Whole house fans can actually save you up to 90% on your electricity bill. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) claims that whole house fans use up to 90% less energy than compressor-based 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.
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.
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.
Drawbacks of Whole House Fans
Air Filtration: They do not filter outdoor air, which can be problematic for residents sensitive to outdoor pollutants like pollen, smog, or smoke. Noise: Whole house fans can be noisy, especially if not installed properly.
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.
We recommend running the whole house fan all night. The goal is to cool your entire house down, not just the air. It takes time to pull the heat out of the sheetrock, structure and contents of a house.
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.
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.
Whilst 13p isn't much, that cost can add up over time especially if you've got multiple fans in the house. There are a couple of other things you can do around the house to reduce the need for a fan at night: Keep blinds and curtains shut throughout the day to reduce direct sunlight coming in. Shut internal doors.
The cost to install a whole house fan typically ranges from $900 to $2,500, with an average cost of $1,700. This includes the fan unit, costing between $800 to $1,500 or more for larger, feature-rich models, and installation expenses which vary from $300 to $800, influenced by complexity and local labor rates.
But first, here's the simple answer: 'roughly $0.19 a day — that's if you're running a 50-watt fan for 24 hours and the price of your electricity is $0.16/kWh, which was the average cost of residential electricity in Indiana in May 2023', according to energybot.com.
Whole house fans can help homeowners to save a significant amount on their cooling costs in climates where the nights are cool. New models like our CentricAir whole house fans only cost pennies per hour to run. Newer models operate quietly with the better brands offering an ultra-quiet operation.
For example, if your monthly cooling bill is $200, you could potentially save between $100 and $180 per month during peak cooling season. Return on Investment: The initial cost of installing a whole house fan can range, depending on the type and size of the fan, as well as installation costs.
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.
Why are attic fans not used anymore? Due to inefficiencies in relying on existing attic vents for air intake, attic fans have lost popularity. These vents often aren't designed for this purpose, resulting in inadequate replacement air supply.
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.
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.
Definitions of whole house fan vs. attic fan vary by region, causing some confusion. In a nutshell, whole house fans are designed to run after sundown, using cool night air to ventilate and cool your entire living space. Attic fans are designed to run on hot sunny days to clear super-heated air from your attic.
Whole house fans can actually save you up to 90% on your electricity bill. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) claims that whole house fans use up to 90% less energy than compressor-based air conditioners. During the summer months air conditioning can cost up to $300 a month from June to August.
For best results, run your whole house fan for at least 10 minutes first thing in the morning to bring a cool breeze through the house and into the attic. This will expel any hot stale air buildup from the night before. Then, close windows, doors and the blinds on the sunny side of your home.
The average kWh in the US costs about $0.12 so it costs about $43 per month, or about $520 per year, to run a fan continuously.