This study investigates the air leakage and heat transfer characteristics of a commercially available rotary-type air-to-air heat exchanger with a fiber polyester matrix. Crossover leakage between the exhaust and supply air is measured using a tracer gas method for various ventilation rates and rotational speeds of the wheel. A correlation equation for the leakage is obtained by summing up pressure leakage and carryover leakage. The pressure leakage is observed to be a function of ventilation rate only, and the carryover leakage is found to be a linear function of wheel speed. The real efficiency of the heat exchanger can be obtained from its apparent efficiency by taking into account the leakage ratio. The heat recovery efficiency decreases, as the ventilation rate increases. As the wheel speed increases, however, the efficiency increases initially but reaches a constant value for the speeds over 10rpm.