ERV Installation · Fresh Air Ventilation · Los Angeles
ERV installation for healthier Los Angeles homes.
Modern homes trap stale air, CO2, VOCs, humidity imbalance, and wildfire smoke residue. Baseline measures your home first, then designs fresh-air ventilation around what your home actually needs.
Fresh-air ventilation for Woodland Hills, the San Fernando Valley, and Los Angeles-area homes.
Stale Air Is a System Problem
Opening a window is not a ventilation strategy.
Homes need fresh air, but Los Angeles homeowners also deal with wildfire smoke, traffic pollution, outdoor allergens, heat, and energy costs. An ERV helps bring filtered outdoor air into the home while exhausting stale indoor air and reducing energy waste.
Many bedrooms and closed-off rooms accumulate CO2 overnight. When ventilation is poor, VOCs, odors, and indoor pollutants also build up with nowhere to go.
What an ERV does
Fresh air in. Stale air out.
Energy stays.
An energy recovery ventilator exchanges stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air. It recovers heating or cooling energy from the outgoing air, so the home gets fresh air without simply exhausting conditioned air outside.
Exhaust stale indoor air
CO2, VOCs, odors, excess humidity, and pollutants that accumulate in tightly sealed homes are continuously drawn out. Bedrooms, kitchens, and home offices are the most common problem areas.
Bring in filtered outdoor air
Fresh outdoor air passes through filtration before entering, ducted to distribute where it is needed.
Recover energy to protect comfort
The ERV core transfers heat and humidity between the incoming and outgoing airstreams. In Southern California's climate, this means fresh air at a temperature and humidity closer to what the home already conditions.
Measured First
Your home may need ventilation. It may need filtration. It may need both.
Baseline does not start with equipment. We start by measuring the home. CO2, PM2.5, VOCs, humidity, temperature, and HVAC conditions help determine whether fresh-air ventilation is the right solution and how it should be designed. A home with high CO2 but also elevated PM2.5 needs a different approach than one with poor ventilation alone.
Is this right for you?
An ERV may be right for homes
with these patterns.
These are indicators that ventilation may be a contributing factor. A Baseline Assessment confirms whether fresh-air exchange is the appropriate solution.
Bedrooms feel stale or stuffy overnight
Closed bedrooms accumulate CO2 as you breathe. By morning, levels can be well above 800 ppm.
Morning grogginess or poor sleep quality
Elevated CO2 during sleep is linked to fragmented sleep and reduced cognitive performance. If it tracks with where you sleep, ventilation is worth measuring.
Persistent odors or chemical smells
VOCs from furniture, flooring, and building materials need air exchange to dilute. New construction and renovations are especially prone.
Recently remodeled or tightly sealed home
Energy-efficient upgrades reduce infiltration and energy waste, but also reduce natural air exchange. Fresh-air systems compensate for the tradeoff.
Concern about wildfire smoke and outdoor air quality
An ERV with appropriate filtration provides a controlled fresh-air pathway that can be managed during smoke events.
High CO2 readings from prior monitoring
If you have already measured CO2 in your home and found elevated levels, especially in bedrooms or occupied rooms, an ERV is typically the appropriate mechanical solution.
How It Works
Fresh-air design starts with
the Baseline Assessment.
Every ERV installation Baseline does begins with measurement. Not a quote based on square footage. A design based on what we actually find.
Measure your home's indoor air quality
Calibrated sensor readings throughout the home: PM2.5, VOCs, CO2, humidity, temperature. The HVAC system is inspected end to end. Results documented in your Baseline Report.
Review ventilation, filtration, humidity, and HVAC conditions
We evaluate which problems are ventilation problems versus filtration, humidity, or equipment problems. Some homes need an ERV. Some need filtration upgrades. Some need both. The data tells us.
Determine whether an ERV is appropriate
If the assessment findings point to a ventilation solution, we design it around your home's layout, HVAC system, room-level data, and specific conditions. Including filter selection for wildfire and outdoor air quality.
Design and install the right fresh-air solution
Baseline holds a California C-20 HVAC contractor license (CSLB #1153130). When the assessment recommends mechanical work, we do the work. The assessment fee credits toward any upgrade package.
Knowing your options
ERV, purifier, filter,
or open window?
Different problems require different solutions. Understanding what each option does and does not do helps match the right tool to the actual issue.
Open Windows
Simple and free. Introduces fresh air and reduces CO2 when outdoor conditions are good. No filtration. No control over what comes in. Not a reliable strategy during wildfire smoke events, allergy season, excessive heat, or heavy traffic periods.
Portable Air Purifier
Filters existing indoor air in one room. Reduces particles and some VOCs within its coverage area. Does not bring in fresh outdoor air. Does not reduce CO2. Does not address the ventilation problem at all. Useful alongside ventilation, not as a substitute.
HVAC Filter Upgrade
Improves particle capture on recirculated air. Higher MERV ratings catch finer particles. Still recirculating indoor air. Does not introduce fresh air. Does not reduce CO2. A good complement to ventilation, but addresses filtration, not exchange.
ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator)
Adds controlled fresh-air exchange. Continuously exhausts stale air and introduces filtered outdoor air. Reduces CO2, dilutes VOCs, and manages humidity. Recovers energy from exhaust air to protect comfort. Operates on schedule regardless of outdoor conditions.
Service Area
Fresh-air ventilation for Los Angeles homes.
Baseline serves homeowners in Woodland Hills, West Hills, Calabasas, Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, the San Fernando Valley, and surrounding Los Angeles communities within a 50-mile radius.
Common questions
What to expect.
What is an ERV?
Does an ERV help with CO2?
Does an ERV filter wildfire smoke?
Is an ERV the same as an air purifier?
Do I need an assessment before ERV installation?
Get started
Bring fresh air into the home
without guessing.
Start with a Baseline Assessment. If your home needs fresh-air ventilation, you will know why, where, and what to do next. The $195 credits toward any upgrade we recommend.
Not ready to book? The free IAQ guide covers ventilation, filtration, and what the numbers mean.
CSLB #1153130 · Los Angeles · 818-237-3404