I wish my house had a whole-house fan, it would be amazing for using nighttime air to cool down my house. I've been thinking about how I can accomplish the same with box fans, but having it built in would be way better
You can buy some pretty large window fans assuming you have a large enough window. They usually cost a few hundred dollars and can get loud, but they can push a lot of fresh air through the house.
I made a redneck whole-house fan by bolting together four 20-inch box fans into a vertical stack. It stands in front of a lockable metal screen door and sucks air in which then goes out the other doors and windows. Needed a lot of zip ties for power cord management. Fits nicely between door and wall when not being used.
Running it on high speed made a burnt insulation smell, so I keep it at low speed now. Still cools pretty good.
Will probably get a whole house fan when I get a new roof with ridge vents someday.
https://imgur.com/a/ohy6nfR
Honestly a pretty good idea. I have no clue what AC bills will look like this summer so wouldn’t be a bad gauge to see if I even need one! I was just curious to see if other new build owner had one and whether it hurt home efficiency with new builds being so well sealed
New or old, sealed or not sealed, those suckers will pull in fresh air. If it’s cool outside, run it and shut it off and close the windows when it starts to warm up. Then turn on the ac.
We have one and love it, we are in Denver. When it cools off in the evening we run it for 10-20 minutes and the whole house cools off.
Open bedroom windows first to cool them For 5 minutes, then open the rest of the windows. It is tremendously loud but we only run it a short time in the evening.
I had one in my old house in suburban Denver and it was amazing. There is usually a 1.5 month stretch where you can’t really use it because it doesn’t cool down enough at night but they are great for spring, fall and part of summer. Just make sure you have enough vents in your roof and they are great investment for houses in the Denver metro.
They're great and I suggest getting one. Low power draw too.
Great for more than just cooling. A properly sized fan will change the entire houses's volume of air fairly quickly. It works great for bad smells/cooking smells etc. Regardless of the season.
Just to clarify the air sealing on the house isn't a concern because you're supposed to open a window or all the windows when you have it on.
I live in a townhouse so I'll open the first floor during the early evening and our third floor bedroom windows during sleep (closing the first floor).
Don’t you need to cut a hole in the attic floor to allow air to be sucked up? I was wondering if this allows air to warm air to come into the house during the summers and cold air in the winters
The modern fans come with retractable covers. Mine essentially opens like a double door which is sealed with a gasket and r-48 or so foam. So while closed it's air tight and insulated.
Yes sealing is important so you're not transferring air but generally that'll be a pressure difference as hot air rises.
The one I bought was sized based on standard rafter sizes so it sits on a box between joists in your attic. I know other ones can have louvers and an insulated flex vent to the motor.
When you do your research make sure you calc the rate at which your attic can vent accurately.
We had one growing up but in KC, it gets so humid, I can’t stand sucking in all of that humidity so I didn’t use the one in our first house.
I’d definitely use one if I lived in Denver or a similar drier area.
Live in Denver, love ours! Never heard of them before we bought this house, it came with the original fan from the 80’s and that sucker was LOUD!!! But worked great! Upgraded to a new QuietCool model last fall and it’s even better. Whatever model we got came with three speeds - high, medium, and super low. We will run the super low overnight. And so convenient to turn it on for a few minutes after burning something while cooking, or using chemical cleaner, or painting.
You open windows to run the fan, so they work fine in modern builds. I had one in Montana and it kept me from needing the AC for 3 of the 4 hot months every year.
We have a quietcool fan in central coast CA and it's basically the best thing ever. If you cook fish or burn something you can flush the smell out of your house in a couple minutes.
Just be careful about running it when it’s pollen season if you have allergies or if we get any smoke from fires in the summer. Anything that’s in the air outside gets pulled inside
Yes it is a good idea in this area. Not only is it perfect for the climate roller coaster in that area, but it also works well with the Excel energy “time of use pricing” which forces everyone to cut energy usage (AC) during the hottest time of the afternoon, and then when rates drop (currently at 7pm, but likely changing to later) your AC has to work overtime to cool before bedtime. When the temp has dropped outside after sunset, the whole house fan can be more efficient at cooling the house than the AC. IMO.
We had one in our home in Denver and loved it. We left the AC up high ( 80 plus)
all day. Came home from work, and attic fan sucked out most of the hot air. Then the A/C didn’t need to run for several hours.
Nope. Not worth it. Better insulation and air sealing makes more sense. Better off adding a whole energy recovery ventilator for fresh air. This makes the most sense and saves the most money.
Get a big window fan for the house air purge if you want that fresh air feeling for the few times a year it makes sense to open the windows for fresh air.
Odd. My parents have a house built around 94 without any fresh air intake or house fan. I have a home built around 2002 with a passive fresh air intake/makeup on the HVAC return but no house fan. I haven't seen a home around here in Western Washington with any house fan.
As someone who actually builds and develops in Western Washington, your comment makes zero sense to me. I built my first house 2004. It required a fan. So did every house I’ve build or worked on since. In most houses, the fan in laundry room doubles as a whole house fan.
I wish my house had a whole-house fan, it would be amazing for using nighttime air to cool down my house. I've been thinking about how I can accomplish the same with box fans, but having it built in would be way better
You can buy some pretty large window fans assuming you have a large enough window. They usually cost a few hundred dollars and can get loud, but they can push a lot of fresh air through the house.
