matt cut the Bulshit & get on to the visuals of the applications. Since this is what 75% or better click on to see. Wife must not give him now EAR time.
Nice to see you got all your ducts in a row.
I think some newer construction townhouses here in Utah are using these! 🎉 I love how each one is a home run uninterrupted dedicated flow 🎉
You should get a laser pointer to help point out areas your are describing in the home. No post editing needed.
Bro modern software is so amazing. I wish I was smart enough to get a degree in this field.
This was one of your best video's on educating people on HVAC!! Very Good!!
Loved the video Matt!
So the section with the modeling was cool, but I couldn’t help notice around 9 minutes where the hole for the toilet was way off on the first drill lol.
This is easily 7-10 years out, but imagine your labor having “Milwaukee vision” 😂 AR goggles. They could see the build plan overlayed in AR right on top of the job site and see the layout before they commit.
You know that’s actually something I could see being a thing.
Meta VR2 with a 29.99 app where you import an.cad file.
You could feasibly build your entire home.
I would really have liked to see the Rheia manifold system and how it will tie into the Carrier Air system.
Hey Matt , I like your work and the knowledge you share with everyone. But since you were visiting worksites in Norway, I'm curious if you had a chance to check out our way of doing ventilation in houses/apartments and what are your thoughts ?
To me as a ventilation installer in Norway, your units used in the US are what we used 10-15 years ago. We have much more sophisticated units now , that are extremely efficient , silent and can work in extreme cold conditions. We have a full control of each fan 0-100% so it can be balanced based on the needs, we have ACTUAL filtration with a standard filter of min. grade ePM1 55% (F7) that can be upgraded for both Intake and exhaust fans. It uses a rotor heat exchanger that has heat and humidity recovery and keeps the air in the optimal 40-50% humidity range. All units are connected to the internet so you can control and trouble shoot them from anywhere on your phone. The ventilation units have a electric heater on the supply duct to heat up the air in the extreme cold days when it's not hot enough from the heat exchanger, so that way you have a 24/7 supply of fresh warm air in the whole house so that you're not cooling it down.
In general I've been watching few of your videos about ventilation units in houses, and it just feels like here in Norway , the way we do it is many many grades above, without wanting to sound cocky or anything, just based on my experience I know that the systems used in US and both duct and the units would never be accepted in Norway with today standards.
If you wish to get a really good look into how we do it in Norway let me know next time you're visiting Norway and we can arrange that.
I love everything about this Rheia! Thanks for sharing
Good information, thanks!
Come build my house in Canada! 😂🙏
Love the great content!
Maybe one day!
Can you share with us a cost comparison of the rheia ducts vs traditional ductwork? Looks DIY friendly which is a huge plus!
Rheia the same price as traditional.. savings are in the install!
Glad to see the "kids" bedrooms being adequate for an adult. The modern cultural demand to kick out young people as soon as they turn 18 is a very effective way to keep young people too poor to ever buy a house, and make landlords ever richer instead. If parents can support their kids to stay living at home past the end of their basic education, through professional or vocational education, into getting a real job with that qualification, and through to when each kid has saved up a good deposit and bought their own first home, that's when intergenerational wealth starts. But to make it work, you need to treat your kids with the same respect and consideration you give yourself - and that means either they get an ensuite too, or you don't. A person looking at the floor plan of your house shouldn't be able to tell which is your bedroom unless it's labelled as such.
Also, that cutesy bedroom for a five year old daughter? In another 25 years that daughter could still be living there with a baby of her own and a live-in partner and they're now caring for her parents as old age or disability start to become serious issues. But if she and her partner are now paying the bills, raising a kid, doing the housework, and generally being the adults of the house, do they move into the "master" bedroom and move her parent(s) into one of the old "children" bedrooms?
In summary, never make a small child's bedroom that an adult couldn't live in!
Also, if you're pulling air out of the bathroom and pushing air into the bedroom, either you have a duct between the bedroom and the bathroom, or you have really big gaps under your doors - which subsequent occupants will try to close up to soundproof their spaces and just get rid of that draughty feeling - or the system won't work whenever there's a door shut between the bathroom and the bedroom.
I've lived in a house like that and not being able to sleep at night with the bedroom door shut because the air con didn't work unless the door was open and the room heated up unbearably just wasn't pleasant. The draught under the bathroom floor pointed straight at my feet when I stepped out of the shower wasn't great either .. so usually I'd leave the fan switched off until I was finished with the room, and switch the fan on as I walked out after a shower.
Every room you're pushing air into needs a duct to let air out, and vice versa. Otherwise doors become a significant problem in your design. We put doors on our bedrooms and bathrooms because we want to be able to close those doors, so why design an air system that only works with the doors open?
I noticed the installer said he is using an Ecobee thermostat for the control for the variable speed equipment. That will only allow two speeds and defeats the purpose of having the ability to ramp down to 25% like the installer stated. Ecobees are great, but they are for 2 stage cooling and 3 stage heat max. I use one at my house and it controls as such on my two stage compressor plus controls dehum for my sante fe dehumidifier and slows the air handler for additional dehum. Hopefully the A/C system can still read temperature somewhere else so you keep the variable functionality.
