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Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
1,544 posts, read 3,597,735 times
Reputation: 1243
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928
I had an attic fan in every house I grew up in.... they were awesome... something like 36" diameter... I would think that, with you living in the Southwest, however, you would have gone with a swamp (evaporative) cooler....
Never heard of these so I looked it up. It would be more appropriate for those areas dryer than where I live; maybe NM, AZ and west TX. Plus the added water required would not be good in my area since humidity is moderate to high most of the time.
I had an attic fan in every house I grew up in.... they were awesome... something like 36" diameter... I would think that, with you living in the Southwest, however, you would have gone with a swamp (evaporative) cooler....
Swamp coolers are not effective in hot and damp environments like in the East, but are ideally suited to dry and hot ones.
Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
1,544 posts, read 3,597,735 times
Reputation: 1243
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyewrist
I read a discussion on whole house attic fans last year on CD. I remembered my great Aunt had one in her home in Louisiana and how comfortable it was during the night. I bought one last year and my handyman installed it in November 2011. Now 2012 and I must say it was a great investment! I turn it on late at night and early morning (5AM) and let it run a couple of hours. I close the house up and when I get back around 6PM the house is still cool; very cool. One of my friends came over and commented that it felt as if I had the AC on...I have'nt turned it on yet and I live in the Southwest but I must admit it's been cool this Spring during the nights and I do have trees in the yard so that also contributed to the coldness also. Electric bill was $54 in a 2000 sq ft, 30 year old home; this is a great investment.
PS
Do the basic stuff first before getting one though (i.e. storm windows or rechaulk your windows, screen doors and attic insulation) Alll contribute to the cost saving.
Summer 2013 UPDATE
The attic fan is still doing the job. This morning the temp outside was 66 degrees at 5AM which is truely unusual for this time of year in the SW. With the AC the temp inside my home was 77 degrees. I decided to utilize the outside air and turned on the attic fan. After 15 to 20 minutes the house began to drop in temp until it reach 73 degrees and kept it cool until 11:00 when I left. Last month's bill was $65... I don't regret purchasing this WH attic fan.
The attic fan is still doing the job. This morning the temp outside was 66 degrees at 5AM which is truely unusual for this time of year in the SW. With the AC the temp inside my home was 77 degrees. I decided to utilize the outside air and turned on the attic fan. After 15 to 20 minutes the house began to drop in temp until it reach 73 degrees and kept it cool until 11:00 when I left. Last month's bill was $65... I don't regret purchasing this WH attic fan.
We use ours in a similar way. During the day it is in the high 80's to 90 something. We use the A/C. When the outside temp lowers to 75 we shut off the A/C and open just two windows and turn on the attic fan. The fan is on usually all night, pulling all the remaining hot air from out of the house. Our house has regional air conditioning so we can use it in only part of the house if we wish. The fan is on the roof and set with a thermostat that makes it shut off automatically if the attic crawl space gets below 80.
The term "whole house" attic fan seems odd to me. We have had an attic fan for many years (27 to be exact), but it's just the attic fan, not the "whole house" attic fan. I mean, it's in the hall and it pulls air through every room in the house, but I thought that's just what attic fans were supposed to do.
Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
1,544 posts, read 3,597,735 times
Reputation: 1243
Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne
The term "whole house" attic fan seems odd to me. We have had an attic fan for many years (27 to be exact), but it's just the attic fan, not the "whole house" attic fan. I mean, it's in the hall and it pulls air through every room in the house, but I thought that's just what attic fans were supposed to do.
Yes it confuses a lot of people so several of us tried to explain the differences (new names) in this post previously. Many people are unfamilar with the traditional attic fan (aka whole house attic fan) and the great benefit of having one in the home.
Just giving an update on how it is working in my home after a little over a year of installation.
We had a whole house fan in our eastern Maryland home and it was great during the spring months.
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