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It sounds like they were referring to cooling air, not heating it. Is there an energy-efficient strategy for that? If not, then it doesn't seem like they were mistaken, just imprecise.

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It's the same system.

Heat recovery works both ways, maintaining heat out the outlets or maintaining heat at the inlets

That's interesting. It's tempting to think that if we build houses in slightly different ways, we could have energy efficient heating and cooling systems. It seems like humidity might be a problem.

Most high end houses in Japan are already built this way. Lots of insulation with a air exchanger. They are not as low energy as passive houses, but sell brand new at prices regular families can afford.

This isn't true. Most MVHRs have a summer bypass mode in which they admit the exterior air without retaining any interior heat, but they do not cool the air entering the house.

The system in my apartment specifically calls out cooling recovery, but maybe that's not standard

Do you happen to know what make and model? The only cooling functions I have found besides summer bypass involve a separate cooling loop that ultimately relies on a heat pump. I'd be interested to read about an MVHR with this facility.

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