Breathe Easier at Home with Air Excellent
Why Fully Dedicated Ventilation Delivers Max Air Ventilation for Health, Energy, and Cost Savings.
Blog
Most Canadians spend about 90% of their time indoors and take roughly 20,000 breaths a day. The kicker: indoor air can hold 2–5 times more pollutants than outside air. Mechanical air ventilation with an HRV brings in fresh air and exhausts stale air, without removing heat, so your home feels cleaner, calmer, and healthier year‑round.
What’s the difference? Fully dedicated vs. partially dedicated systems
Fully Dedicated Ventilation System
A fully dedicated fresh air ventilation system for home uses purpose-built ductwork to deliver fresh air and exhaust stale air directly to specific rooms. That means you can deliver the right air, to the right spaces, at the right time; bedrooms vs. living areas, closed‑door vs. open‑plan, and so on. This is how you achieve max air ventilation—fresh air where it’s needed most, when it’s needed.
Partially Dedicated Ventilation System
Exhaust runs are dedicated, but supply air is tied into the furnace ductwork. It’s cheaper up front, but you give up distribution quality and often end up running the furnace fan far more than necessary to move air, hurting IAQ and efficiency.
This system underperforms because it’s mismatched by design. Furnaces move about 1500 cfm while typical residential HRVs move around 150 cfm. Oversized furnace trunks aren’t optimized for the HRV’s lower pressure/flow, so rooms far from the unit often get shorted unless the furnace blower runs continuously. Additionally, HRV makers caution that tying into furnace ductwork can require continuous air handler operation, create balancing headaches with multi‑speed blowers, and cause condensation/humidity issues in warm weather, none of which is great for comfort or IAQ.
The design that works: a fully dedicated, radial whole house ventilation
A fully dedicated whole house ventilation system lets you set flows room‑by‑room based on how people actually use spaces, more consistent supply to bedrooms and closed‑door rooms; targeted exhaust in baths and kitchens. The most advantageous approach is a radial layout that runs supply and exhaust directly to each room, limiting oversized trunks and reducing the chance of room‑to‑room cross‑contamination.
This is exactly where Air Excellent shines. Ubbink’s Air Excellent is a high‑quality radial duct solution that helps deliver fully dedicated distribution with clean, direct runs and reliable room‑by‑room balancing. Pair it with your HRV for a system that’s purpose‑built for healthy homes and smooth commissioning.
Healthier air, lower bills, smaller footprint
- Better IAQ, by design: Dedicated supply to bedrooms and key living zones improves dilution of indoor pollutants and boosts everyday comfort.
- Big electricity savings: Because partially dedicated systems often need the furnace blower 12–24 hours per day to push fresh air, switching to a fully dedicated design can cut furnace fan electricity use by roughly 75–92%, depending on the home and equipment.
- Real climate impact: In regions with fossil‑heavy electricity, those savings translate into meaningful CO2 reductions. Framed another way, avoiding unnecessary fan runtime can be equivalent to saving over 50 trees per year in some scenarios.
- Dollars and payback: Homeowners commonly save hundreds of dollars per year on electricity. Typical payback for going fully dedicated can be about four to six years with a single‑speed furnace fan, and eight to twelve years with a variable‑speed fan, then it keeps saving every year after.
No Duct Seal, No Duct Tape, No Screws
- Engineered polyethylene airtight semi-rigid anti-microbial duct system.
- Compatible with any HRV or ERV appliance on the market.
- Improves the energy efficiency of the appliance.
- Ensures balanced air exchange throughout the dwelling.
- Continuous duct runs with mechanical airtight connections.
- Radial (per room) distribution design.
- Flexible, modular system suitable for new builds or renovations.
- Low noise for comfortable, quiet operation.
- No field commissioning required; pre-engineered system.
Why choose Air Excellent for Whole House Ventilation?
Purpose‑built for radial distribution
Air Excellent helps you implement the radial, room‑to‑room strategy recommended for the best IAQ and balancing outcomes.
Consistent comfort
Dedicated runs help ensure bedrooms and closed‑door spaces actually get the fresh air they need, without relying on the furnace blower.
Cleaner installs, cleaner air
Keep ventilation separate from heating so your HRV can do its job efficiently, reduce blower runtime, and simplify commissioning.
Scalable for new builds and retrofits
Whether you’re building high‑performance homes or upgrading existing ducted systems, Air Excellent helps you standardize a best‑practice spec.
Who benefits
- Homeowners: Cleaner air, quieter operation, lower electric bills, and a credible path to payback, without sacrificing comfort.
- Builders and renovators: A clear, defensible spec that meets modern ventilation expectations, aligns with energy targets, and reduces call‑backs.
- HVAC pros: Faster, more predictable balancing and a repeatable design that separates ventilation from heating the right way.
If you’re looking for a fresh air ventilation system for home that delivers max air ventilation, lower energy costs, and healthier indoor air, a fully dedicated HRV paired with Air Excellent is the smarter solution.
References
All stats and technical guidance in this article are summarized from Centrotherm Eco Systems’ white paper on fully dedicated vs. partially dedicated ventilation systems. You can read the white paper here.