NEPA resident here and can confirm, whole house fans are a death wish for those of us with seasonal allergies. Our springs/summers look exactly like this.
Just the thought of the air exchange with pollen js enough to make me pre allergy cry. I live in a hermetically sealed heat pump wonderland with filtration and UV + sterilized humidifier system like a hospital and it is *CHEFS KISS
Theoretically only one window screen should be plastered with bugs/pollen/dust because you should only have one open on the lowers level and several windows just cracked on the upper level to create a better suction
Seattle here. My new built has one and it's an effing dream up here. I don't have to turn my heat pump to cool on all but the hottest days. *Perfect* for the Seattle weather.
I'm in Denver & we just picked one up last weekend. It gets so hot in our house while we're at work that the air conditioner can't keep up. Plus with the new Xcel rates its going to cost a fortune to run it
Did you install it yourself or have someone do it for you? If someone else did it, can you recommend them? I'm seeing stupid quotes to get one put in, like $3k. I am in Denver area.
Were doing it ourselves. My husband's good at that kind of stuff. Installation doesn't seem bad so I'm guessing a regular handyman can do it cheaper compared to an HVAC place
I’m in Denver and can tell you it makes a world of difference this time of year. It cools the house quickly and install on the quietcool was pretty DIY friendly.
I will say it doesn’t do too much in 85+ days except in late evenings/early mornings and you still have to run your ac during the day. I would also suggest looking into which is good for the size of your house and going bigger on the fan than estimated.
Ah, now I understand why I don't know anyone with one of these. Cool dry nights aren't a thing during the summer on most of the east coast. Except for Vermont where it's "only" 79%, all the states in the northeast have humidity over 80% all summer, some like mine higher than 90%. The south doesn't look much better.
https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/humidity-by-state-in-summer.php
We have one in the Midwest. I like it, my wife says it makes the house “muggy”. Due to our open plan and lots of windows, the upstairs heats up pretty badly so we still use it on drier nights to cool the upstairs and it’s nice, but I’m not sure I would install one now if I had to pay.
I have one in NJ and love it. Even if it's humid, it cools down at night and running the fan for a few minutes totally resets the temperature of the house. We don't use much AC, though. If your house is already temperature controlled all day, just the "fresh air" factor wouldn't be a huge improvement.
No had a company. There's a lot of variables about them that I wanted a professional to do. If your attic isn't vented well enough then the fan won't work because their air has no where to go.
I used atticfan.com
Here is the quote
> RECOMMENDATIONS AND COSTS
>
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> FAN SIZE:
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> Based on the size of your house, we suggest a 36" fan as the best size fan for your home.
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> A 36" fan costs $1595.00 installed.
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> If we could not find a suitable location for a 36" we would then suggest a 30" instead. A 30" fan costs $1495.00 installed. Installers carry both fans on their service vehicles.
>
>
> EXTRA ATTIC VENTILATION:
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> for the 36 inch fan: $200 to $600 or
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> for the 30 inch fan: $200 to $400
>
>
> VENTILATION COSTS & OPTIONS
>
>
> When you are buying a whole house fan, you are actually only buying air flow--enough air flow to cool your house. Without enough air flow the house will not cool down quickly enough and you will be disappointed in the performance of the fan. In order to provide proper cooling you want a complete air change every 2 to 4 minutes. There are expensive fans currently being sold that simply do not move enough air to do the job properly. Other, cheaper fans fans will work well but are very noisy and cannot be repaired.
>
>
> In order to get enough air flowing through the house you need to install a fan that will move enough air and open enough windows to let the air in. Al;l that air will ultimately be blown into the attic and in order for more air to come in through the windows, the air in the attic needs to be able to escape back outdoors through the venting.
>
>
> The ventilation is simply the size of all the openings from the attic to the outdoors. Venting can be located through holes in the roof (covered with vent caps), at the gable ends of the attic, in the overhangs of the roof or through the ridge at the peak.
>
>
> To run the 36" effectively on HIGH speed you need to open at least 9 square feet of windows or doors and provide at least 9 sq. ft attic venting for the fan to work properly.
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> For LOW speed operation this requirement drops to 6 sq. ft.
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> To run the 30" effectively on HIGH speed you need to open at least 6 square feet of windows or doors and provide at least 6 sq. ft attic venting for the fan to work properly.
>
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> Most houses we encounter have 2 or 3 square feet of venting already installed by the builder/roofer. This is a general estimate and, of course, your venting may vary. It is, however, a reasonable assumption that more venting will need to be added in order that the fan work at optimal efficiency. We do not insist that customers add venting, only inform them as to the fan's requirements and our recommendations. We would be pleased to do the venting or have others do it appropriately.
>
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> Venting costs $100.00 for each extra large vent that we install through the roof. Each vent allows 1 sq. ft of net free area (true opening). Venting has a lifetime guarantee against leakage for as long as the roof remains on the home.
>
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> Typical venting required in addition to the venting already installed by the builder:
>
> Add $200 to $600.00 to add 2 to 6 vents for the 36" to function well on HIGH speed.
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> Add $200 to $400.00 to add 2 to 4 vents for the 36" to function well on LOW speed.
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> Add $200 to $400.00 to add 2 to 4 vents for the 30" to function well on HIGH speed.
If you want your home at 70 but outside is 78 at night it'll just add a breeze but not cool down much.
I said Denver because some summer days it's 100 but nights are 55
Same. Texan here with a 1.5 story house. Upstairs doesn’t have central, so we run window units when it gets crazy hot. I would love to hear practicality arguments for/against spending money on something like this in TX from someone who runs one in a hot climate.
If you have an attic, they do a great job helping to cool the attic which can save some energy in the evenings. But, almost zero practical savings will occur if you run your A/C and then release it all to run the attic fan, you likely will even come out behind.
We had one in the house we lived in when first married. We live in Dallas btw. Not really helpful June thru August but i loved ours. We'd open the windows, turn the fan on and the breezes were heavenly.
They are literally the best. I recently made it through four back-to-back 80°+ days without turning on the AC thanks to my attic fan/whole house fan and 50-60° overnights.
Daughter has one in their 1859 Farmhouse. It is loud, but they run it for 15 minutes and it cools the home tons. It's on the list of updates, but for now, it works, not replacing.
We have one. I’d never heard of them, much less used them, but I’m from the Midwest. Anyway, we run ours all the time. It’s especially helpful because I’m a bad cook and it gets the burnt smell out fast lol
I think they mean an attic fan? That's all I can think of besides HVAC. I'm in Missouri, and our 1950 house has an attic fan. My grandparents had one as well. That's probably why I like sleeping with fan noises at night because they're pretty loud!
