whole house/attic fan

I am looking for a whole house/attic fan to help cool the house in the fall/spring.

I've done some google searches, but get lost in all the different fans. I've also looked at some of the big box stores and seen fans for $150+ and the ones online seem to go for $400+ to $1000+.

They all claim to be quieter than any other and well, you get the picture.

Can anyone recommend a brand/model that would effectively move air up from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor and out the roof on a bungalow house. Approx 1900sqft is the 1st and 2nd floor totals.

The area of the attic, where it would likely vent out has 2 average sized turbines.

I do not have any specific fan or configuration to suggest, but I would caution you about being sure of the correct and best way(s) to do what you want. I have tried using an exhaust fan blowing into the attic from the second-floor ceiling, and that turned out to be a very bad idea (especially since I have balloon framing). I might be completely wrong here, and maybe this is already your plan, but I believe you want your fan in the roof to pull air all the way out of the house.

I think you really want the fan either on the roof or a gable end wall. Either that, or you want a LOT of vents, or you'll be wasting energy and losing performance.

If there is an attic above the second floor, you put the fan in the second floor ceiling, blowing into the attic. Get a big one. Probably a 30" and get lots of horse power. A belt drive may be quieter than direct drive, but in any case more money will buy you more hp and more quiet, and more features like insulated louver covers.

I had a whole house fan when I lived in Santee, where it was always 100+ during the day. We did not have A/C then. It almost always cooled signigicantly after sundown, so that whole house fan cooled the place down nicely. Without the fan, the house which had heated up all day stayed hot and uncomfortable all night, and was still warm come sunup. The fan made it comfortable to sleep, and gave the house a cooling off heading into the new day.

I would suggest the $150 model will work, but may not be as strong, as quiet, or have some of the better features.

The way they work, in your case you would open wide some windows on the first floor and turn on the fan. It it most effective if you are in a climate where the outdoor temp does cool off in the evening and PM.

I am curious why you are saying in the roof or gable end. What happened with the house being balloon framed?

I'm not sure how "balloon" framed my house is, but I'm sure it has some of those characteristics.

I do have some attic space above the 2nd floor ceiling and that is where the turbines are located, which I would think would help really get the air out if the fan(s) were to be installed in the ceiling. Of course, I am curious as to why a few of you mentioned the roof/gable mount.

Jimbo, I agree the $150 model probably wouldn't be the best, but trying to figure out if there is enough difference to justify the difference in cost between a $150 unit, an $800 unit and a $1500 unit.

I also am curious how much a gable or roof mounted fan would help. Yes, they would keep the attic cooler, but I want to draw air through the house.

Vents, Vents, Vents

I can't recommend a fan but whatever you choose should be installed in your 2nd floor ceiling AND you must had vents (cut outs) to your attic exterior walls w/ screens on the exterior side. The more vents the better the air flow (out) Also clear away the insulation from these vents to allow the air to flow out.

Master Brian said:

I am curious why you are saying in the roof or gable end. What happened with the house being balloon framed?

Click to expand...

The fan in the second-floor ceiling pressurized the attice even though there were two small gable vents, and that pressure forced dust and hot air down through the outside walls and into the basement ... kind of like living in a convection oven!

leejosepho said:

The fan in the second-floor ceiling pressurized the attice even though there were two small gable vents, and that pressure forced dust and hot air down through the outside walls and into the basement ... kind of like living in a convection oven!

Click to expand...

NICE!! Hopefully I have enough venting....

Thanks for all the replies. I've almost decided on a fan by triangle engineering. A close 2nd is one made by Tamarack Technologies. The Triangle Engineering one, seems to move much more air which is the whole purpose, but it is solely designed to mount in the ceiling and uses a shutter that opens and closes. Supposedly their shutter kind of sucks, but I guess another company, Dayton, makes one which is a lot nicer. This fan is also belt driven, which everyone says is much better.

The Tamarack Tech fan looks to be direct drive, but it doesn't use a shutter, it uses a louvered vent, can be installed in wall or ceiling and the backside of the fan contains two large "louvers" that open and close automatically and are insulated. I believe I saw This Old House install one for someone.

Both fans seem to run in the $400-$600 +/- range, which isn't too bad. My thought is if I can leave the a/c off for a few extra months, they fan would be paid for probably in the 1st year.

The part I'm trying to figure out is how much sq ft of exhaust area I have. The Triangle Eng fan requires 12 min, the guy on phone said 16sq ft. The Tamarack requires about 3sq ft. That tells the differene in air moved. I have 2 turbines, not sure which size, but I read a single 12" turbine with 5mph wind moves 347cfm of air. With a 15mph wind that figure jumps to just over 1300cfm. Not sure how that translates over, but I have two of these and it looks like 12" turbines are about the smallest out there.

Anyone know the answer to this? From what I read a plastic roof vent that is 12" x 12" and passive would only yield 1 sq ft, minus the louvers. So if a turbine is 12" dia, that would probably be about the same sq ft. The difference is because it's active venting, they seem to measure it differently and place it under cubic ft.

Hope I'm not too late with this reply.........


This is, perhaps, one of the best units made in terms of power vs size, and it fits between normal framing.

Here's their web site where you can buy direct:

http://www.airscapefans.com/products/whf17

HE

fan

The closer the fan is to the discharge point, such as roof top or gable, the less back pressure. I was working on a house one time. The painters had just finished in all the rooms so they turned on the attic exhaust fan. The fireplace was open and the downrushing air blew the ashes all over the newly painted, and wet, walls.