Hi,
I live in San Diego. For the most part, our weather is mild so we hvae no need of an A/C. But, there are certain times where it would be nice to be able to cool the house down at night.
So, I have been looking at Whole House Fans. We have a two story house with a very large attic space. There are three bedrooms on the first floor (master + 2 kids) plus 2 bedrooms upstairs (guest and play room).
What things do I need to consider with respect to getting/installing a whole house fan?
Some specific questions I have are:
1) Can one fan be positioned for the whole house (i.e. if I place it at the top of the stairs, will the rooms on the first floor furthest from the fan still get cooled)?
2) How noisy are these fans?
3) How difficult is it to install myself?
4) Approximate cost I should be looking for?
Any other thoughts you had would be appreciated!
Thanks!
Attic fans rely on two things. A place for the air to go, and a place for the air to come from.
Your attic needs to be properly vented for the amount of air that you will be putting up there. And, it will not work if all the windows in the house are closed. Are you prepared to have open, unlocked windows on the ground floor? Maybe cooling the ground floor is not going to be a consideration at night...
Then there is the installation. They don't fit between the normal roof rafter spacing. Careful consideration should be given to the area that you are wanting to install it so that you do not weaken the ceiling structure in the house.
Whole house fans are a great way to cool a house! Here in WI, I use mine almost every night during the spring and fall. I have installed several and I love them.
You should position the fan in a central location such as a 2nd floor hallway. When the fan runs, it will pull cool air into the house through ANY open windows. Noise will be dependent on the design of the fan. As a rule, belt-driven fans are quieter and longer lasting, but slightly more expensive. Direct-drive fans tend to be noisier, but cost less. Either type can be installed without cutting joists by building a plenum above the joists, and using a split shutter. Often, fans include both. If you have a fair grasp of DIY skills, you should be able to install it yourself.
Plan on having a seperate circuit for your fan.
As MD mentioned, you need to have adequate venting in your attic to handle the CFM from the fan. This is imperative for proper operation of the fan.
As I said, cost depends on the type of fan you buy. I strongly prefer the belt-driven style for the reasons I mentioned above. Remember, a larger fan turning more slowly will be quieter than a smaller fan turning fast.
A couple good brands are Dayton (from Grainger, if you can buy from them), and Trianglefans dot com.
Let us know if you have any other questions
heres a link to a dayton whole house fan belt driven
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg...mId=1611763488
Thanks for the replies so far... (keep em coming!)
With respect to making sure I have enough venting in my attic, our attic currently has a single gable vent on the side of the attic that is about 2 ft x 3 ft. I was considering installing an attic fan on that vent as well. If I installed an attic fan with enough capacity to flush out the air from the whole house fan, is that sufficient?
Also, can any whole house fan I purchase be mounted vertically? The way my house is set up is that I have a huge walk-in attic that is at the same level as my second story (door right off the hallway). I was considering installing the fan in the wall in the upstairs hallway into the attic. Does this make sense?
Thanks!
No you have to mount them on the ceiling like it says view the link it tells you everything you need to know about the fan. The price for the one in the link is $486.75 + shipping
from what I read this is the way to go.Its by dayton
Originally Posted by djlewis110
Thanks for the replies so far... (keep em coming!)
With respect to making sure I have enough venting in my attic, our attic currently has a single gable vent on the side of the attic that is about 2 ft x 3 ft. I was considering installing an attic fan on that vent as well. If I installed an attic fan with enough capacity to flush out the air from the whole house fan, is that sufficient?
Also, can any whole house fan I purchase be mounted vertically? The way my house is set up is that I have a huge walk-in attic that is at the same level as my second story (door right off the hallway). I was considering installing the fan in the wall in the upstairs hallway into the attic. Does this make sense?
Thanks!
Also, can any whole house fan I purchase be mounted vertically? The way my house is set up is that I have a huge walk-in attic that is at the same level as my second story (door right off the hallway). I was considering installing the fan in the wall in the upstairs hallway into the attic. Does this make sense?
For sure do it that way .In fact the motor will like better.
ED
If you plan to mount the fan vertically on an attic endwall, don't buy a whole-house fan. Look for a belt-driven exhaust fan instead. Whole house fans are designed to draw the air into the front of the fan (blade side), wheras an exhaust fan draws from the motor side of the fan.
