So when you’re shopping for a whole house fan make sure that it’s insulated and will be air tight when its not running. Standard fan 4,500 to 6,900 cfm ($200 to $450) Because they’re the most affordable and widely available, large-diameter fans are still a good solution for homeowners living in warmer regions. Hot air must flow out of the house through screened vents on the roof, at the gable ends, along the eaves or all of the above. A whole house fan is different than an attic fan. So here is our list of the best whole house fan reviews/attic fan reviews in each of these different categories. I'm in the SF Bay area and have been running my fan after 7-8 PM for the past few weeks with the heat. I also ran noise tests in the quietest part of my home to get a good sense of which fan runs the noisiest. August 15, 2020. You can calculate the size of whole house fan that you need by taking the square footage of your home (assuming 8ft ceilings) and multiplying it by 3. There is no better way to keep your home cool and only turning on the AC in the very hot days. The first two fans, one a large bladed unit that lay horizontal in the ceiling and the second unit was a “quieter” two motor unit that was also installed in the ceiling. I know several people who own whole house fans and they are the older style, metal surface whole house fans with louvers that open and close with the change of air movement. Many homeowners hear about attic fans installed by friends and neighbors and want to know if an attic fan is a good idea or just a waste of money. Check caulking and flashing around windows, doors, tubs, and showers. Attic fans only serve to remove some hot air from the attic. An attic-side box cover may be constructed from a 4' x 4' piece of 1" rigid fiberglass duct board. Your Whole House Fan Is Noisy. In contrast, whole house fans are most effective in the cooler temperatures of the evening and early morning. These systems can also include a thermostat to help manage how long the fan runs in the evening. Ventilation in your attic is one of the most important things that you can do for your home, and an attic fan is the best way to ventilate the space. • If you live in an extremely humid, dusty or pollen-laden area, a fan brings these problems indoors -- a bad idea for allergy sufferers. What is HEPA Filtration and Do I Need it? Adjust dimensions to actual fan size. Pros to Running Fan on Air Conditioner Continuously: Keeping the fan on creates a more even distribution of heating and cooling, circulating the air if you have cold or hot spots in your house, like a bedroom above a garage. These fans cost less up front, but installation may be more difficult. The Home Ventilating Institute (www.hvi.org) refers to whole-house fans as whole-house comfort ventilators, and they are designed to bring in cooler outside air, draw it through the house, and push the house air out through the attic vents. One energy concern with whole house fans is heat loss in the winter. Whole house fans are meant to ultimately cool your home. They cost very little to operate and deliver a lot of benefits. ... a fan brings these problems indoors -- a bad idea for allergy sufferers. • It's not effective in certain climates. And QuietCool does a good job of making that point on their website. People who live in old, uninsulated houses make compromises all the time. The idea is that when it gets cooler outdoors than it is indoors then the whole house fan is used to draw in that cooler air instead of using air conditioning in the home. Because it draws water from your plumbing system as it's needed, you never have to fill it or worry that it's not humidifying because it's run dry. But is it a good option for circulating air in a house and can it help redistribute air and reduce reliance on a furnace or A/C system?. There are a number of companies promoting and selling large fans that install in the ceiling of a central location (typically) that pull in air from the outside and force that air into the attic and out the attic vents. Ceiling mounts, installed directly above louvers, draw air into the attic, where it is forced out through vents in the eaves, roof or gables. Ventilate indoor moisture The materials used in building a new 2,000-square-foot home contain about six tons of water that must escape during the first year. Attic-mounted fans are quieter because they're farther away from the living area. QA-Deluxe 5500 is for 2-story homes up to 3400 sqft & single story homes up to 2400 sqft and requires about 4.5 sqft of net free attic ventilation. "It is really just not the cleanest way to dry your hands," Downing said. Running a fan before turning on air conditioning also will draw heat out, allowing the home to cool more quickly. A whole house fan can be used to change the air in the house and vent odors quickly. Attic Roof Fan Reviews . The box will be 33" square with 1" thick walls (inside dimension of 31" x 31"). But is it a good option for circulating air in a house and can it help redistribute air and reduce reliance on a furnace or A/C system?. Get breaking news coverage as events unfold. Even if your ductwork is insulated, it only does so much good against those kinds of temperatures. It may be a good idea to skip the hand dryer if you can. Attic exhaust fans remove hot air from attic spaces, while whole house fans remove hot air from both living spaces and the attic at the same time. It reduces air-leakage through the whole house attic fan saving the homeowner heating and cooling loss and energy costs. whole house fan for this house we’ll be installing. This is the third (and final!) Learn how to save up to 50-90% off your energy bill. We have selected fans which are good value for money, have easy installation and most importantly do an excellent job at cooling your home. The bigger house you have, the higher the CFM rating of the fan that you’re looking for. Triangle Whole House Fans. Whole-house fans come in two types: ceiling-mounted or attic-mounted. Both types are available as direct-drive, with the fan blade attached to the motor, and belt-drive, with the motor mounted to the side to rotate the blade with a pulley and belt. If it’s cloudy and relatively cool outside but feeling stuffy in your home, running the fan for an hour or so can certainly help. If you want to install a whole-house fan, go right ahead. Over and over. With that being said, when the outside temperature is cooler than the inside temperature of your home, use a whole house fan. Install a model manufactured by Tamarack -- one with a tight-fitting insulated damper that closes when not in use -- … Natural Light Solar Attic Fan 36 Watt . For more information on these fans and how to choose the proper size and install it, see the, -- Homes & Gardens of the Northwest staff. • Regularly replacing house air can reduce airborne hazards and nuisances such as radon, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, cooking and pet odors. Whole house fans suck out hot air from the house, force it into the attic, and then exchange it with cooler outside air via vents. If you have ductwork, furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, water piping etc. There are a couple of reasons why you may not want to run your fan. