Welcome to the forum.

The short answer is that those components would not normally be part of an HRV/ERV installation. Can you give more background about why they were ordered? Maybe they were just shipped in error. An ERV has two fans (intake and exhaust) and the system needs to be balanced after installation to ensure that the ERV is pulling as much air into the space as it is exhausting to outdoors. Adding a booster fan to one side will screw up that balance.

 

Thank you for the prompt response. So, I’ve attached a brochure from the company I purchased the ERV Unit. I’m not sure, I thought it would be just the ERV unit that I would have to install but it also has these two other components, my guess is this unit needs to be more efficient since it will be removing VOC and particulate matters from the nail salon room but base on your response seems like it won’t be as efficient.

 

This document from the vendor’s website explains how the pressure switch and booster fan fit into the scheme. It’s installed where I’ve pointed the arrow in the diagram below. Its intent is to overcome the high pressure loss associated with the ducting that goes to the individual workstations. Without it there might not be (depending on the duct configuration) much air pulled from those locations.

Balancing this system is going to be difficult. It appears that the vendor sends the same booster fan with all installations, but every installation will have different requirements to get proper airflow. Also, to do this properly, the ducting wouldn’t be designed as shown in the diagram below, where the first station will have much higher suction than stations downstream. The concept of collecting the fumes coming off the chemicals used in nail salons at their source before they are inhaled is good, but getting the correct airflow at each workstation requires thoughtful design in the ductwork and correct specification of the booster fan(s). I’m also fairly confident that the HRV/ERV manufacturer would deny a warranty claim if they were to learn what chemical fumes their unit was being used to exhaust.

I think that the business model for this vendor has “dubious technical merit”. It seems that they have a nice website that caters to the mostly non-technically-literate people who run salons, but in the end they just ship a few off-the-shelf components with a probable hefty markup over what they paid for them.

 

This document from the vendor’s website explains how the pressure switch and booster fan fit into the scheme. It’s installed where I’ve pointed the arrow in the diagram below. Its intent is to overcome the high pressure loss associated with the ducting that goes to the individual workstations. Without it there wouldn’t be much air pulled from those locations.

Balancing this system is going to be difficult. It appears that the vendor sends the same booster fan with all installations, but every installation will have different requirements to get proper airflow. Also, to do this properly, the ducting wouldn’t be designed as shown in the diagram below, where the first station will have much higher suction than stations downstream.

I think that the business model for this vendor has “dubious technical merit”. It seems that they have a nice website that caters to the mostly non-technically-literate people who run salons, but in the end they just ship a few off-the-shelf components with a probable hefty markup over what they paid for them.


View attachment 717787

This document from the vendor’s website explains how the pressure switch and booster fan fit into the scheme. It’s installed where I’ve pointed the arrow in the diagram below. Its intent is to overcome the high pressure loss associated with the ducting that goes to the individual workstations. Without it there might not be (depending on the duct configuration) much air pulled from those locations.

Balancing this system is going to be difficult. It appears that the vendor sends the same booster fan with all installations, but every installation will have different requirements to get proper airflow. Also, to do this properly, the ducting wouldn’t be designed as shown in the diagram below, where the first station will have much higher suction than stations downstream. The concept of collecting the fumes coming off the chemicals used in nail salons at their source before they are inhaled is good, but getting the correct airflow at each workstation requires thoughtful design in the ductwork and correct specification of the booster fan(s). I’m also fairly confident that the HRV/ERV manufacturer would deny a warranty claim if they were to learn what chemical fumes their unit was being used to exhaust.

I think that the business model for this vendor has “dubious technical merit”. It seems that they have a nice website that caters to the mostly non-technically-literate people who run salons, but in the end they just ship a few off-the-shelf components with a probable hefty markup over what they paid for them.


View attachment 717787
[/QUOTE

This document from the vendor’s website explains how the pressure switch and booster fan fit into the scheme. It’s installed where I’ve pointed the arrow in the diagram below. Its intent is to overcome the high pressure loss associated with the ducting that goes to the individual workstations. Without it there might not be (depending on the duct configuration) much air pulled from those locations.

Balancing this system is going to be difficult. It appears that the vendor sends the same booster fan with all installations, but every installation will have different requirements to get proper airflow. Also, to do this properly, the ducting wouldn’t be designed as shown in the diagram below, where the first station will have much higher suction than stations downstream. The concept of collecting the fumes coming off the chemicals used in nail salons at their source before they are inhaled is good, but getting the correct airflow at each workstation requires thoughtful design in the ductwork and correct specification of the booster fan(s). I’m also fairly confident that the HRV/ERV manufacturer would deny a warranty claim if they were to learn what chemical fumes their unit was being used to exhaust.

I think that the business model for this vendor has “dubious technical merit”. It seems that they have a nice website that caters to the mostly non-technically-literate people who run salons, but in the end they just ship a few off-the-shelf components with a probable hefty markup over what they paid for them.


View attachment 717787

Thank you so much I’m learning a lot. I definitely got “ripped off” but I guess I will work with what I got. Lesson learned. So based on the diaphragm it looks like the air pressure switch is mounted on to the supply air ductwork, and there will be a wire that will be connecting from the switch onto the booster fan which will be connecting to the exhaust ductwork correct?

 

I often learn something new when researching the answers to questions posed on DIYChatroom. For anyone interested in the back story around nail salon ventilation, here is everything that you'd want to know.

Dust Up Over Nail Salon Air Quality

Following a New York Times exposé on potential labor and health dangers in nail salons, stakeholders — including local governments, salon owners, and product manufacturers — began forcefully airing concerns on salon ventilation. Increased regulation and enforcement may be the new normal.

www.nailsmag.com

 

I can't advise on the merits of that fan for your application, but that fan looks a lot like an in-line dryer booster fan. The way those work is that you attach a hose onto the nipple (where it says "High Pressure Inlet"), drill a matching size hole in the duct, and stick the hose into the hole. You do this after you install the fan into the duct, drilling the hole upstream of the booster fan. The pressure switch detects when there is high pressure in the duct and turns the fan on. That will cause the pressure to become low again (because you are now sucking the air out of the duct that is being put in by the upstream fan, which is the dryer in the case of dryer boosting), so the switch has a timer that keeps the fan on for 10 minutes. After the fan turns off, the pressure becomes high again, activating the fan for another 10 minutes, etc etc.

 

For a nail salon, I think you would want straight exhaust similar to what would be used in soldering stations, not erv.

ERV core is vapor-permeable and may transfer some of the fumes in the exhaust to the incoming fresh air - it is designed to transfer moisture.