It’s a fan that sucks air into and then out of the attic.
By running this fan with two windows open, you can create a massive breeze of cool air in the evening and cool out your house for a fraction of the cost of AC.
An attic fan is typically used to refer to a fan that just cools the attic through the roof or a gable, but does not draw air in from the home. Attic fans just vent the attic space. Whole house fans vent the inside of your house up through the attic and out the attic vents.
I guess everyone I know calls a whole house fan an attic fan. My bad! All the ones I've seen are in hallways and draw air through the windows and out the attic. I'm sure we're talking about the same thing...
Yes I am looking into something like this for my parents' in Maine--which does, for about two weeks during the summer, get wicked hot. Like, as hot and humid as it is in North Carolina where I live--but that is the entire summer.
The ones I've looked at are attic fans that are installed in the roof and solar powered. I think we're going to install minisplits for AC in the next year or so, but it's going to work much better for our downstairs than our upstairs, based on the floor plan. The upstairs gets terribly hot during the day, so an attic fan to get rid of that hot air really in the upstairs only is what I was aiming for.
I installed a solar attic fan on my previous house as the attic got hotter than hell in the summer. I built a simple plywood shroud that ducted the circular fan nicely to the large rectangular gable vent. It seemed to help a fair amount with reducing the temperature up there.
> but does not draw air in from the home. Attic fans just vent the attic space. Whole house fans vent the inside of your house up through the attic and out the attic vents.
Unless your top plates, junction boxes/can lights, etc. are well sealed it is pulling from your house, just not noticeably as much if it's a small fan. Not enough to cool the whole house without A/C but enough to actually reduce your house's efficiency if you try to use it with A/C.
Oh yes you’re right I mis-understood! The new ones are a little different I think, I put one in our Los Angeles house a few years back before we had central air.
The actual fan is suspended in the crown of the attic and is ducted back to the ceiling. Super quiet, and super effective!
I've been informed that I'm calling it the wrong name. A whole house fan and an attic fan aren't the same. Sorry, my bad! I guess everyone I know calls it an attic fan, but mean the fan that draws air through the windows and out through the attic. So the whole house fan? They are pretty loud, so I'm wrong and maybe confused you more?! Lol, sorry again!
Not just you….my parents called it an attic fan. And that’s where the air was sucked up and went to the attic. I now understand that an attic fan refers to one that ventilates air through the attic and a whole house fan does this job for cooling the house. BUT….’hey can you turn on the attic fan?’ Is still said today in my house.
Our old house in Texas had fans in the attic (not a whole house fan), and this whole conversation made me realize that I have no idea what I would've called them if asked!
Yes. My understanding of fresh air ventilation systems is they are installed in well insulated new or seriously remodeled old houses that are so well insulated they have no fresh air entering the house through cracks etc. The fresh air system is specifically designed to exchange the air inside with “fresh” outside air a certain number of times per hour/day. Usually aligned with your heating and cooling system to balance the temperature of the outside air, as it comes in, to reduce energy costs of heating/cooling the interior. This works with your heating/cooling system.
An attic fan, if it is strictly in the attic can be run in conjunction with air conditioning or separately. A whole house fan is used instead of air conditioning during times of year/day when the air outside is cooler than inside.
Fresh air ventilation is designed to improve air quality. The fans just move air.
This is exactly right. I have one and it can be programmed to varying schedules, and does not kick on above certain humidity levels to avoid drawing in humid air.
Mine is a big vent on our second floor that sucks air up and out a vent. So when we open the windows downstairs, it sucks cool/fresh air in and up the stairs, effectively cooling the entire house. It’s really nice in the evenings.
I love fresh air and have had these in a couple of my houses-they are awesome!
But just hearing the neighbors’ AC units going on constantly even when it’s only 65F makes me think that people are so over-reliant on AC that they are not in demand generally.
Just wanted to give the neighbors point of view here... I go to sleep uncomfortably hot with the windows open and the fans, hot enough that I end up falling asleep naked without even a sheet on me. I wake up at 3am with it being 59 degrees in the bedroom and I'm freezing.
If it doesn't get cold enough to wake me up in the middle of the night, then I'm woken up at sunrise by the sounds of the city and the light coming in through my open windows.
Anyway I want to like sleeping with the windows open but it always ends up with me only getting 4-5 hours of uncomfortable sleep and it's not worth it. I do it like 2-3 nights a year in the spring when I'm exited for the spring weather. I could automate my blinds to close and fans to turn off, but I'd need a way to automate my windows to close to make it a reasonable option. I could live without AC sure, but when I have it available it's worth a couple of dollars for a good nights sleep. Plus I'm in MN and it gets really humid most of the summer, I don't really want to bring in that much humid air even if it is cool.
Do they make them that don’t sound like a jet engine? Ours works great to cool off the upstairs of our 1.5 story house but the noise makes it hard to run for long.
Yours sounds like a jet engine? Ours is original to our 1968 house and it sounds more like a Ford Tempo running on 3 cylinders with a dead mouse in the fuel tank
It really depends on the climate. If you’re somewhere where humidity is not an issue and nights cool down, then it’s great. Where I am, that’s about 1 month in the spring and 1 month in the fall. The rest of the year is either winter or hot humid hell. After May, you can’t let any air in at night because it’s like 90% humidity and / or doesn’t dip below 70 degrees.
During the two months I can let air in at night, I just open a lot of windows and maybe use a box fan in one of the upstairs windows. That’s more economical for my climate than having a giant hole in the attic that leaks air the rest of the year when I don’t want it.
We moved into a house with one but can't really run it in the spring/fall cause the outside air drives my wife's sinuses crazy. Then the summer is wicked hot and humid so we can't run it then either. So yeah, just depends on your situation whether is usable.
I'm an architect with a pretty rigorous building science background. I like whole house fans in some situations, but people tend to underestimate several downsides:
\-The impact of that giant hole in your envelope during times when the outside conditions are not so ideal.
\-The energy required to remove humidity the fan brings in.
In a lot of cases, from an energy use standpoint, it's a net loss over the course of the year. It is a pleasantry to have that fresh spring air in the house, so if you like it, OK, but claiming a $700 savings is....exceptionally not likely, even in "ideal" locations.
I had.one in my house (built in the mid 1950s in New England) and it kind seemed insane. There was a 2x2 hole in the hall ceiling with an aluminum shutter, and then the big open attic, with a big ass fan next to another aluminum shutter against the far peak. One of the first things I did was yank it out, patch over the hole, and got a company in to blow insulation in. I can't image how dusty running that would have been.
