Legal Secondary Suites in Calgary
One of the principal Requirements for legal secondary suites is the fire separation between the suites, especially the one regarding the ventilation system. The Prince of Fresh Air Furnaces has extensive experience in the design and installation of secondary ventilation systems.
The two most common secondary Hvac systems available are:
- Secondary furnace system with secondary ductwork, and
- Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV), paired with electric or boiler heated baseboard heaters
The furnace system is preferred over the heat recovery ventilator (HRV) system because the legal secondary suites requires additional baseboard heaters to be installed at additional cost to the homeowner.
The secondary furnace option also consumes far less energy to heat the space than with an heat recovery ventilator (HRV) system, unless there’s a pre-existing in-floor boiler system in place already.
Moreover, as the price of electricity continues to rise, gas heat still remains the most cost efficient option on a month to month basis.
The heat recovery ventilator (HRV) system proves itself to be beneficial when the house already has boiler heat and cost is a factor during installation, but not during tenancy.
