Whole House Fan

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irvinehomeowner said:
The one RibEye posted is an attic fan. It vents air from the attic to the exterior via the attic vents.

The whole house fan pulls warm air from the house and puts it into the attic.
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I was actually referring to the quietcoolfan.com link at the bottom of that post, but you're right, the 300.00 installation is for the attic fan.  The installation instructions from quietcoolfan's page looks pretty straight forward, it would probably cost around the same as a attic fan install, I assume?  This model is about the same as the comfortcoolfans.com's fan you linked, and it's only 1019.00. 
http://shop.quietcoolfan.com/qc-4700-quiet-cool-fan.aspx

I can't imagine the installation cost would be $800+.  Albeit, looking at the product info sheet, it sucks up 533W on high and 491W on low, vs. 280W for the comforcoolfans.com model.  quietcoolfan.com doesn't have a ES model that pulls the same CFM with a single fan.
 
@gaogi,

Just an update for everyone - I am having a contractor put in both the attic fan (the 2500 CFM one found here:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001V5J1XA/ref=twister_B0054SCFJC)and a whole house fan (this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00562CSL6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

The cost of the install is going to be $350 for both the attic and whole house fans, plus any misc. parts that the contractor might need (and which he estimates to be about $50-$100), so this entire project will cost under $1K. Hoping that the project is completed this weekend.

It looks like the Quiet Cool Fan is much more expensive than the one I purchased because, if I understand correctly, it should be much more quiet due to the location of the fan (away from the vent). However, my wife would kill me if I purchased a fan that cost over $1K.
 
@RibEye:

That whole house fan you linked to I've seen in action before and is pretty noisy because of its proximity to the ceiling vent.

@eyephone:

The electrical cost of whole house fan vs. running the AC is a large difference. If I just run the AC fan the electricity usage is much less.

As for the insulation issue, whole has fans have vent options to close the vent when not in use.

The Mrs. doesn't want a whole house fan if it's going to cost $2000, but she'll pay $2000 to buy ceiling fans, install electrical and install the fans.

Bah.
 
ZeroLot said:
eyephone said:
Another link I found about attic ventilation
https://www.dom.com/about/conservation/pdf/attic_ventilation.pdf
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Wow!  Thanks for sharing.  I'm going to download this and let Mr. Z take a look.  We are still on the fence about our attic fan ventilation.  The builder did give me the roofer's contact and the roofer was willing to install the attic fan.

But maybe it's not such a good idea after all.
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No problem.  ;)

These are the reasons why I would not even consider getting an attic fan:
1. health and safety concern
2. can cause utility to be higher, might cause the ac to run more
3. can increase humidity levels in living spaces
 
Not sure if RibEye is still around but any update on that whole house fan?

I keep seeing ads now for QuietCool and after this summer's AC bill, I'm either going to go solar (is it prime time yet?) or get a whole house fan.
 
IHO - how much was your AC bill this summer? The highest we got was about $245. Don?t do it man. Solar is not ready for prime time.
 
qwerty said:
IHO - how much was your AC bill this summer? The highest we got was about $245. Don?t do it man. Solar is not ready for prime time.
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After six years, my savings exceed my after tax cost of the system.

You the taxpayer however, still taking it in the shorts.
 
As a taxpayer I?m used to taking it in the shorts, nothing new there. It?s about to get worse too if trumps tax plan gets rid of the state tax deduction.
 
Well I'm west of the 5 but I've had a whole house fan for several years. Best investment I've ever made, hands down.  ;) Since we had it installed we only run our air conditioner a few days per year.

They installed a grate in the ceiling above the second floor hallway which connects to the actual fan through a flexible duct; this helps keep the noise and vibration to a minimum. We also had some additional venting installed in the roof, because all that air needs a way to flow freely out of the attic otherwise the system is useless. The total area of your vents has to match the CFM rating of your new fan in order for the system to work well. We went with "O'Hagin" style vents; they are low profile and not visible from the street. The fan itself is by Comfort Cool. All told it was around $3000.

HTH :D
 
Wow almost 5 years later and I have not done either.

Going to start looking at whole house fans again... would do solar... esp with mutliple EVs but that money is earmarked for other stuff right now.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Wow almost 5 years later and I have not done either.

Going to start looking at whole house fans again... would do solar... esp with mutliple EVs but that money is earmarked for other stuff right now.
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It?s fantastic. I am amazed how efficient it works  especially getting cold air inside the house in the evening. My new fresco home comes with 2 Quiet Cool systems (one in master bedroom and 1 in hallway). Last couple of days, when it gets little warm toward end of the day, i only need to turn on 1 system and the 2nd floor cools down after 15 min.
 
Do you use some kind of filter on the open window? The only drawback I have read is the amount of dust/pollen that may come in the house if use extensively.

I was looking at installing one myself, it's not overly complicated and they have models with wireless remotes.
 
Danimal said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Wow almost 5 years later and I have not done either.

Going to start looking at whole house fans again... would do solar... esp with mutliple EVs but that money is earmarked for other stuff right now.
Click to expand...

It?s fantastic. I am amazed how efficient it works  especially getting cold air inside the house in the evening. My new fresco home comes with 2 Quiet Cool systems (one in master bedroom and 1 in hallway). Last couple of days, when it gets little warm toward end of the day, i only need to turn on 1 system and the 2nd floor cools down after 15 min.
Click to expand...

My wife is concerned with the dust, especially when construction is still going on next door and we haven't done the backyard landscaping yet. Not to mention PS is a bit more remote.
 
marmott said:
Do you use some kind of filter on the open window? The only drawback I have read is the amount of dust/pollen that may come in the house if use extensively.

I was looking at installing one myself, it's not overly complicated and they have models with wireless remotes.
Click to expand...

Weird... I hear the opposite as it removes indoor dust and pollution from the home.
 
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