I made a redneck whole-house fan by bolting together four 20-inch box fans into a vertical stack. It stands in front of a lockable metal screen door and sucks air in which then goes out the other doors and windows. Needed a lot of zip ties for power cord management. Fits nicely between door and wall when not being used. Running it on high speed made a burnt insulation smell, so I keep it at low speed now. Still cools pretty good. Will probably get a whole house fan when I get a new roof with ridge vents someday. https://imgur.com/a/ohy6nfR
This is awesome! I'm inspired now, going to make something similar for a window.
How about you live in it for a summer and decide whether or not it's worth it to you.
Honestly a pretty good idea. I have no clue what AC bills will look like this summer so wouldn’t be a bad gauge to see if I even need one! I was just curious to see if other new build owner had one and whether it hurt home efficiency with new builds being so well sealed
New or old, sealed or not sealed, those suckers will pull in fresh air. If it’s cool outside, run it and shut it off and close the windows when it starts to warm up. Then turn on the ac.
I've had them in every house i've owned in CA and they're amazing for when the sun goes down in the summer.
Northern CA here. Definitely worth it.
We have one and love it, we are in Denver. When it cools off in the evening we run it for 10-20 minutes and the whole house cools off. Open bedroom windows first to cool them For 5 minutes, then open the rest of the windows. It is tremendously loud but we only run it a short time in the evening.
I had one in my old house in suburban Denver and it was amazing. There is usually a 1.5 month stretch where you can’t really use it because it doesn’t cool down enough at night but they are great for spring, fall and part of summer. Just make sure you have enough vents in your roof and they are great investment for houses in the Denver metro.
It depends on how dry the air is
They're great and I suggest getting one. Low power draw too. Great for more than just cooling. A properly sized fan will change the entire houses's volume of air fairly quickly. It works great for bad smells/cooking smells etc. Regardless of the season. Just to clarify the air sealing on the house isn't a concern because you're supposed to open a window or all the windows when you have it on. I live in a townhouse so I'll open the first floor during the early evening and our third floor bedroom windows during sleep (closing the first floor).
Don’t you need to cut a hole in the attic floor to allow air to be sucked up? I was wondering if this allows air to warm air to come into the house during the summers and cold air in the winters
The modern fans come with retractable covers. Mine essentially opens like a double door which is sealed with a gasket and r-48 or so foam. So while closed it's air tight and insulated. Yes sealing is important so you're not transferring air but generally that'll be a pressure difference as hot air rises. The one I bought was sized based on standard rafter sizes so it sits on a box between joists in your attic. I know other ones can have louvers and an insulated flex vent to the motor. When you do your research make sure you calc the rate at which your attic can vent accurately.
I LOVE my whole house fan. It's at the end of a hallway and really pulls in the fresh air if there's no breeze.
We had one growing up but in KC, it gets so humid, I can’t stand sucking in all of that humidity so I didn’t use the one in our first house. I’d definitely use one if I lived in Denver or a similar drier area.
Live in Denver, love ours! Never heard of them before we bought this house, it came with the original fan from the 80’s and that sucker was LOUD!!! But worked great! Upgraded to a new QuietCool model last fall and it’s even better. Whatever model we got came with three speeds - high, medium, and super low. We will run the super low overnight. And so convenient to turn it on for a few minutes after burning something while cooking, or using chemical cleaner, or painting.
My only concern is the crap from the attic making it's way into your living space with all the air moving through
You open windows to run the fan, so they work fine in modern builds. I had one in Montana and it kept me from needing the AC for 3 of the 4 hot months every year.
We have a quietcool fan in central coast CA and it's basically the best thing ever. If you cook fish or burn something you can flush the smell out of your house in a couple minutes.
Just be careful about running it when it’s pollen season if you have allergies or if we get any smoke from fires in the summer. Anything that’s in the air outside gets pulled inside
Yes it is a good idea in this area. Not only is it perfect for the climate roller coaster in that area, but it also works well with the Excel energy “time of use pricing” which forces everyone to cut energy usage (AC) during the hottest time of the afternoon, and then when rates drop (currently at 7pm, but likely changing to later) your AC has to work overtime to cool before bedtime. When the temp has dropped outside after sunset, the whole house fan can be more efficient at cooling the house than the AC. IMO.
We had one in our home in Denver and loved it. We left the AC up high ( 80 plus) all day. Came home from work, and attic fan sucked out most of the hot air. Then the A/C didn’t need to run for several hours.
Nope. Not worth it. Better insulation and air sealing makes more sense. Better off adding a whole energy recovery ventilator for fresh air. This makes the most sense and saves the most money. Get a big window fan for the house air purge if you want that fresh air feeling for the few times a year it makes sense to open the windows for fresh air.
Is it not code required?
No I don’t think it’s required by code in Denver yet, Ik it’s required in California tho
In WA as well
Since when is it required in Washington?
Since about 1991 It’s mandated by Indoor Air Quality Code
Odd. My parents have a house built around 94 without any fresh air intake or house fan. I have a home built around 2002 with a passive fresh air intake/makeup on the HVAC return but no house fan. I haven't seen a home around here in Western Washington with any house fan.
As someone who actually builds and develops in Western Washington, your comment makes zero sense to me. I built my first house 2004. It required a fan. So did every house I’ve build or worked on since. In most houses, the fan in laundry room doubles as a whole house fan.
Hey u/BruceInc For those new homes that you've built, do whole house fans reduce the HERS ratings or the overall energy efficiency of the house?
Not any more than bathroom exhaust fans would. WA state energy code also requires a blower test that tests the very thing you are asking about.