The cooling effect of whole house fans comes from the air circulation they generate, rather than from any cooling or heating components. They are most effective when outdoor temperatures are lower than indoor temperatures, as they quickly draw in the cooler outdoor air while exhausting warmer indoor air.
Whole house fans which are large enough to create a breeze through the house can sometimes produce unintended effects such as noise, heat loss, and house depressurization. This can be improved with more attic vents and window area to replace the exhausted air. You must open windows.
How Long Will It Take To Cool My Home And How Long Should I Keep The Fan On? Part 2 On average you should run the fan for 4-5 hours to ensure the attic is cooled. The attic is what keeps the home hot. We always recommend the use of a timer.
Do not run your whole house fan during the day unless the temperature outside is cooler than the house is inside, though you may want to run the fan during the day to push air out of the attic. To do so, direct airflow from either the basement or the shady side of the home.
Extra Hot days (over 100 degrees)
On some extremely hot summer nights, it will not cool off enough to run the whole house fan while you are awake at all. Use your whole house fan system for cooling the attic on these nights, to maximize a/c performance during the evening.
For cooling purposes during the warmer months of the year, Whole house fans are designed to run whenever it is cooler outside than inside your home. This is oftentimes during the early morning and nighttime hours. Because of this, most customers run their Whole house fan all night long on a timer.
While energy usage will vary depending on how much you use it and what type of unit you have, in most cases it's pretty much accepted that whole house systems are less expensive and use less energy. Whole house fans can also be faster for cooling a hot home than most air conditioners.
ECONOMICS O F OPERATION
A large 18,000 Btu/h window unit air conditioner with an energy efficiency ratio (EER) of 8.8 costs more than 17¢ to operate for one hour. By contrast, a whole house fan has a motor in the 1/4 to 1/2 hp range, uses 120 to 600 watts, and costs around 1¢ to 5¢ per hour of use.
When running a whole house fan if you don't open windows it makes a loud suction noise to make it very obvious that there aren't windows opened. Make sure to follow these important tips safety tips when using a whole house fan: Make sure you have the 2-4 windows open 4-8 inches.
For a moderate-sized home (around 1,500 sq ft) with a minor repair on a mild day (around 75 degrees Fahrenheit), you might expect your house to cool down within approximately 3 hours.
Whole-house fans cost significantly less to run than a window AC unit. You'll pay an average of $0.01 and $0.05 per hour to run a whole-house fan compared to $0.06 to $0.88 per hour for the cost to run a window AC, depending on its size and the size of your home.
Monitor Temperature: Keep an eye on the indoor and outdoor temperatures. If the outside air becomes warmer than the inside air, it's time to turn off the fan. Use in Conjunction with AC: In some climates, a whole house fan can be used to complement air conditioning.
Modern whole house fans are quieter and better insulated, but they're still not as common. Today, it's hard for whole house fans to compete with heat pumps and ductless heat pumps, which operate more efficiently and deliver better cooling than either whole house fans or traditional AC systems.
Whole house fans can be an energy-efficient alternative to air conditioning in some climates. Combined with ceiling fans and other circulating fans, they can provide comfortable summer conditions for many families.
Whole House Fans should never be used simultaneously with air conditioning of any kind – central air or window units. These systems can both reside in the same home and be used to complement one another, but they are more relay partners than three-legged-race partners.
The primary benefit of running your HVAC fan consistently: Air circulation improvements. Running the fan more often means air in your home circulates faster, leading to everything from more even temperature distribution to faster heating or cooling.
It's best to run a whole-house fan all night. Overnight operation will help cool the home's structure in addition to the inside air.
Whole house fans can be extremely effective for improving air quality and comfort in a home. Designed to create better ventilation, cooling and air circulation, these units can be both energy-efficient and extremely effective.
Is a whole house fan cheaper than AC? Yes, running a whole house fan is generally less expensive than running an air conditioning system. Small whole house fans pull in cool outside air through open windows and exhausts hot indoor air through the attic or roof.
Open the windows and turn on the fan to keep the house at approximately the outside temperature. The moving air also will help cool people in the house. Close up the house and operate the air conditioning. If you want to cool a particular room, fully open all the windows in the room to increase the air movement.
A whole house fan draws cool air in through the windows and can bring down the temperature of your house significantly in less than an hour, depending on the external temperature.
Swamp coolers do not operate as effectively when there is humidity or cooler temperatures outside. With fewer components that require regular attention, whole house fans offer hassle-free operation. Once installed, they need very little upkeep, providing long-term reliability and convenience.