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. If it is the dead of summer and you have ductwork in your attic, temperatures can reach as high as 140 degrees. Many homeowners hear about attic fans installed by friends and neighbors and want to know if an attic fan is a good idea or just a waste of money. So the fan is perfect for us because we open the windows in the evening and pull all of the cool air in. Attic Fans and Whole house fans - pros and cons - Wheaton, IL - A discussion on whole house fans and attic fans as they relate to energy efficiency Older models of whole house fans are noisier than new models. Mark: Yes, using fans to put positive pressure in the house would eliminate pulling conditioned air into the attic, but if the ceiling has leaks, you've now turned the problem from exfiltration to infiltration and are pushing hot attic air into the house.There's also still the problem of using all that power for something that's not necessary. A whole-house fan is a good thing, as my article explains. In short, are attic fans good or bad? I wanted a way to cool down the house at night. Once the outdoor temperature cools down, the homeowner opens a few downstairs windows, ensures that the fireplace damper is closed, … Related Posts. Subscribe to OregonLive. • If you do have air conditioning, the fan will suffice on all but the hottest days, reducing energy costs. This cuts down on the need to run the air conditioning system, therein saving on your energy bills. In new construction, you can install a whole house fan in the attic. Your email address will not be published. While attic fans meet their goal of cooling attic air in any high-temperature climate, whole house fans are of more use in lower-humidity climates with hot days and cool nights. Best of all, whole-house fans use only one-tenth of the energy that air conditioning does. Whole-house fans have helped cool homes for a century. Furthermore, this category doesn't only focus on the inside of a house, but it also includes industrial and other outdoor settings. In your attic, a powerful fan sits at the end of flexible ducting that mounts to … By pulling in cooler air, a whole-house fan reduces or eliminates the need for air conditioning. The key is you'll only run it when outside is cooler than inside - generally after 7 PM. Make sure your whole house fan is insulated and air tight so it doesn’t look like this! Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (each updated 1/1/20). Quietcools are probably the best whole house fans out there - efficient and quiet. You replace it with fresh air in your home and attic. Cooler and fresher. Solar attic fans are a new group of products that use solar energy to move hot attic air. AsktheBuilder.com: Whole house fans and attic fans are often confused. A wall switch, switch/timer or automatic thermostat controls the fan. Tammie A April, 2019. All summer. It provides good attic ventilation in addition to whole house cooling. Those fans are good while they are running, but the other 95% of the time when they are off or during winter time they are essentially a hole into the attic, which can defeat the purpose of all of your attic insulation. Two-speed fans allow a high speed for quick cooling or exhausting fumes, and a slower, quieter speed for continuous operation. • Ceiling louvers clash with some people's sense of decor. It did a fairly good job of keeping the house cool and it supposedly didn't take the same energy as the air conditioner. If you live in an area that does not cool down in the evenings or is very humid, the fan may not be a good option for you. ing your house by keeping the roof in good condition. This doesn’t mean use the fan when it’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside and your home is … I did a bit of research and found this Centric Air fan. The Home Ventilating Institute (www.hvi.org) refers to whole-house fans as whole-house comfort ventilators, and they are designed to bring in cooler outside air, draw it through the house, and push the house air out through the attic vents. But when the fan isn't working the way it should, follow these steps to troubleshoot the problem. The best way to discover your biggest sources of air leakage is via a blower door test. Circulating Air with Furnace Fan. I have had three fans installed in three different homes. AsktheBuilder.com: Whole house fans and attic fans are often confused. How to Troubleshoot a Whole-House Fan. 5645 East Clinton Avenue, Fresno, CA 93727, http://pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/shared/saveenergymoney/rebates/whftechsheetv5.pdf. Some central air-conditioning systems have a ventilation mode that accomplishes the same thing as a whole-house fan. Attic fans can, however, save you 30% on cooling costs by getting rid of trapped super-hot air that collects in the attic and then backs up into the house’s living spaces. Read More. What is the best rated whole house fans product? whole house fan - $120 (Poway) < image 1 of 2 > Garden Road near Poway Road ... condition: good. The basic design is simple: An attic-mounted fan pushes hot air out through attic vents and draws cooler, outside air in through open doors and windows. If your fan is driving you crazy, replacing it with a new model will solve the problem. © 2020 Advance Local Media LLC. How Ceiling Fans Can Help At Home & In The Office. Many homeowners are under the assumption that ventilation is only important in the summer, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Whole-house fans. Let's discuss the primary concern homeowners have about attic fan installation. I purchased the Centric Whole House fan. The QuietCool whole house fan system exchanges the entire volume of air inside your home 15-20 times per hour. Whole house fans solve that problem altogether. Whole house fans vs. attic fans A whole house fan is installed in the ceiling of a home and moves air from the living space into the attic. do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers; post id: 7233540772. posted: 2020-11-19 06:57. updated: 2020-11-25 07:26. email to friend This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Most thermostats today come with an option to keep the furnace blower fan running continuously. • It hums while running. It provides good attic ventilation in addition to whole house cooling. Whole house fans are very effective in five various ways, and these are the best economical ventilation solution for you. I kept the ceiling fans on. Find out why QuietCool is the best whole house fan on the market. Clear roof gutters of debris and drain moisture away from the house. more ads by this user . We have no need for the a/c to run at night so that saves money as the whole house fan cost less to run. Ten or more degrees is better. All day. Some whole house fans can be shipped to you at home, while others can be picked up in store. Almost every house in Singapore has a good air-conditioning system, but some air-conditioners recycle indoor air.