topic Re: Whole House Fan Opinions in Community Chat

Whole House Fan Opinions

rockygems123 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 15:14:35 GMT

If you have a whole house fan what do you think of it?

We're considering it, have heard they reduce temps quite a bit possibly in conjunction with ceiling fans.

Next step is to find out the cost, probably not pretty.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

Still Raining — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 15:28:41 GMT

Back in the early 50s my folks had a new haouse with such an exhaust fan in the bedroom hallway. No AC then. All I remember is the noise.

Just wondering if it would be more cost effective to update venting/air flow and insulation up above? That can make a difference too.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

Sooner — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 15:38:25 GMT

My mom had one built in a house in 1983. I think maybe it ran twice. Problem was it was loud and didn't do a thing to get rid of humidity.

I'd think about putting money into a really efficient HVAC system and getting a good reputable dealer to do the install and the maintenance twice a year.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

proudlyfromNJ — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 15:38:28 GMT

@rockygems123 Yes we have a whole house fan. I can't take the heat so it didn't do me much good. We then got central air. I guess if the heat doesn't bother you that much a whole house fan would work.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

donovan — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 15:44:41 GMT

When I bought my house there was a whole house fan in the hallway. Very, very loud - like a plane was taking off inside my house. Didn't do anything for the humidity, which for me is worse than the heat.

I finally got central air, and had the fan removed and drywalled over.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

PickyPicky3 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:01:11 GMT

A strong whole house fan pulls in air from the outside at night when it is cooler. Does nothing for humidity. Not a good idea if your outside air quality isn't good. Not good if you're allergic and can't handle pollen.

That being said, I've lived with them and on the right day they're great.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

4kitties — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:05:30 GMT

We have the whole house fan. I do like it and we do use it, but it will not replace central air conditioning. As previously stated, it does nothing for humidity.

But on days that are warm with mich cooler nights, it is great. I can turn them on for several hours and draw in the cool air and it makes it comfortable for the next day.

The biggest drawback is they are noisy.🙉🙉🙉🙉

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

santorini — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:09:02 GMT

I've never even heard of a whole house fan. Sounds like it's an air conditioner minus the freon.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

4kitties — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:15:53 GMT

@santorini wrote:
I've never even heard of a whole house fan. Sounds like it's an air conditioner minus the freon.

@santorini

It is a large fan that is in the ceiling. Our has louvers over it that open when turned on. It is very strong and pulls the air through all open windows and doors and blows it into the attic and out the attic vents. It is only beneficial when the outside air is cooler than the inside air.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

4kitties — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:13:50 GMT

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

scatcat — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:19:13 GMT

@PickyPicky3 wrote:
A strong whole house fan pulls in air from the outside at night when it is cooler. Does nothing for humidity. Not a good idea if your outside air quality isn't good. Not good if you're allergic and can't handle pollen.

That being said, I've lived with them and on the right day they're great.

I agree with the above comment. We had one in the attic of our last lake house. We'd open all the windows at night and turn on the whole house fan for awhile. It definitely cooled the house down. It's not a/c - I wouldn't use it during a hot day. And it is noisy. They are not terribly expensive.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

Group 5 minus 1 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:19:57 GMT

"it's not the heat,it's the humidity."

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

kitcat51 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:20:55 GMT

We finally removed that awful contraption....it covered the windows, screens & every surface in the house with fine dirt & in the Spring there was a yellow pollen film too. After the whole house fan was removed we updated the attic fan, added additional insulation & installed central air.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

Carmie — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:23:43 GMT

We have one at our summer place. It's handy in the spring and fall, but doesn't help when it is hot and sticky. Moving hot air around your house through your windows is not that effective in keeping you comfortable.

It's great for removing cooking odors and new paint smells.

We mostly use the AC in the hotter months.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

santorini — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 17:29:32 GMT

When I read that you open all of your windows, I knew you must not be from the south. If I did that, I would have lots of unfriendly visitors (mosquitoes).

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

spumoni99 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 18:21:27 GMT

I have always wanted one, where I live it gets very hot during the day but at night we get a nice delta breeze. My neighbor is happy with theirs and they also have an attic fan. We don't have any humidity here but dry heat is not comfortable either.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

SilleeMee — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 19:26:54 GMT

I made the decision to go with a large attic fan instead of a whole-house fan. The reason is b/c the attic fan runs throughout the day (on thermostat) as temperatures rise. Attic fans remove hot air in the attic so it won't radiate downwards into the living spaces below. OTOH, whole-house fans are designed to operate mainly at night when the outside temp drops below the inside house temp. I don't have a need for that b/c I use large window fans which serve the same basic purpose. Whole-house fan vents are also an area of concern for air leaks during the winter. They are difficult to insulate.

There are good reasons to have both an attic fan and a whole-house fan in a house. It just depends on what your needs are for cooling.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

rockygems123 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 19:33:56 GMT

@Still Raining wrote:
Back in the early 50s my folks had a new haouse with such an exhaust fan in the bedroom hallway. No AC then. All I remember is the noise.

Just wondering if it would be more cost effective to update venting/air flow and insulation up above? That can make a difference too.

@Still Raining Looking into additional insulation is a great idea, thanks for the tip.

Our houses are about 20 years old and supposedly when building they didn't do the venting for HVAC properly. Changing that would be a major expense, trying to avoid modifying the existing venting.

My AC unit is relatively new at a couple years old, so that has been updated.

When I check on the attic fan I'll also ask about insulating.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

rockygems123 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 19:36:29 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
My mom had one built in a house in 1983. I think maybe it ran twice. Problem was it was loud and didn't do a thing to get rid of humidity.

I'd think about putting money into a really efficient HVAC system and getting a good reputable dealer to do the install and the maintenance twice a year.

@Sooner The AC unit is a couple years old, the venting system supposedly isn't as good as it could be on our 20yr old houses on the 2nd floor.

Attic fan and insulation is my next option I'm guessing.

Re: Whole House Fan Opinions

Nightowlz — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 19:47:39 GMT

@4kitties wrote:
I never heard of them either until I saw one in a house. It was really noisy when it was turned on. I could not deal with the noise so I would never invest in one. I want cold air so prefer AC. I can't deal with humidity. Before it gets warm enough to turn on the AC I turn it on to remove the humidity.
It's on right now because it's 94° feels like 104°.