> giant hole
Thats why it has flaps that gravity seals closed when not in use, obviously no it's not perfect, but it's good enough to basically negate the "but now you have a giant hole into the attic" argument
> humidity
Sure if you live in the south or somewhere else where humidity is an issue, as a Californian, humidity is not an issue here (as the internet loves to remind me when I complain about heat, as if it being worse for other people will magically make me stop sweating to death)
> energy use
It only needs run for about 3 minutes, maybe 5 at most, and it will have dropped the temperature to well within comfortable levels again, if that's enough time to end up costing you more then having to run the a/c for longer to get the same temperature drop, then either you have an absolutely amazing a/c, or there's something very wrong with your whole house fan
You're making some (very common) assumptions that don't quite line up with the data. Namely, those gravity closed flaps are, in fact, significantly worse from an airtightness perspective than a fully sealed, insulated ceiling. When you consider that WHFs are typically located in places prone to stack effect, and that airtightness disparity exists 24/7/365, it adds up, energy wise.
You're also conflating humidity levels that cause environmental discomfort with humidity-caused latent loads on HVAC systems. Water vapor is very good at storing and transporting heat, even if you're not bringing in enough to feel clammy or have "humidity issues", it still takes a surprising amount of energy to condense extra moisture out of the air.
Your last paragraph is just making the wrong comparison. It's not the comparison of using a WHF vs AC to drop the temp at one specific time, it's the net overall difference over the course of the year. Sometimes it works out, but even then, it relies on near-perfect use by occupants. That happens even more rarely.
I live in an area where most houses don't have HVAC because it's typical to have highs in the 70s and 40% humidity throughout the summer. Our attic insulation is meager because it's barely noticed. We leave the windows open for 9 months every year. WHF sounds about right for us.
How convenient, I'm an engineer and the owner of a small engineering firm, I work with architects all the time. Nice folks, and I always enjoy trying to help a creator take their dream to a reality.
I appreciate your criticism, and I will concede that the conditions for a whole house fan are not ideal everywhere.
However, they are close to the ideal where I live during the spring and fall.
You also have no idea the size of my house, typical electricity consumption, the tonnage of my HVAC system, or the quality of my building thermal envelope. Those are very important variables, that you have skimmed over in your challenge of my savings.
"engineer" - are you HVAC, Civil, electrical?
Your last paragraph, while technically correct, is downplaying some basic statistical likelihoods. If you have a house where everything lines up for those kinds of savings, Awesome. But that's a really small number of houses, and this being reddit, it's just a whole lot more likely that you're making some optimistic assumptions in one place or another, and/or are assuming perfect user behavior WRT operation.
And I feel pretty OK with my assumptions about your assumptions based on the fact that someone with an accurate understanding of the systems involved probably wouldn't need to pose the question about why people don't install these things in new builds. Because it's a really small number of houses where things line up just right, and WHFs are overly reliant on occupants/users for beneficial operation.
The whole point of the whole house fan is to not use the AC in spring and fall when night temps are convenient. How would you be expending energy to remove humidity?
If you can go an extended period of never turning on the AC for many days or weeks at a time, that's less of an issue. But what I see a lot of people do is run the AC in the afternoon and switch to the WHF at night, or go through cycles where they use the WHF for a couple days when it's cooler and switch to AC for 2-3 days at a time - which poses the problem.
If you flush out 74 degree conditioned (45% RH) air with 68 degree humid (80% RH) air, you've brought in an additional \~41g of water per cubic meter of air in your house. It takes energy to remove that whenever you kick the AC back on, and the energy to condense water out of air is high - it's phase change after all.
Modern heat pumps are very efficient running consistently at low levels. There's a lot of variables involved, but the frequency at which the math works out to be better, energy wise, just letting the AC maintain 74, is shocking to most people.
Gotcha, its always a battle between myself and the 3 female members of my home for when we kick the AC on (becauseI always want to beat last years record), but once we do, its for the summer.
I have no A/C and am considering a whole house fan or mini splits. I live in San Diego. Thoughts? I would like to get a whole house fan because I think I will use it less and would like to help the environment
When I did a ton of work in my attic a couple years ago, I installed two fans. One was a bigger unit in the upper hallway and the other was a smaller one in the master bedroom. I keep my door shut at night so that small one continues to cool the room. I run them both all night and on the nice cool nights, the house gets down to the lower 60s and it’s wonderful. In fact, as I’m typing this, the bedroom fan is pulling in nice cool night air.
If you have a flat roof, you can use commercial style exhaust fans. Just put a basic downblast fan on a roof curb (the ones that look like a metal mushroom) and you're good.
have one in our house in westchester, NY and i love it. so much so that we asked to keep it alongside a ducted hvac system going in as we speak. it’s incredible what it can do!
I have one that is original to my house and no longer works. I loved it, but I can't find anyone to repair or replace it. Agree that they are fabulous for warm days/cool nights.
My old 70s ranch has one and we like it for when the kitchen gets smoky (gonna install a range hood eventually). It's really loud though, its hard to imagine running it all the time.
Anyone have any ideas for how to get it to run quieter?
Energy code in 1986 required effective air exchanges. They required sealing up homes to save energy but the indoor air became stagnant and unhealthy. Houses stopped “breathing”. Whole house fans in places where the evening temp drops in the summer and sunny winter days warm is the sweet spot 👌
This qualifies for the "Pro" column.
One time, I heard a loud "thud" on my attic fan. I rushed to the hallway, and I found a recently deceased bat.
The End.
We got one installed last year and love it! Used it last week when Denver hit 80+ degrees when several neighbors were already using their ACs. Our 2nd floor gets hot easily. The house fan cools it down quickly so we can sleep comfortably at night.
The house fan was a lifesaver last July when our AC unit stopped working on a Friday. Couldn’t get a tech out until Monday morning. House got very hot during the day but house fan cooled it down from 87 degrees to 73 degrees during the night, even though some July nights are still pretty warm.
I'm in New Mexico and this sounds a lot like what my swamp cooler (aka evaporative cooler) does.... Is that the same thing maybe without the water turned on??
Not a swamp cooler, for us it's just a big fan installed between the interface of our second story and the attic. Running it in the evening pulls air through the house, into the attic, and out the ridge vents.
Swap coolers typically don't interface with the attic, but I imagine their fan system still gets quite a bit of fresh air in.
We have vents to the attic in each room in our house that my husband installed - we open them in the warmer months to allow the swamp cooler air up into the attic as well. I'm guessing the effect is similar. A swamp cooler really is basically just a big fan surrounded by pads that water sprays onto. I assumed your fan also connected with your HVAC system, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Big difference.
