| Author |
Message |
    
jrg
Citizen
Username: Jrg
Post Number: 26
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 - 5:18 pm: | 
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Can't stand window a/c's and I can't afford central air. Would putting in an attic fan keep my house cool in the summer? My attic is finished and basically one large, open space. |
Jgberkeley
Citizen
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 4404
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 - 5:40 pm: |
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Yes, kinda.
On nice days you can suck the nice air into your home and vent stale warm air out.
On hot days, the breeze will feel better than nothing.
On muggy days, you will add to the mug.
All in all, they are great.
We even use ours on cold winter days when we have cooked a lot and the house just needs a good vent to remove odors and humidity.
Later,
George |
Jennifer Pickett
Citizen
Username: Jpickett
Post Number: 151
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 - 6:04 pm: |
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Our attic fan is amazing. I have never lived without AC before, and am amazed what an attic fan + mature tree shade will do. That said, I still need a window AC to sleep to keep the humidity down in August. Make sure the fan isn't too powerful for your use- ours broke our single pane window when we forgot to open windows, and also pulls air down the chimney. |
Eponymous
Citizen
Username: Eponymous
Post Number: 42
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 - 11:40 pm: |
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Don't confuse whole-house fans with those that ventilate the attic alone.
Whole-house fans are designed to suck air through the whole house and out the attic. If your house is poorly ventilated and poorly insulated, it may get hot on sunny days. This will cool it down to the outside temp. You'll need some large-ish opening between attic and the rest of the house.
Attic fans, OTOH, ventilate the attic alone, preventing them from getting excessively hot and thereby heating the house below. They're typically used in unfinished attics.
Obviously in both cases, the area being ventilated can get only as cool as the outside temp.
Window fans can do a lot to cool off a hot house or room too. |
jolynn
Citizen
Username: Unixiscool
Post Number: 6
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2006 - 7:19 am: |
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I have never been into AC. We found that if we use the whole-house fan in the morning when it is cool, and then turn the fan off and close all the windows before it heats up outside, our house will stay pretty cool through out the day. At night we set the fan on a timer because it can get pretty cold, even in the middle of summer. |
Sherri De Rose
Citizen
Username: Honeydo
Post Number: 50
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2006 - 7:53 am: |
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We bought a heavy duty window fan at GRAINGER. We have a bungalow style house with our bedroom in the attic and one room below. If we shut the room below door where the fan is it pulls all the hot air from the attic and most nights in the summer no a/c is necessary. And yes, as Jolynn says it can actually get cold. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4278
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2006 - 9:55 am: |
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we had one put in a few years ago and it made a big difference. Our upstairs bedrooms suffer from poor ventilation, and it got really bad up there. While we still need air conditioning in the hottest months, we don't have to turn it on in May anymore. |
Morrisa da Silva
Citizen
Username: Mod
Post Number: 350
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2006 - 10:48 am: |
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They work but beware if you have summer allergies. You basically pull all the pollen in throughout your house. We have one in our house but do not use it. We learned the hard way. |
cwalk
Citizen
Username: Cwalk
Post Number: 51
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 30, 2006 - 5:25 pm: |
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Our experience is that it doesn't do too much but stir the curtains around. When its hot, its hot so sometimes, we prefer NOT to have more hot air blowing through the house--so we deal with air conditioners. Our attic fan is gigantic and scary. Its more of a pain really and its so big we constantly worry that our cat will get sucked in or something...we do not utilize our fully finished attic in the summertime because it is like a sauna. . .I believe you really must have an airconditioner. |
dave23
Citizen
Username: Dave23
Post Number: 1289
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 9:02 am: |
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My whole house fan is my favorite part of my home. But, like others have pointed out, it has its limitations. It also depends on your sensitivity to heat. I bit the bullet and put in central a/c and have the best of both worlds now, after years of window units (which I also hated but needed).
I've never done what jolynn suggested, but I may try it. Keep in mind that installing a whole house fan won't be cheap and it's not a perfect solution. |
HOMMELL
Citizen
Username: Hommell
Post Number: 25
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 5:13 pm: |
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be careful that it does not suck the gases from water heater, boiler, etc. in the basement into the living space |
jolynn
Citizen
Username: Unixiscool
Post Number: 7
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 8:42 am: |
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I found it pretty easy to control where the air gets sucked from. I think if you have enough windows open on the first or second floor it won't come from the basement. I would also hope your basement isn't filled with gases. |
Winniegirl
Citizen
Username: Winniegirl
Post Number: 13
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, February 2, 2006 - 1:13 pm: |
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Aren't they a little loud? My neighbor has one and when we first moved in, I thought all of the buzzing was air traffic from newark. We don't really open our windows during warm weather because of the buzzing. Is it installed improperly? Are they supposed to be quiet? It would be nice to know if they could make a fix. |
cwalk
Citizen
Username: Cwalk
Post Number: 54
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 11:53 am: |
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maybe you just need some WD40 Winniegirl? Our attic fan is almost as tall as our 7 year old and of course it makes a great deal of noise. But we did add some oil to the thing and it helped. You have to understand though, the thing is massive, and old. There's gonna be noise. |
Winniegirl
Citizen
Username: Winniegirl
Post Number: 14
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 3:07 pm: |
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So, it's supposed to sound like a windtunnel? It doesn't sound squeaky, it's an incessant buzzing noise. Like one of those airboats (I haven't actually been on one of those, but I've seem/heard them on tv and that's what the fan sounds like). The house next door has been sold, so I can only hope that the new owners will do something about it I guess. Thanks... |
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