OT: Attic/whole house fan

I have seen large and small ones. The large ones say they will cool faster, the smaller ones saying they are quiet.

What do you all think about them?

Friends installed one that draws through the bathroom. The idea sounded nice, but causes a wee bit of a problem when you try to close the bathroom door. It ripped the solid door apart, and trying to close replacement slatted door is still hard. Not to mention bathroom use is none to private with that slatted door.

I really dislike the noise of a propeller-type attic fan, so I used a large squirrel-cage fan from a heating/cooling system. You can often get them used from an HVAC/R company. I mounted twos sets of motorized louvers (available from Grainger campany) in the ceiling of the 2nd floor where the fan would normally be mounted. I then mounted a second set of louvers on the gable end of the attic and suspended the squirrel-cage fan in front of it. You have to make a "boot" from the front of the fan to the louvers to keep the air directed to them. The fan was hanged from chains and springs suspended fron the rafters, which isolates the house fron vibration and noise.

The fan set-up is a little more complicated to install than a normal attic fan, but you will thank yourself for doing it this way. It is VERY quiet, and almost maintenance-free.

Good luck!

Ron

The belt drive units are the better choice.

Get the largest unit available, hopefully rated at several times the square footage of your home.

Be aware that they need to be installed horizontally which is logical anyway. The bearings aren't suited for verticle mount.

I prefer to open windows a couple of inches in the far corners of my home to exhaust the warm and or humid air from all parts of the house. Opening one window wide open doesn't feel like you are getting any air flow.

Make sure your exhaust vents remain clean if they are screened.

I also recommend that you put a timer on the fan switch. Wonderful to cool the house down at bedtime without having to get up in the night to shut it off. Sometimes it just gets too cool if left on.

I haven't used an air-conditioner at home since 1997, relying solely on the attic fan instead---well also the neighbor's swimming pool.

My fan blade is mounted directly to the motor shaft while the better ones I believe are belt driven. I'm not sure of the pros and cons but I have the impression the belt drive units may run slower and thus be quieter even at full speed. Be sure to get one with a variable speed control.