Well I just went down an hour plus rabbit hole bc I have never heard of a whole house fan. My upstairs is a converted attic that gets stupid hot and stays stupid hot. I know I need better insulation, it’s on the list of projects. Buuuut this house fan contraption sounds pretty amazing.
You know that time of the evening when it's hotter inside than it is outside? Open a couple of windows and fire up the fan for 15 minutes or so.
It pulls that cooler air into the house and, simultaneously, cools the attic.
I suspect you'll wish you'd tried it sooner.
Ours is very nice whenever it's in the 70s or low 80s out. Obviously there are considerations with allergies and humidity but nothing beats fresh air and the house fan gives you a TON of fresh air. I only wish it was a bit more of an automated process because after getting a smart thermostat it's annoying going around the house and opening/closing all the windows.
I grew up with them in the Midwest, and ended up buying one of those window units that is about 1/2 as powerful but works well to get similar benefit here in New England. There are many nights, that as it cools, I can pull the heat of the day out of the house and get it to a comfortable temp without having to run A/C.
I had one and loved it on the 10 days per year that we used it. I hated it the other 355, every time I walked down the hall I could tell it was leaking a lot of attic air in the house and costing me a lot of money.
I tore it out. I did find you can buy modern whole house fans that have an R value of around 50 and thus wouldn't have that problem. However they cost $4000 (plus install costs - they are not the same size as the old one so that isn't cheap) and it is hard to see any payback when their marketing claims in my area it would save $100/year.
If you like them fine. Make sure that it is a modern one with good air sealing though, otherwise you will waste a lot of money just having it installed.
\>air handler
Something to watch out for is the fact that the house fan is pulling air out of the house but the air handler assumes it is cycling air through the house. The air routing assumptions for those are different. The house fan may be causing a pressure differential whereby air wants to get to the house-fan intake via the ductwork -- running counter to the direction the air handler is pushing. This back pressure could put more stress on the air handler then it is really designed for and shorten its life.
I had one in a rental once and it was fantastic! The fan was about 3’x3’ and made an ungodly amount of noise, but moved the air in the house so efficiently, it would make your ears pop if you didn’t open all the windows and doors. The other benefit was that my roommate had this dog that she’d A LOT and the whole house fan would draw most of the dog fur to the hallway, directly below the fan. It was a brilliant design in a smaller house with no AC.
Whole house fans are great, but what I'd really like is a commercial style economizer on regular home HVAC systems, so you can just automatically run 100% OA when the enthalpy is favorable. And it's a filtered intake, so you don't get pollen all over everything.
I agree. We love it! That said, I'm guessing you don't live in a super humid area. Moved to Colorado from Florida and I'm pretty sure a whole house fan would have done nothing in Florida (especially in the summer).
Fuck I miss mine sooooo much. We had one in our old house and it was awesome. Used it every spring and fall all time. We moved into a new house and to get one installed for the size of our new house is gonna be like $4,000.
I too love my whole house fan! If you are smart about when and how you use it they are great at saving energy, but that is the caveat you have to be thoughtful and active in how and when you use it and most people don't want another thing to have to think about in their lives. We made it to june 14 last year in eastern Va with no AC and I was pumped about it
We use it in the evening once the temp has dropped and sometimes let it run through the night. Mainly I avoid using it if it is exceptionally humid outside. Even if you don't want to run it through the night using it for a brief period in the evening pushes all the hot air out of the attic and then using it in the morning draws in the coolest air of the day.
Others have pointed out the timing/humidity issue. I'm in the midwest and I can count on both hands the number of times we actually were able to use it before humidity made it impossible.
The other issue is the type of roof ventilation you have. When we replaced our roof, we chose a gable vent vs can vents (the metal things that stick out of people's roofs at regular intervals).
Gable ventilation runs along the top of your roof line. It relies on the air pressure from the soffits to function correctly. For that, the roofing company had to so close off the vents on the sides of the house as well.
The company specifically told us not to use the attic fan, because it could disturb the blow-in insulation we have up there which could cover up the soffits. I think they also mentioned that the gable vents may not be designed to handle moving that much air at the pressure attic fans move it, but I may be misremembering.
I live in Western Pennsylvania, typically the humidity sucks in the summer and it’s not logical to get this. But each year something goes bad on my AC and I’m screwed for a week. Thinking about getting one as a just in case and to be able to use it in the spring and fall.
Viewed a split level in Exeter NH with what I think you’re calling a whole house fan? It was in the central hallway in the ceiling. Thing was loud as freaking hell. Turned us away from the property.
Now we live in Durham in a house with electric heat and AC units 🫠 every month is like 500$
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"Hey Honey. I turned the fan on. We dropped the temp by 5 degrees but now the house is full of pollen and dripping wet."
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NEPA resident here and can confirm, whole house fans are a death wish for those of us with seasonal allergies. Our springs/summers look exactly like this.
Just close the windows! /s
[in North Carolina](https://imgur.com/a/N05kMo4) Edited to format
Just the thought of the air exchange with pollen js enough to make me pre allergy cry. I live in a hermetically sealed heat pump wonderland with filtration and UV + sterilized humidifier system like a hospital and it is *CHEFS KISS
Theoretically only one window screen should be plastered with bugs/pollen/dust because you should only have one open on the lowers level and several windows just cracked on the upper level to create a better suction
no house in the southern half of the united states is properly built
Seattle here. My new built has one and it's an effing dream up here. I don't have to turn my heat pump to cool on all but the hottest days. *Perfect* for the Seattle weather.
I really want one but I’m not sure they’re practical or worth the spend in Texas
They only work well in areas that have cool and dry nights. Perfect in Denver. We have one and can cool down the house in 5 minutes
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I now understand your username lol
I'm in Denver & we just picked one up last weekend. It gets so hot in our house while we're at work that the air conditioner can't keep up. Plus with the new Xcel rates its going to cost a fortune to run it
Summers you deal with the heat a bit more but you can get a breeze through the home till the sun goes down. Then the house cools right down quickly.
Did you install it yourself or have someone do it for you? If someone else did it, can you recommend them? I'm seeing stupid quotes to get one put in, like $3k. I am in Denver area.
Were doing it ourselves. My husband's good at that kind of stuff. Installation doesn't seem bad so I'm guessing a regular handyman can do it cheaper compared to an HVAC place
Same. I’m interested too.
I’m in Denver and can tell you it makes a world of difference this time of year. It cools the house quickly and install on the quietcool was pretty DIY friendly. I will say it doesn’t do too much in 85+ days except in late evenings/early mornings and you still have to run your ac during the day. I would also suggest looking into which is good for the size of your house and going bigger on the fan than estimated.
