any thoughts on: a whole house fan ? (Denver: new house, contractor)

[OneMoreMove]

Hello all -

Quick background: we are fairly new to Denver and recently moved into a new house. Well, it's hot in our bedrooms and the ventilation isn't that great. We have plenty of widows, but without a breeze it's hot, still air. We're not much for air conditioning (it's great, but I don't think we need that much cooling) and a swamp cooler may not be necessary. I am looking into whole house fans which seem to be a great choice for Denver because it generally cools at off night.

Last night it was 65 out and 80 in our bedroom at one point! One problem is that we have a finished attic, so we can't just pop in a traditional whole house fan. Well, there are two crawlspace size attic sections on either side of the house, above the outermost parts of the second floor bedrooms. There is also a very small/narrow crawlspace at the very tip top of the house, above the sloped ceiling of the finished attic bedroom.

Very tricky. The good news is, the layout of the house is such that there appears to be a perfect location for a whole house fan at the top of the upper staircase - that's where the heat goes anyways! If we could get a roof mounted one it could work well.

Do any of you have experience or advice about this? A vendor recommendation would be welcome to! This seems to be an efficient, inexpensive (relatively) and long-lasting solution and since we aren't going for an ice-cold house it should meet our needs/expectations.

But, I've never had a whole house fan or really ever even tried/seen one!

[chilicheesefries]

We have both A/C and a whole house fan. The whole house fan is great when it still gets cool at night. It can cool down a house really quick and it is easy to control which areas get cool by opening only the windows in those rooms. Once it stays above 70 or so at night then it doesn't work as well since you're pulling in hot air. But the circulation can't be beat.

Can't help you with the vendors as it was already here when we got the house.

[OneMoreMove]

Thanks! I think we'll be ok with occasional hot nights when it doesn't get that cool outside. Looking at information like this it appears that Denver is USUALLY (but not always!) going to cool off reasonably during the evening. We moved here last summer and that was generally the case - if you had enough ventilation and didn't need to be 'cool' it was fine!

[Moonwalkr]

If you are looking to cool just one room then a ceiling fan and/or split AC unit might be all you need.

[OneMoreMove]

Actually, the finished attic room has a ceiling fan but it doesn't work very well - it moves the air, but the outside air doesn't come in. We have a couple of window unit AC's from when we lived in NYC but they are noisy and ugly, plus I am pretty sure they will use more energy than the whole house fan would use.

Looking at the inside/outside temps last night, I kept thinking 'if I could just suck all that cool air into the house we'd be fine!'.

[formercalifornian]

Last summer, we had a Quiet Giant 2-speed fan installed. It was less than half the cost of a new a/c unit at $1800 or so. Installation included cutting in new roof vents. The fan is extremely effective, and it really is quiet, unlike the older models that make the whole house rattle and sound like a helicopter landing on the roof. Our house still gets warm in the summer months over the course of a hot day, but at least we don't spend the night tossing and turning until the wee hours. The cost of running it is a fraction of a/c, and it doesn't dehumidify the air, which is the downside to a/c in a dry climate like Denver. You will find that the fan will pull dust/pollen into the house, so it might not be a good choice for someone with severe allergies. We found our contractor through Angie's List, but I don't recall the name. If you'd like a referral, I'll see if I can find the receipt.

[bogotrep]

As long as you don't have blown insulation you should be fine.

[Trash Can]

One of the main benefits of a whole house fan is that it pumps the hot air out of your attic so the heat won't radiate down to the rooms below. Since your attic is finished, a whole house fan may not be as effective unless there's a way to rid that area of heat.

I had these fans installed when I lived in Southern CA.

QuietCool - Whole House Fan System - About the QC-1500

QuietCool - Whole House Fan System - About the QC-4500

They were very effective at circulating air and worked quite well, except for the middle of summer when it just wouldn't cool down at night.

[maciesmom]

We have a whole house fan (older and loud)....it really does work well. If we were doing it now, I'd certainly go for the newer, quieter models. Well worth it. We try to keep our blinds shut during the day, then once the sun (and temp) goes down, the attic fan runs for awhile. We turn it on again when before bed. It really helps and I'd much rather have fresh cool air than the a/c (unless it is really hot out or if allergies are particularly bad).

[OneMoreMove]

I just went to Grainger and bought an Air King window mounted whole house fan. There's a window right at the top of the stairs to the 3rd story - perfect positioning. It's a simple mount so if it's no good I can return it.

This will give us a chance to test out the whole house concept without too much risk!