Lifebreath seems like a Broan ERV with a Zenhder price.
How does the Rheia compare to sheet metal or other flex duct for resistance. Flex duct usually has issues with causing high resistance for the air handler and these tubes are pretty small.
Resistance is usually because the flex is installed wrong.. And Rheia is Uninsulated, so it's a lot easier to see that it's pulled tight.. it's also a home-run system, so no take offs or anything
@@Zerogorillatag huh, interesting. Wouldn’t the small tube size still hurt it, or is that not a big deal?
The resistance is also dependent on the CFM in the ducts. If the cfm is 1/10th of the CFM, then the resistance is 1/100th of that. Negligible.
@@Th3120cklol is a function of velocity
18:27 he called him "Mike" 😅. Mike Risinger from the build show network.
Shouldn't that silver exhaust pipe coming from the guest bath be shorter and shot out directly above instead of across a large area of the house?
Would it be nice to have perforated template made in the closet labeled for the duct entry...Similar to the design you had for the HERV system.
22:38 wow, this turned from The Build Show into This Old House real fast 😂
How do you do return ducting with the rheia duct?
Hey Matt,
Can you share a flow chart simple design of the whoe mechanical system you installed in this house ?
It is very clear between different equipements
Why not use the ERV for bathroom exhaust? Multiple holes in the house for the exhaust fans now? A little confused because one guy talked about having separate fantech exhaust in each bathroom
Yeah, seriously
They are, pay attention.
8:58 he literally shows the hole for the guest exhaust fan. Then later on the guy installing fantech talks about separate fans for each bath. Finally at the end Matt says they are using lifebreath for a couple of the baths. I’m just as much a Matt fanboy as the next guy but seriously if you are really paying attention it’s confusing.
@@mitchdenner9743 i dont think they specified anything about using an ERV for bathroom exhaust. @8:50 Matt talks about having an exhaust fan that goes right out the gable like a traditional exhaust fan setup. When talking to Jeff (the contractor @32:50) he talks about remote blowers for exhaust but an ERV wouldn't need those since it has it's own fan system. I am with you @ebros3, I am a little confused as well
@TrytoCatch22 Trust me they're ducting the erv to the baths and kitchen, for smells, not local exhaust. If you noticed you didn't see any fart fans.
Ya I’m guessing those flexible hoses would perforate easily after attempting to clean them…. Then what
Merv13 is what i use in my house only. Built my house in 2019 and in phoenix desert. So lots of dust and dirt in the air. Since j did it since day 1, i dont have thr brown/black buildup of dust and dirt at every register where they statticly charge so it sticks, all 30+ registers are good as new!!! Only have some dust and dirt at the returns/filter grates. So i just vacuum brush them every few months.
But its a bit pricey when i have 7 air filters in my house and all but two are different sizes.
About commissioning ERV. They mention that for each ERV speed you can set the amount of air delivered to a room. However how do you do that when the ERV is ducted to the HVAC (no separate ducts) and the air handler modulate air velocity as well?
So the bathrooms fans are vented to the outside but also have dehumidified air from dehumidifier and air from the Lifebreath?
Is the AprilAire unit and actual product or is it just a box with AprilAire filter in it?
Will that erv have its own ducts or will it be integrated into the heating and cooling ducts? I’m assuming the dehumidifier is on its own system.
Very respectfully as an IEP and hvac contractor I think it’s shameful to be using any form of flexible ductwork in 2024.
These ducts hold onto dust and contaminant’s and are difficult or impossible to adequately or properly clean in the future.
Go the extra mile and use rigid metal.
Love your channel and your work overall. Thanks
I’m sure this system will have great filtration system
Any chance that someone makes an architectural grille for the ERV fresh air and exhaust?
how much does that crash analysis cost? I'm building in Austin and will be purchasing my lumber from BFS.
"The right amount of air" how is he determining that? Does he have CO2 meters and hygrometers on the walls? How does he decide where to place those to get accurate measurements of how stale the internal air is getting and determine how much fresh air to pump in?
My concern here is what happens in 15-20years when the flexi plastic pipes start breaking down? Then there's microplastics being distributed in your air, they'll all need to be replaced and at what expense? Seems to me like using plastic duct is kicking the bucket down the road for future owners to have to remediate... Metal piping at least lasts the lifetime of a house.
Valid concerns
Nah if your erv is working properly, the air you're expelling from the house should have a very similar temperature and humidity profile to the air you're pulling into the house. If the incoming air needs an insulated duct, so does the outgoing air.
Hi, I watch a lot of UA-cam and I also watch a guy called homes and he comes into houses when the owner have been ripped off and puts thing right. One of his major points is when they use fleii pipe to do heating ducts as he always says that you should use straight pipe and only use flex pipe for very tight corners. The problem is that you both cannot be right.