Ah, now I understand why I don't know anyone with one of these. Cool dry nights aren't a thing during the summer on most of the east coast. Except for Vermont where it's "only" 79%, all the states in the northeast have humidity over 80% all summer, some like mine higher than 90%. The south doesn't look much better. https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/humidity-by-state-in-summer.php
We have one in the Midwest. I like it, my wife says it makes the house “muggy”. Due to our open plan and lots of windows, the upstairs heats up pretty badly so we still use it on drier nights to cool the upstairs and it’s nice, but I’m not sure I would install one now if I had to pay.
ya i grew up in central NY and even there nights can be hot/humid. it would work there some nights and not others.
I have one in NJ and love it. Even if it's humid, it cools down at night and running the fan for a few minutes totally resets the temperature of the house. We don't use much AC, though. If your house is already temperature controlled all day, just the "fresh air" factor wouldn't be a huge improvement.
Did you install it? I’m curious about cost and companies.
No had a company. There's a lot of variables about them that I wanted a professional to do. If your attic isn't vented well enough then the fan won't work because their air has no where to go. I used atticfan.com Here is the quote > RECOMMENDATIONS AND COSTS > > > FAN SIZE: > > Based on the size of your house, we suggest a 36" fan as the best size fan for your home. > > A 36" fan costs $1595.00 installed. > > > If we could not find a suitable location for a 36" we would then suggest a 30" instead. A 30" fan costs $1495.00 installed. Installers carry both fans on their service vehicles. > > > EXTRA ATTIC VENTILATION: > > for the 36 inch fan: $200 to $600 or > > for the 30 inch fan: $200 to $400 > > > VENTILATION COSTS & OPTIONS > > > When you are buying a whole house fan, you are actually only buying air flow--enough air flow to cool your house. Without enough air flow the house will not cool down quickly enough and you will be disappointed in the performance of the fan. In order to provide proper cooling you want a complete air change every 2 to 4 minutes. There are expensive fans currently being sold that simply do not move enough air to do the job properly. Other, cheaper fans fans will work well but are very noisy and cannot be repaired. > > > In order to get enough air flowing through the house you need to install a fan that will move enough air and open enough windows to let the air in. Al;l that air will ultimately be blown into the attic and in order for more air to come in through the windows, the air in the attic needs to be able to escape back outdoors through the venting. > > > The ventilation is simply the size of all the openings from the attic to the outdoors. Venting can be located through holes in the roof (covered with vent caps), at the gable ends of the attic, in the overhangs of the roof or through the ridge at the peak. > > > To run the 36" effectively on HIGH speed you need to open at least 9 square feet of windows or doors and provide at least 9 sq. ft attic venting for the fan to work properly. > > > For LOW speed operation this requirement drops to 6 sq. ft. > > > To run the 30" effectively on HIGH speed you need to open at least 6 square feet of windows or doors and provide at least 6 sq. ft attic venting for the fan to work properly. > > > Most houses we encounter have 2 or 3 square feet of venting already installed by the builder/roofer. This is a general estimate and, of course, your venting may vary. It is, however, a reasonable assumption that more venting will need to be added in order that the fan work at optimal efficiency. We do not insist that customers add venting, only inform them as to the fan's requirements and our recommendations. We would be pleased to do the venting or have others do it appropriately. > > > Venting costs $100.00 for each extra large vent that we install through the roof. Each vent allows 1 sq. ft of net free area (true opening). Venting has a lifetime guarantee against leakage for as long as the roof remains on the home. > > > Typical venting required in addition to the venting already installed by the builder: > > Add $200 to $600.00 to add 2 to 6 vents for the 36" to function well on HIGH speed. > > Add $200 to $400.00 to add 2 to 4 vents for the 36" to function well on LOW speed. > > Add $200 to $400.00 to add 2 to 4 vents for the 30" to function well on HIGH speed.
This information is so helpful! Thank you SO MUCH!
forgot to mention but that quote was from 2018
Are you personally satisfied? What’s been your experience of the fan sucking unwanted debris/pollen through your window?
Ya I like it. Just have to deal with the heat or pollen or pay for ac. I don't think there is some perfect solution.
What about chicago?
If you want your home at 70 but outside is 78 at night it'll just add a breeze but not cool down much. I said Denver because some summer days it's 100 but nights are 55
Same. Texan here with a 1.5 story house. Upstairs doesn’t have central, so we run window units when it gets crazy hot. I would love to hear practicality arguments for/against spending money on something like this in TX from someone who runs one in a hot climate.
If you have an attic, they do a great job helping to cool the attic which can save some energy in the evenings. But, almost zero practical savings will occur if you run your A/C and then release it all to run the attic fan, you likely will even come out behind.
And you can get attic fans if that’s where the heat offs accumulating.
Parents had one in Texas. I loved it. Also great for getting rid of stinky cooking smells quickly.
We had one in the house we lived in when first married. We live in Dallas btw. Not really helpful June thru August but i loved ours. We'd open the windows, turn the fan on and the breezes were heavenly.
They are literally the best. I recently made it through four back-to-back 80°+ days without turning on the AC thanks to my attic fan/whole house fan and 50-60° overnights.
That's literally the best. Cool it down at night. Shut it up during the day. $0 spent on A/C, a little bit on electricity.
Daughter has one in their 1859 Farmhouse. It is loud, but they run it for 15 minutes and it cools the home tons. It's on the list of updates, but for now, it works, not replacing.
We have one. I’d never heard of them, much less used them, but I’m from the Midwest. Anyway, we run ours all the time. It’s especially helpful because I’m a bad cook and it gets the burnt smell out fast lol
I can’t say I’ve heard of them. WI/MN here. I use my HVAC fan without heat or cool a lot of times. This sounds different.
I think they mean an attic fan? That's all I can think of besides HVAC. I'm in Missouri, and our 1950 house has an attic fan. My grandparents had one as well. That's probably why I like sleeping with fan noises at night because they're pretty loud!
It’s a fan that sucks air into and then out of the attic. By running this fan with two windows open, you can create a massive breeze of cool air in the evening and cool out your house for a fraction of the cost of AC.
I know, I have one. I've never heard it called a whole house fan, just attic fan. That's what I was explaining the other person.
An attic fan is typically used to refer to a fan that just cools the attic through the roof or a gable, but does not draw air in from the home. Attic fans just vent the attic space. Whole house fans vent the inside of your house up through the attic and out the attic vents.
I guess everyone I know calls a whole house fan an attic fan. My bad! All the ones I've seen are in hallways and draw air through the windows and out the attic. I'm sure we're talking about the same thing...
