Ventilation and Ductwork in Ontario (2026): HRV vs ERV, HRV Installation Cost, Balancing and Maintenance, Ventilating a Radiant House, Duct Cost and Range Hood Makeup Air

Heating, Cooling & VentilationVentilation and ducts

Ventilation and Ductwork: A Tight House Breathes on Purpose, Through Ducts Somebody Actually Sized and Balanced

HRVs and ERVs, balancing, radiant houses, ductwork and makeup air. Central Ontario, October 2026.

Every house I have built in the last twenty-five years has an HRV, because a house that does not leak has to be ventilated on purpose or it gets damp, stuffy and mouldy in the corners. The machine is the easy part. The ducts, the balancing and the twice-a-year filter wash are where most of them fail, and the big range hood that pulls air out of a tight house faster than anything can get back in is the one that can backdraft a gas water heater.

Compare five systems HRV cost Balancing and maintenance

The numbers

Central Ontario, installed, before HST, checked October 2026. Published prices for the same job vary widely; these are the defaults the calculators use.

$2,500HRV designed into a new house ($1,800 to $3,500)
$3,500HRV retrofit ($2,500 to $5,000)
$3,500new-build ductwork, mid-range ($2,000 to $5,000)
2x a yearcore and filter cleaning, by you

The guides

HRV vs ERV

Already on the site: which one for an Ontario house, and why a new house needs one at all.

HRV installation cost

New house against retrofit, dedicated ducts against tied into the furnace, balancing, controls and what moves the price.

HRV and ERV balancing and maintenance

The flow hood, frost protection, cold drafts, cores, filters, the condensate drain and the twice-a-year check.

Ventilating a radiant-heated house

Radiant heats but does not cool, ventilate or dehumidify: the HRV, the cooling options and the design that go with it.

HVAC ductwork cost

New build, finished-house retrofit, ducts for a heat pump, sealing, returns and how to read a duct quote.

Range hood makeup air

Big hoods in tight houses, backdrafting gas appliances, makeup air options and what they cost.

HVAC ductulator

Already on the site: the duct sizing calculator for Ontario homes.

Humidity in a new home

Already on the site: winter humidity, condensation on windows, and what the ventilation does about it.

Rules I give every customer

  1. Dedicated HRV ducts beat a tie-in to the furnace. Especially in a radiant house, where there is no furnace. HRV cost.
  2. Have it balanced with a flow hood. An unbalanced HRV pressurizes or depressurizes the house. Balancing.
  3. Wash the filters and the core twice a year. A clogged HRV is a very quiet way of not ventilating.
  4. Seal the ducts. A duct leaking into an unheated space is heating the space. Ductwork.
  5. A big hood in a tight house needs makeup air, and every gas appliance in that house needs its venting checked and a CO alarm on every floor. Makeup air.

Have quotes in hand? Let a builder read them first

For $99, I put up to three heat pump, furnace, boiler, AC, HRV or water heater quotes on one grid: whether a heat loss was done, the model numbers checked against the cold-climate list, the capacity at your design temperature, what each one left out in dollars (ducts, electrical, condensate, venting, commissioning, the old unit), the rebate claim checked, and a plain answer on which to sign. No contractor behind it and no commission on who you hire.

HVAC quote review, $99 Heat loss and HVAC design Check the quotes yourself first

Sources and further reading