Both can be right based on the Budget
These HRV/ERV ventilation systems are engineered to work with flex ducts. A regular forced air furnace or exhaust fan isn't.
Not picking. Did I see the toilet drain was miss cut 9:16. How do you successfully repair that Advantech floor?
Yes we did 😬 …it’s pretty fixable
none of the builders first around me in maryland do any of this,,,
Why the heck does the Lifebreath ERV have Zehnder branding on it?
I’m guessing Zehnder bought lifebreath.
Yes. Lifebreath is owned by Zehnder. It’s a less costly unit than a Zehnder.
Both a good units. I’ve put both in homes successfully
Wouldn't it have been a simpler, cheaper and better design to just plumb the dehumidifier parallel with the main furnace stack and instead of dumping dehumidified air into the bathrooms, pull humidified air out of the bathrooms directly into the ERV instead? Pulling the air out of the bathrooms would pull conditioned air from the bedrooms/living spaces, quickly drying them out, and the design wouldn't involve dumping hot dehumidified air into the bathrooms. Also, with air going into the bathrooms rather than out, if the person using the bathroom forgets to kick on the exhaust fan it's just going to push that post-processed food smell into the rest of the house.
I think I'd rather ditch the bath fan entirely and just have constant flow out of the bathrooms through the ERV, constantly containing any odors or humidity without the need for an extra fan.
I’m with you @chaseweeks2708. Seems like Matt and team are over-complicating the system, but as others have pointed out, it’s difficult to figure out exactly how these different systems are interfacing and interconnecting from this video. Would be nice to see an explanation of the engineering and a walk-through of the systems integration in a separate video.
I prefer the “simpler is better” approach and separating systems that perform different functions (i.e., heating and cooling separated from ventilation and dehumidification). I’m not trying to throw shade, but could the complexity of this system be a function of trying to accommodate too many sponsors?
@@MichaelJ674 yeah, you're probably right.
What is the temp in that attic?
The roof top insulation makes a HUGE difference! Plus I’ve got a 5 Ton temp AC going 👍🏻
I think he meant while recording the video-you were getting increasingly sweaty towards the end, there 😂. Always the professional, you didn’t miss a beat! Nice job 😊.
Places I don't want microplastic generation: in my air supply, in my water supply, in my living space, and in my clothing. What's the point of putting a wonderful filter on fresh air coming into the house if you're then piping that fresh air through plastic pipes and picking up a new load of microplastics right before people have to inhale it? I'll stick with metal pipes only for my air and water supplies.
I absolutely HATE flex-duct...why not dump the fresh air into the HVAC sheet metal ducting?
Why do you hate the flex duct?
You don't know about Hy-Dri or dry start.
I’m sure it’s likely apples to oranges, but unfortunately, as a consumer, the production of houses in the US still seems largely like a buyer-beware, 1960’s era, Detroit Big 3 product. Sigh…
There no way you get enough air to heat or cool the room. You would have to have a couple of linein each room. They talk about flex duct has so much resistance for air to flow, and using a 4" line.What about return system. Why is this house built what looks like 12 inches on center. Overly built an wasting products.
How do we get from what Matt does to where we actually are. Almost every spec home built in Florida is still using improperly installed flex duct with ridiculous runs, distribution boxes and in the hottest attics on the planet. Absolute garbage and passes code. Isn't there a middle ground?
There are many things that have to change, the biggest being price. Next would be craftsmanship. Unfortunately lobbying also has a play in what ends up in code. Biggest thing is do your part to make sure your house is what you want it to be.
@@mattc3650 We are trying. When I asked the builder he said any changes would result in an additional $20,000 in cost plus the new equipment and delay the home by months. No deletion credit for their crappy system.
Florida is dominated by spec builders at the sub $2mm mark. Custom won't even talk to you unless you have your own land already. You can't buy just land in most of the subdivisions.
As a insulation contractor in Delray Beach, I could not agree more, and yet they still allow these useless flex ducts to be installed. Where is the FL energy code enforcement ?
Well, you're definitely not getting an Oscar for your acting, guys. Reminds me of horribly scripted this old house episodes, where some random guys is measuring a cut piece of wood totally unrelated to the "clip". I still live your videos Matt, just not a fan of the recent formats. One man's opinion
lol. I caught a recent episode of TOH and was surprised to see they were using Zip sheathing and high end European flashing tapes. Matt's show must be influencing them.
@@MorryBAll the higher end construction in my area uses them.
The hvac guy is good at speaking gobelegook
18:29 RIP saying Mike instead of Matt. tbh I know I'd screw up last second while try to shove a duct up AND be on camera etc
Has anyone else wonder just how long Matt can get away with Rattling on for like some times 10 t0 45 mins at the beginning of each SHOW? YO Matt cut the Bulshit & get on to the visuals of the applications. Since this is what 75% or better click on to see. Wife must not give him now EAR time.