Controlled residential ventilation, where to find independent information?

Hello,

today the topic is residential ventilation. I have already researched quite a bit here (and in other) forums on the subject over the past few days, and I have found some obviously and less obviously lobby-driven information pages. But I somehow can’t find really independent information...?

What was particularly noticeable was that often in the comments of various blogs, etc., dissatisfied customers express their frustration about the system not working at all. Normally, I would suspect that this could be the opposing lobby side, but in this case, there actually isn’t one? Because the alternative would be window ventilation, and since one would never install non-openable windows anyway, it seems there is actually no generic interest group, am I seeing this correctly?

What I find interesting about a controlled residential ventilation system:
-As a hay fever sufferer, filtered supply air would be quite interesting.
-We almost never ventilate at the moment (the house is leaky enough^^), and I fear difficulty in getting used to such a routine at least three times a day.
-My wife often works with larger amounts of adhesives (saddler), I do the same with other chemical smelly stuff, so permanent ventilation would be useful many times.
-We have four (apartment) cats, so ventilating by opening windows would always be quite elaborate (locking them away, etc.)

But what I’m a bit worried about regarding controlled residential ventilation:

-Are the same pipes always installed? Because these flexible plastic spiral pipes do not seem very trustworthy when it comes to thorough (mechanical) cleaning?
-At least I know that industrial suction lines cannot be cleaned without mechanical cleaning. Is there even a possibility to mechanically clean the many long and thin pipes of controlled residential ventilation? I am thinking of similar devices as used in drain pipe cleaning, but with a rotating brush or something like that?
-Despite controlled residential ventilation, you often read about musty odors and insufficient ventilation. Are these only design errors, faulty systems, what went wrong there? How do I prevent that?
-Many write that they retrofit exhaust air filters to avoid contamination of the exhaust air pipes. Sounds reasonable, but is that so easy? Because this additional suction resistance was not taken into account in the design?
-How can I know which provider and installation partner is sufficiently informed and experienced to offer proper design and installation?

Also, this “permanent” installation of the pipes is something that as a mechanical engineer doesn’t really appeal to me. With such things, accessibility for possible maintenance and repair work should actually be desirable, right? Are there possibilities/solutions for this?

Maybe one or the other can say something about my points or contribute further points?

Best regards,

Marc

Hello,

from the first almost 2 years of operation of our system:
Supply air filter: yes, especially in very dry / dusty conditions outside they do get dirty quite quickly. Vacuuming between the change intervals is sensible under these conditions, and it's also quite easy and quick. We live right on the edge of a settlement, not far from agriculture, so you just have to expect dusty outside air or a few insects in front of the filter.

Exhaust air filter: in my opinion also necessary - the amount of dust accumulating in here is quite high. On the one hand the filter directly in front of the central unit (mainly burdened with the load from the construction phase), on the other hand also at the exhaust vents in the house. However, it should be noted: the first year showed significantly more dust than the following one.

Musty air inside - we have not noticed.

Strong odor load inside: well: with adhesives and similarly strongly emitting substances I would never rely on the normal ventilation system. Proper extraction above the workplace belongs there (see chemistry lab - but this is not the task of a residential ventilation system), or work outside in the fresh air.
Cleaning of the flat ducts as well as the riser ducts running in the walls (round ducts): should be possible, since you can access every single pipe at the distributor. But will it be necessary? As long as the supply/exhaust air filters are cleaned or replaced occasionally, it should not be required here.

Regards
I.

Our experience with decentralized devices (Sevi160):

[*]Cleaning is a bit annoying - wash the filter every 2 months
[*]Power consumption is very low (we pay about €32 for household electricity for everything)
[*]I don't know about air quality - but it doesn't smell musty, rather good (not like in our 2 previous apartments)

[*]There is noise - on level 1 you can easily fall asleep (I am sensitive)
[*]Yesterday party with 14 people --> it got warm, on level 4 (then it doesn't bother because of the noise background) the air was still good (you notice it when you go outside and come back in) - that fascinated me a bit.
[*]There are odors from outside - but very rare and rather weak and only when someone is burning incense and the wind is not favorable
[*]Humidity slowly adjusts to the absolute outdoor humidity
[*]Noises from outside... if something can be heard, then I am unsure if it doesn't rather come to us through the windows (not so dramatic, it's usually quiet here)

Great, thanks for the detailed answers! That already helps.

Regarding humidity, I have a question... Since I work as a hobby with things that are very sensitive to rust, I am a bit concerned. Is it possible to ventilate depending on the humidity? Like keeping the basement rather dry and the rest "normal"?

In the current workshop (external building), I have an air conditioner that I can also use for dehumidification. Such a system can also be connected to the controlled residential ventilation. But with controlled residential ventilation, all rooms would be dehumidified, right? Could this also be regulated selectively for individual rooms?

Or should/must I then exclude the basement from the controlled residential ventilation? Then I could install a simple air conditioner there again.

You should definitely ventilate the basement. However, that is a very specific function. Maybe an owner of a centralized controlled residential ventilation system can tell you something about it (they often have more sophisticated controls).

Most central controlled residential ventilation systems have humidity sensors, but they then also work for the whole house. However, it is usually the case that you don't want the house to be too dry, because that is also unpleasant. With controlled residential ventilation, it does not become too humid either. If you want to have an "under-dry" room, I would simply separate it from the controlled residential ventilation (close the valve) and put a dehumidifier in it. These devices for ~ 200 euros can quickly make a room (door closed) extremely dry. I have one in my hobby/craft room that I sometimes turn on if needed.