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Do you think having a whole house is worth it? Pros and cons. There is central air in the house. If you know anything about them, please educate me as I am clueless.
I put one in 20 yrs ago when we first bought our cape cod. Had if for several years before removing. I put into the 2nd floor hallway, spanned 2 joist bays (sat on the center joist) exiting into attic (of course)
1) Region is probably a factor. My belief is they are good for when the air temp outside is comfortable, but its just not flowing into the house (captain obvious). We are basically Philadelphia, and there are only a few months spring and fall where it seemed usable. And even then the temp could fluxuate enough that could only go a few days with it on before popping on air. then I wouldn't want to open up the house again cause I'd lose that coolness we paid for. ha
2) placement and getting it to pull from the whole house... the key reason I bought was to pull air into upstairs BRs. 1950s capes are notorious for being hot as heck upstairs. Problem is, the widest and most convenient air flow for the fan to pull from, seemed to be up the steps from the first floor (and the steps started at the first floor with the front door). I wanted it to pull air through BR windows, but it seemed most of the air was being pulled from front screen door, up the steps and out.... and still stagnant hot air in bedrooms. ha.
So my issues above may be more about our house style and placement (not that I had many other options for placement)
Last edited by bellmark; 12-29-2014 at 08:27 AM..
Reason: formatting
Live in Denver and wouldn't be without one. It was installed about five years ago, and it is extremely quiet, unlike the models that were installed decades ago when our neighborhood was built. In the evenings, we open up all the windows and run it for about an hour or so, which turns over all of the air in the house multiple times. The only time I prefer the air conditioner for cooling the house at night is during pollen season.
It depends upon where you live... in an area with high humidity you get little relief from one, with low humidity and a drop in temps at night it can be a good solution.
I had one in a rental in Atlanta and it was used a little. Not too often that we wanted to draw the more moist outside air in, but anytime I burnt something while cooking we would open the kitchen window and turn the fan on. And there were a handful of days when it Was nice enough out to use and freshen up the stagnant inside air.
I'm south of Atlanta now, in a drafty 1930's Tudor... I'm considering one for down the road, but I really want to track the number of days I'd likely use it. Plus, I have to consider there are ZERO screens on any of the original windows/doors. Since I'm keeping the windows and doors (next summer refurb project), that would mean custom screens... it just becomes a bigger mess.
I also had a swamp cooler in Denver that would run on fan-only mode (not wet the evaporative inserts) and would run that as the person above does with their central fan. Not as efficient, but it was there already.
I suspect it really breaks down to being a great thing if you keep windows open most of the time. If you rely on AC, then it's a waste.
My house was built in 1957; it has central AC but also has a whole house fan. The original one from when the house was built. It had been disconnected when I bought the house but I had it reconnected so I could use it. The spring in the slats is worn out so you have to close the slat panel by hand when you turn the fan off, but that's no big deal. At least not to me, anyway.
It's pretty damn loud but also very effective at moving air around the house. It was a godsend this summer when the AC kept going out and I needed to stay comfortable in my house. If you have one, I think you should keep it.
I love them! My house in Utah had one and even though it could get quite hot during the day, the temp did drop at night. As soon as the temp outside was cooler than in the the house, I would turn on the fan for a few hours. Worked really well!
Overall; the answer is no!
As most everyone has lamented too, depending on the region of the country you're in it could "possibly" have some benefit. But the benefit is a small window of time, and could be even smaller in areas of high pollen and humidity. Plus, as no one has mentioned- they are HUGE heat loss generators during the winter unless you have an insulated blanket to go over it. And you know what that means- two trips to the attic every year. One to put on the blanket, one to take it off.
My personal opinion- total waste of money (and time)!
It takes all of five minutes to remove the small grate (~24x24) of our Quiet Giant whole house fan and place a 3" thick piece of foam insulation in the cavity. The old-style fans may be more trouble, but ours could not be easier to maintain. We use air conditioning for a few weeks during spring pollen season and during monsoon season to dehumidify the house, but the rest of the time, we use the whole house fan to keep things comfortable at a fraction of the cost of central air. In the Rocky Mountain states, where nights are cool and dry, a whole house fan is a great option.
We put one in the ceiling of a central upstairs room in our old 2-storey Victorian house in Wisconsin. We're about 5 blocks west of Lake Michigan and the fan is wonderful at pulling in cool air off the lake on a hot summer night. Cools down the bedrooms just fine along with using ceiling fans as well. No need for AC.
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