Recommendations for whole-house fan

[David G Baker]

Chris,
I bought mine prior to the PG&E credit. I liked how quiet the fans were as well and they didn't take up near the space as the standard giant fans.
I have been looking for a supplier for the two 10 inch fans to help move the air around my shop but haven't found any that would fit my needs.

[Lee Schierer]

Be sure to watch the "Home Improvement" episode where Tim the tool man Taylor Installed a whole house fan for his tool time show.

[Peter Quadarella]

I got this thing and put it in my garage workshop window, since I don't have A/C. It's pretty powerful and made of metal, so it feels like it will last decently long. It also serves a secondary purpose of evacuating dust.
http://www.amazon.com/Air-King-9166-.../dp/B0007Q3RQ6

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I'm not positive about this, but I believe it may be against code to discharge a whole house fan into the attic space versus being ducted directly outside. I believe it has something to do with smoke or fire, and the home's layout or construction.

I've seen folks discharge to their attic because it is simple and provides the benefit to cool the attic. However, if your attic is not well ventilated (ridge vent, gable vents and/or soffit vents), the positive pressure in the attic will force air thru the walls and you will begin to see dirt/dust build up around the outlets.

-Jeff

[Chris Padilla]

Jeff,

I agree with you...one must have a proper size of vent to allow proper air flow in the attic space otherwise the pressure situation you describe could be quite hazardous. This is normally outlined quite clearly within the instructions...or at least it was with the Tamarack I have.

However, I dunno about the code.

[Jason Roehl]

For your attic, make sure its vented properly to start with, that alone should reduce the AC bills

I had to add soffit and ridge vents to my 36 year old house (I found places on the rafters near the ridge where the sap boiled out of the pine framing), and that ventilation has helped in cooling. I am also planning on installing the reflective aluminium foil to the underside of the rafters. This will create:
1) a radiant heat reflector
2) A natural chimney for the hot air to rise from the soffit up to the ridge vent.



Now if i could only carve out some time for that project in the honey-do list during one of those cooler rainy days.

(and I am not gonna make a hat out of the foil leftovers)

I'd rethink that foil. You'll be surprised at how quickly it becomes much less effective. The problem with reflective foils in an attic or as part of the building shell is that they get dirty--and dirt doesn't reflect heat, so the foil ends up conducting the heat through instead of reflecting it back out.

Cheaper and more effective would be an attic fan. I have a gable-end attic fan that was about $50, it's set for about 105ºF, and makes a big difference in the temperature of the attic. There was a non-functional one in the house last summer when we moved in, but I didn't get around to replacing it until about September. We have some near-90ºF days coming up, so I'll kill it for a while and see what the attic temp does.

[Chris Padilla]

Besides the whole house fan, I have two solar-powered fans on the roof of my attic. They are whisper quiet...I had to go on the roof one day just to see if they were really working!

[Dan Carroll]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Our house had one of the big old belt driven types before we moved in. It was installed when the house was built in 1962 (it is on the plans). Anyway, I kept on using rubber fan belts and the thing would get a little quieter for a while, but still end up noisy as the devil. The last belt I put on was 'power twist' machine belt. Much quieter and it should last longer. Second on the dust issue. Just running it for 30 minutes or so to blow the hot air out of the attic in the early evening makes a huge difference n the AC bill in the summer.[/FONT]

[Bill Cunningham]

When I redid my roof a few years back, I installed a couple of good sized turbine type vents, one at each end of the roof. They spin pretty well all the time and keep the attic pretty cool in summer, and cold in winter to eliminate the ice dams..

[Jim Mattheiss]

Do they make whole house fans that can mount to the gable end in a ranch?

I looked at a house years ago with the louvers and the fan seperate.

I'd plan on putting the motor/fan in the far end of the attic and the louver in the central hallway.

That would keep the motor noise WAY down by the bedrooms.

Jim