Ventilation Fan Installation in Vancouver
Newer Metro Vancouver homes are built airtight, which is excellent for energy use and creates a problem older houses never had: without deliberate mechanical ventilation, moisture and stale air have nowhere to go.
HRV systems in newer builds
A heat recovery ventilator exhausts stale indoor air and brings in fresh outdoor air, passing them through a core so the outgoing air warms the incoming air without the two mixing. You get continuous fresh air without throwing away the heat you paid for.
Newer homes and condos in BC are commonly built with one, because current construction is tight enough that ventilation has to be provided rather than assumed. If you have one, its filters need cleaning or replacing and the core checking periodically — a neglected HRV quietly stops doing its job, and the first symptom is usually condensation on windows.
Continuous vs. intermittent ventilation
Intermittent means fans that run when you switch them on — the bathroom fan during a shower, the range hood while cooking. It works if it is actually used, and the honest truth is that most people switch the fan off as they leave the room, well before the moisture has gone.
Continuous means low-speed background ventilation running all the time, boosting when needed. It handles the moisture nobody thinks about — breathing, drying laundry indoors, houseplants — and it is what an HRV is designed to do. In an airtight home, continuous is the approach that actually works.
Ducting routes and runs
The duct matters as much as the fan. Flexible duct that sags, kinks or takes a long convoluted path can reduce a fan's real-world performance dramatically below its rating. Short, straight, smooth and properly supported is the goal.
Two rules that get broken constantly: terminate outside, never into an attic or soffit — venting moist bathroom air into a roof space is how you grow mould in your own roof. And insulate any duct running through an unheated space, because warm moist air hitting a cold duct condenses inside and drips back down, which people then report as a leaking fan.
Balancing airflow between rooms
A ventilation system is balanced when what is extracted and what is supplied are in proportion and each room gets its intended share. Unbalanced systems produce doors that slam or resist opening, whistling gaps, and one room stuffy while another is draughty.
Balancing means measuring at each register and adjusting dampers, which is a commissioning task rather than an installation one and is skipped surprisingly often. If your HRV was installed and never balanced, that is worth having done — it is the difference between a system that exists and a system that works.
What this costs
$420–$780 service · heat pump installs $11,000–$24,000
Annual service and diagnostics are a fixed visit. Installs are quoted after a heat-loss assessment — an undersized system is a more expensive mistake than the price difference between quotes.
Materials are always separate from labour and passed on at cost. Quotes are free and written, and the full rate card is published rather than given out on request.
Common questions
What is an HRV and do I need one?
A heat recovery ventilator swaps stale indoor air for fresh outdoor air while transferring the heat between them, so you ventilate without losing the heat. If your home is newer and built airtight you very likely have one already — and it needs its filters and core cleaned periodically, or it quietly stops working.
Why is my new condo so humid?
Because it is built airtight and the moisture from showering, cooking, drying laundry and simply breathing has nowhere to escape. Older leaky houses ventilated themselves by accident. The fix is deliberate ventilation — running the HRV continuously if you have one, and using bathroom and kitchen fans properly and for longer than feels necessary.
Should ventilation run continuously?
In an airtight home, yes — low-speed background ventilation with a boost when needed. Intermittent fans only work if they are run long enough, and most people switch them off leaving the room, well before the moisture has cleared. Continuous handles the sources you never think about.