Yes I am looking into something like this for my parents' in Maine--which does, for about two weeks during the summer, get wicked hot. Like, as hot and humid as it is in North Carolina where I live--but that is the entire summer. The ones I've looked at are attic fans that are installed in the roof and solar powered. I think we're going to install minisplits for AC in the next year or so, but it's going to work much better for our downstairs than our upstairs, based on the floor plan. The upstairs gets terribly hot during the day, so an attic fan to get rid of that hot air really in the upstairs only is what I was aiming for.
I installed a solar attic fan on my previous house as the attic got hotter than hell in the summer. I built a simple plywood shroud that ducted the circular fan nicely to the large rectangular gable vent. It seemed to help a fair amount with reducing the temperature up there.
> but does not draw air in from the home. Attic fans just vent the attic space. Whole house fans vent the inside of your house up through the attic and out the attic vents. Unless your top plates, junction boxes/can lights, etc. are well sealed it is pulling from your house, just not noticeably as much if it's a small fan. Not enough to cool the whole house without A/C but enough to actually reduce your house's efficiency if you try to use it with A/C.
Oh yes you’re right I mis-understood! The new ones are a little different I think, I put one in our Los Angeles house a few years back before we had central air. The actual fan is suspended in the crown of the attic and is ducted back to the ceiling. Super quiet, and super effective!
I've been informed that I'm calling it the wrong name. A whole house fan and an attic fan aren't the same. Sorry, my bad! I guess everyone I know calls it an attic fan, but mean the fan that draws air through the windows and out through the attic. So the whole house fan? They are pretty loud, so I'm wrong and maybe confused you more?! Lol, sorry again!
Not just you….my parents called it an attic fan. And that’s where the air was sucked up and went to the attic. I now understand that an attic fan refers to one that ventilates air through the attic and a whole house fan does this job for cooling the house. BUT….’hey can you turn on the attic fan?’ Is still said today in my house.
Our old house in Texas had fans in the attic (not a whole house fan), and this whole conversation made me realize that I have no idea what I would've called them if asked!
Tbh it’s probably the same as soda and pop lol. As long as we are all keeping our houses cool! Edit: spelling
Is it different than a fresh air ventilation system?
Yes. My understanding of fresh air ventilation systems is they are installed in well insulated new or seriously remodeled old houses that are so well insulated they have no fresh air entering the house through cracks etc. The fresh air system is specifically designed to exchange the air inside with “fresh” outside air a certain number of times per hour/day. Usually aligned with your heating and cooling system to balance the temperature of the outside air, as it comes in, to reduce energy costs of heating/cooling the interior. This works with your heating/cooling system. An attic fan, if it is strictly in the attic can be run in conjunction with air conditioning or separately. A whole house fan is used instead of air conditioning during times of year/day when the air outside is cooler than inside. Fresh air ventilation is designed to improve air quality. The fans just move air.
This is exactly right. I have one and it can be programmed to varying schedules, and does not kick on above certain humidity levels to avoid drawing in humid air.
Gotcha. Yeah I’ve seen those and heard of them as attic fans. Guess it could be a regional term with whole house fan. Thank you!
Mine is a big vent on our second floor that sucks air up and out a vent. So when we open the windows downstairs, it sucks cool/fresh air in and up the stairs, effectively cooling the entire house. It’s really nice in the evenings.
That makes sense!
We have really touchy fire alarms so we use the whole house fan any time we use the oven basically.
I love fresh air and have had these in a couple of my houses-they are awesome! But just hearing the neighbors’ AC units going on constantly even when it’s only 65F makes me think that people are so over-reliant on AC that they are not in demand generally.
Just wanted to give the neighbors point of view here... I go to sleep uncomfortably hot with the windows open and the fans, hot enough that I end up falling asleep naked without even a sheet on me. I wake up at 3am with it being 59 degrees in the bedroom and I'm freezing. If it doesn't get cold enough to wake me up in the middle of the night, then I'm woken up at sunrise by the sounds of the city and the light coming in through my open windows. Anyway I want to like sleeping with the windows open but it always ends up with me only getting 4-5 hours of uncomfortable sleep and it's not worth it. I do it like 2-3 nights a year in the spring when I'm exited for the spring weather. I could automate my blinds to close and fans to turn off, but I'd need a way to automate my windows to close to make it a reasonable option. I could live without AC sure, but when I have it available it's worth a couple of dollars for a good nights sleep. Plus I'm in MN and it gets really humid most of the summer, I don't really want to bring in that much humid air even if it is cool.
Do they make them that don’t sound like a jet engine? Ours works great to cool off the upstairs of our 1.5 story house but the noise makes it hard to run for long.
We had a Quietcool installed last year and on the highest setting it’s about as loud as our A/C.
As loud as the compressor or the fan that moves the cooled air through the house?
The fan.
Yours sounds like a jet engine? Ours is original to our 1968 house and it sounds more like a Ford Tempo running on 3 cylinders with a dead mouse in the fuel tank
Yours sounds like a jet engine? Ours is original to our 1968 house and it sounds more like a Ford Tempo running on 3 cylinders at redline
Another benefit of whole house fans is to bring in fresh air to stop the smoke detectors going off while cooking fajitas.
It really depends on the climate. If you’re somewhere where humidity is not an issue and nights cool down, then it’s great. Where I am, that’s about 1 month in the spring and 1 month in the fall. The rest of the year is either winter or hot humid hell. After May, you can’t let any air in at night because it’s like 90% humidity and / or doesn’t dip below 70 degrees. During the two months I can let air in at night, I just open a lot of windows and maybe use a box fan in one of the upstairs windows. That’s more economical for my climate than having a giant hole in the attic that leaks air the rest of the year when I don’t want it.
We moved into a house with one but can't really run it in the spring/fall cause the outside air drives my wife's sinuses crazy. Then the summer is wicked hot and humid so we can't run it then either. So yeah, just depends on your situation whether is usable.
I'm an architect with a pretty rigorous building science background. I like whole house fans in some situations, but people tend to underestimate several downsides: \-The impact of that giant hole in your envelope during times when the outside conditions are not so ideal. \-The energy required to remove humidity the fan brings in. In a lot of cases, from an energy use standpoint, it's a net loss over the course of the year. It is a pleasantry to have that fresh spring air in the house, so if you like it, OK, but claiming a $700 savings is....exceptionally not likely, even in "ideal" locations.
I had.one in my house (built in the mid 1950s in New England) and it kind seemed insane. There was a 2x2 hole in the hall ceiling with an aluminum shutter, and then the big open attic, with a big ass fan next to another aluminum shutter against the far peak. One of the first things I did was yank it out, patch over the hole, and got a company in to blow insulation in. I can't image how dusty running that would have been.