I know you are thinking well, what if I just reverse the rotation? The fan won't operate efficiently that way.
Look in the catalog Lex linked to for other types of exhaust fans. Dayton is good, but Grainger is mainly a wholesaler, and usually won't sell retail. (usually)
Edit- I re-read your post, and just noticed that you mentioned mounting it in the interior wall into the attic behind.
You could simply mount the whole house fan with the blade side facing the interior hallway, but you will need a different style of shutter than the ceiling mounted style. I would strongly encourage installing a grille to keep fingers, arms, hair, babies, etc. from being sucked in while the fan is on.
OK if he wants an exhaust fan heres what I found for attic exhaust fan
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg...rchL1=Fans%2C
what do you mean they won't sell retail He can't buy from them.
Sorry for the confusion...
I am actually considering a whole house fan AND an attic exhaust fan. My original post was concerning the whole house fan. Then, when people started talking about making sure the attic had proper ventilation, I started wondering about installing an attic fan in addition to the whole house fan...
Thanks!
well if you want both then go for what I posted in the links they are what you want.
The whole house fan http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg...mId=1611763488
the exhaust fan http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg...rchL1=Fans%2C
Lex,
Grainger is a wholesale seller, not a retail business. Normally they only sell to businesses, not individuals.
DJ,
Check the sizing charts in both the Grainger catalog, and on the Triangle site. An attic exhaust fan is not a substitute for adequate free-air openings from the attic to outside. You MUST have the required square inches of free exhaust area for your whole house fan to operate its best.
Well at least he knows what to look for and how much hes going to have to spend
. I'll see where else he can get them.
Ok he can get one at home depot for around $189 and he can have it shiped to his house and you vent it into the attic at least thats what it says.And it works with or with out centrel heating or air. Or try this site. http://www.wholehousefan.com/
Unless you used several, the fans you linked to move nowhere near enough air to function adequately as a whole house fan. The brand you linked to uses two Comair-Rotron Condor fans on a single frame to make up their whole-house fan. Those fans are commonly used in large pieces of electronic equipment for cabinet exhaust. True, they are high quality, but they are too weak to do the job. They're just big Muffin fans.
There is no magic here; what goes into the attic must come out. Use the charts provided on the other sites to determine the amount of vents you'll need.
Originally Posted by Andrew
Unless you used several, the fans you linked to move nowhere near enough air to function adequately as a whole house fan. The brand you linked to uses two Comair-Rotron Condor fans on a single frame to make up their whole-house fan. Those fans are commonly used in large pieces of electronic equipment for cabinet exhaust. True, they are high quality, but they are too weak to do the job. They're just big Muffin fans.
There is no magic here; what goes into the attic must come out. Use the charts provided on the other sites to determine the amount of vents you'll need.
Sorry djlewis110 Im leading you in the wrong direction
Andrew why are the fans I link you to called whole house fans if they are not powerful enough The only one that would do the job is at granger.So when you install a whole house fan are you useing one or two Im getting me and djlewis110 confused.Lets figure this out so the poor guy can get the fan he needs.
This one should suck the stink off the kids:
big fan
or this one should suck the clthes off the kids, see page 12 of the pdf:
Big ass fan company (really)
The first link is from MSC. I believe they sell retail. I have an customer account there seperate from my company so I think anybody can.
Originally Posted by lexmarks567
heres a link to a dayton whole house fan belt driven
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg...mId=1611763488
Ok heres a link that tells you everything you need to know about whole house fans and should tell you what size you need.And it will tell you how much venting in the attic is needed.I just read the entire story and its very helpful
http://www.hvacquick.com/wholehousef...OVMTC=standard
If you have gable ends on your house you can add motorized louvers to remove the air you put in the attic.
Just large open vent louvers on all the gables .Open all the time so they can vent the attic if the fan is off or on would be the way to go. If you have a Grainger cat. #396 go page #3704 They have the split shutters to fit over ceiling truss. can check on grainger.com Like said
You should have 1 sq ft of vent for every 150sq ft of attic. !/2 in and 1/2 out
For just a vent fan for the attic
attic sq ft X 0.7=== CFM of fan
ED
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