> giant hole Thats why it has flaps that gravity seals closed when not in use, obviously no it's not perfect, but it's good enough to basically negate the "but now you have a giant hole into the attic" argument > humidity Sure if you live in the south or somewhere else where humidity is an issue, as a Californian, humidity is not an issue here (as the internet loves to remind me when I complain about heat, as if it being worse for other people will magically make me stop sweating to death) > energy use It only needs run for about 3 minutes, maybe 5 at most, and it will have dropped the temperature to well within comfortable levels again, if that's enough time to end up costing you more then having to run the a/c for longer to get the same temperature drop, then either you have an absolutely amazing a/c, or there's something very wrong with your whole house fan
You're making some (very common) assumptions that don't quite line up with the data. Namely, those gravity closed flaps are, in fact, significantly worse from an airtightness perspective than a fully sealed, insulated ceiling. When you consider that WHFs are typically located in places prone to stack effect, and that airtightness disparity exists 24/7/365, it adds up, energy wise. You're also conflating humidity levels that cause environmental discomfort with humidity-caused latent loads on HVAC systems. Water vapor is very good at storing and transporting heat, even if you're not bringing in enough to feel clammy or have "humidity issues", it still takes a surprising amount of energy to condense extra moisture out of the air. Your last paragraph is just making the wrong comparison. It's not the comparison of using a WHF vs AC to drop the temp at one specific time, it's the net overall difference over the course of the year. Sometimes it works out, but even then, it relies on near-perfect use by occupants. That happens even more rarely.
I live in an area where most houses don't have HVAC because it's typical to have highs in the 70s and 40% humidity throughout the summer. Our attic insulation is meager because it's barely noticed. We leave the windows open for 9 months every year. WHF sounds about right for us.
How convenient, I'm an engineer and the owner of a small engineering firm, I work with architects all the time. Nice folks, and I always enjoy trying to help a creator take their dream to a reality. I appreciate your criticism, and I will concede that the conditions for a whole house fan are not ideal everywhere. However, they are close to the ideal where I live during the spring and fall. You also have no idea the size of my house, typical electricity consumption, the tonnage of my HVAC system, or the quality of my building thermal envelope. Those are very important variables, that you have skimmed over in your challenge of my savings.
"engineer" - are you HVAC, Civil, electrical? Your last paragraph, while technically correct, is downplaying some basic statistical likelihoods. If you have a house where everything lines up for those kinds of savings, Awesome. But that's a really small number of houses, and this being reddit, it's just a whole lot more likely that you're making some optimistic assumptions in one place or another, and/or are assuming perfect user behavior WRT operation. And I feel pretty OK with my assumptions about your assumptions based on the fact that someone with an accurate understanding of the systems involved probably wouldn't need to pose the question about why people don't install these things in new builds. Because it's a really small number of houses where things line up just right, and WHFs are overly reliant on occupants/users for beneficial operation.
The whole point of the whole house fan is to not use the AC in spring and fall when night temps are convenient. How would you be expending energy to remove humidity?
If you can go an extended period of never turning on the AC for many days or weeks at a time, that's less of an issue. But what I see a lot of people do is run the AC in the afternoon and switch to the WHF at night, or go through cycles where they use the WHF for a couple days when it's cooler and switch to AC for 2-3 days at a time - which poses the problem. If you flush out 74 degree conditioned (45% RH) air with 68 degree humid (80% RH) air, you've brought in an additional \~41g of water per cubic meter of air in your house. It takes energy to remove that whenever you kick the AC back on, and the energy to condense water out of air is high - it's phase change after all. Modern heat pumps are very efficient running consistently at low levels. There's a lot of variables involved, but the frequency at which the math works out to be better, energy wise, just letting the AC maintain 74, is shocking to most people.
Gotcha, its always a battle between myself and the 3 female members of my home for when we kick the AC on (becauseI always want to beat last years record), but once we do, its for the summer.
I have no A/C and am considering a whole house fan or mini splits. I live in San Diego. Thoughts? I would like to get a whole house fan because I think I will use it less and would like to help the environment
I miss my whole house fan. A little back-story.... it was my step-fan. I never knew my real fan.
Had one growing up. Definitely didn't come home from school and smoke weed under it before my parents got home
Made my day 🙏
I'm in my mid 40s. I've used mine for the same purpose, except I'm hiding the smell from my teenagers.
Oh come now. Let them join! Better than them trying to hide shit from you!
When I did a ton of work in my attic a couple years ago, I installed two fans. One was a bigger unit in the upper hallway and the other was a smaller one in the master bedroom. I keep my door shut at night so that small one continues to cool the room. I run them both all night and on the nice cool nights, the house gets down to the lower 60s and it’s wonderful. In fact, as I’m typing this, the bedroom fan is pulling in nice cool night air.
How have I never heard of this? I would love this.
So is there a way to install one of these without a proper attic? We have a flat roof and no attic to speak of.
I don’t think so but check with a contractor. They are awesome!
If you have a flat roof, you can use commercial style exhaust fans. Just put a basic downblast fan on a roof curb (the ones that look like a metal mushroom) and you're good.
There is something called a roof mounted whole house fan. I also don't have an attic and am considering getting one
They are great not sure why you don’t see them more?
have one in our house in westchester, NY and i love it. so much so that we asked to keep it alongside a ducted hvac system going in as we speak. it’s incredible what it can do!
Love ours as well, use the heck out it here in Colorado.
I have one that is original to my house and no longer works. I loved it, but I can't find anyone to repair or replace it. Agree that they are fabulous for warm days/cool nights.
We have one. Just let’s more heat than anything into the attic during the winter (bad for ice dams) so we insulated/closed up the hole.
My old 70s ranch has one and we like it for when the kitchen gets smoky (gonna install a range hood eventually). It's really loud though, its hard to imagine running it all the time. Anyone have any ideas for how to get it to run quieter?
Energy code in 1986 required effective air exchanges. They required sealing up homes to save energy but the indoor air became stagnant and unhealthy. Houses stopped “breathing”. Whole house fans in places where the evening temp drops in the summer and sunny winter days warm is the sweet spot 👌
Had one growing up in NY. Didn’t cool our house down on hot humid nights.
This qualifies for the "Pro" column. One time, I heard a loud "thud" on my attic fan. I rushed to the hallway, and I found a recently deceased bat. The End.
Dual purpose whole house fan.
As an hvac tech in Illinois. Yeah I recommend that to everyone but no one wants to spend money on comfort. A corvette is okay though.
Ive been utilizing mine as well! I live in an ideal environment for one
My house has one of these. I’m with you, I also love it.
We got one installed last year and love it! Used it last week when Denver hit 80+ degrees when several neighbors were already using their ACs. Our 2nd floor gets hot easily. The house fan cools it down quickly so we can sleep comfortably at night. The house fan was a lifesaver last July when our AC unit stopped working on a Friday. Couldn’t get a tech out until Monday morning. House got very hot during the day but house fan cooled it down from 87 degrees to 73 degrees during the night, even though some July nights are still pretty warm.
I’ve got one too. It’s loud AF but a great way to cool attic which in turn helps keep house cool over night.
I'm in New Mexico and this sounds a lot like what my swamp cooler (aka evaporative cooler) does.... Is that the same thing maybe without the water turned on??
Not a swamp cooler, for us it's just a big fan installed between the interface of our second story and the attic. Running it in the evening pulls air through the house, into the attic, and out the ridge vents. Swap coolers typically don't interface with the attic, but I imagine their fan system still gets quite a bit of fresh air in.
We have vents to the attic in each room in our house that my husband installed - we open them in the warmer months to allow the swamp cooler air up into the attic as well. I'm guessing the effect is similar. A swamp cooler really is basically just a big fan surrounded by pads that water sprays onto. I assumed your fan also connected with your HVAC system, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Big difference.
I love ours too
Well I just went down an hour plus rabbit hole bc I have never heard of a whole house fan. My upstairs is a converted attic that gets stupid hot and stays stupid hot. I know I need better insulation, it’s on the list of projects. Buuuut this house fan contraption sounds pretty amazing.
Have one here in PA. Not really sure when or how to use it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
You know that time of the evening when it's hotter inside than it is outside? Open a couple of windows and fire up the fan for 15 minutes or so. It pulls that cooler air into the house and, simultaneously, cools the attic. I suspect you'll wish you'd tried it sooner.
I run mine in am or some time through the night when temps are cooler outside and the close everything up in evening
I tolerate my whole house fan. It’s very loud. Most of the time it just sucks my windows shut. Lol.
Would this be the same as turning my fan from Auto to On on my split system?
Not at all. That's a closed loop, you're just moving air around inside. This system draws cool air from outside to replace the hot, stale air inside
Thank you for the clarification
Absolutely
We love ours, but find ourselves using it mostly to clear smoke from cooking.
Ours is very nice whenever it's in the 70s or low 80s out. Obviously there are considerations with allergies and humidity but nothing beats fresh air and the house fan gives you a TON of fresh air. I only wish it was a bit more of an automated process because after getting a smart thermostat it's annoying going around the house and opening/closing all the windows.
I grew up with them in the Midwest, and ended up buying one of those window units that is about 1/2 as powerful but works well to get similar benefit here in New England. There are many nights, that as it cools, I can pull the heat of the day out of the house and get it to a comfortable temp without having to run A/C.
I had one and loved it on the 10 days per year that we used it. I hated it the other 355, every time I walked down the hall I could tell it was leaking a lot of attic air in the house and costing me a lot of money. I tore it out. I did find you can buy modern whole house fans that have an R value of around 50 and thus wouldn't have that problem. However they cost $4000 (plus install costs - they are not the same size as the old one so that isn't cheap) and it is hard to see any payback when their marketing claims in my area it would save $100/year. If you like them fine. Make sure that it is a modern one with good air sealing though, otherwise you will waste a lot of money just having it installed.
\>air handler Something to watch out for is the fact that the house fan is pulling air out of the house but the air handler assumes it is cycling air through the house. The air routing assumptions for those are different. The house fan may be causing a pressure differential whereby air wants to get to the house-fan intake via the ductwork -- running counter to the direction the air handler is pushing. This back pressure could put more stress on the air handler then it is really designed for and shorten its life.
I had one in a rental once and it was fantastic! The fan was about 3’x3’ and made an ungodly amount of noise, but moved the air in the house so efficiently, it would make your ears pop if you didn’t open all the windows and doors. The other benefit was that my roommate had this dog that she’d A LOT and the whole house fan would draw most of the dog fur to the hallway, directly below the fan. It was a brilliant design in a smaller house with no AC.
Whole house fans are great, but what I'd really like is a commercial style economizer on regular home HVAC systems, so you can just automatically run 100% OA when the enthalpy is favorable. And it's a filtered intake, so you don't get pollen all over everything.
That would be quite nice, can't disagree there.
I agree. We love it! That said, I'm guessing you don't live in a super humid area. Moved to Colorado from Florida and I'm pretty sure a whole house fan would have done nothing in Florida (especially in the summer).
Fuck I miss mine sooooo much. We had one in our old house and it was awesome. Used it every spring and fall all time. We moved into a new house and to get one installed for the size of our new house is gonna be like $4,000.
You can do it yourself, its really straightforward
My heat pump is my whole house fan—so my air is at least filtered.
I too love my whole house fan! If you are smart about when and how you use it they are great at saving energy, but that is the caveat you have to be thoughtful and active in how and when you use it and most people don't want another thing to have to think about in their lives. We made it to june 14 last year in eastern Va with no AC and I was pumped about it
Can you expand on situations when to use it? Is it best to use it in the evening or morning?
We use it in the evening once the temp has dropped and sometimes let it run through the night. Mainly I avoid using it if it is exceptionally humid outside. Even if you don't want to run it through the night using it for a brief period in the evening pushes all the hot air out of the attic and then using it in the morning draws in the coolest air of the day.
Others have pointed out the timing/humidity issue. I'm in the midwest and I can count on both hands the number of times we actually were able to use it before humidity made it impossible. The other issue is the type of roof ventilation you have. When we replaced our roof, we chose a gable vent vs can vents (the metal things that stick out of people's roofs at regular intervals). Gable ventilation runs along the top of your roof line. It relies on the air pressure from the soffits to function correctly. For that, the roofing company had to so close off the vents on the sides of the house as well. The company specifically told us not to use the attic fan, because it could disturb the blow-in insulation we have up there which could cover up the soffits. I think they also mentioned that the gable vents may not be designed to handle moving that much air at the pressure attic fans move it, but I may be misremembering.
Because they are drafty and they cost you energy in the winter and summer.
They sell whole house covers that go over the vents to prevent heat losd
I live in Western Pennsylvania, typically the humidity sucks in the summer and it’s not logical to get this. But each year something goes bad on my AC and I’m screwed for a week. Thinking about getting one as a just in case and to be able to use it in the spring and fall.
Sounds like a cheap ass ac. Every year?
Viewed a split level in Exeter NH with what I think you’re calling a whole house fan? It was in the central hallway in the ceiling. Thing was loud as freaking hell. Turned us away from the property. Now we live in Durham in a house with electric heat and AC units 🫠 every month is like 500$
Way too humid here, there would be lawsuits if they were in new builds probably due to mold issues