There's been chatter in the office about the effect of installing one of these to assist in cooling the house.
Any thoughts?
How do these differ in effectiveness from whole house fans? Why would I use one of those?
What is a whole house fan?
I have an attic fan and when it's cooler outside than in it works great.
It's a larger fan than an attic fan, usually, and you mount it in the ceiling that is the floor of the attic. When you turn it on, it draws air from the lowest level of the house which is usually much cooler, and pushes warmer air into the attic. That, combined with the attic fan, really get the upper floor levels cooled down.
That's what I have. Thing almost sucks the cat up.![]()
They work well if set up properly. You have to have adequate soffit ventilation for the fan to be able to pull the hot air out.
A whole house fan is designed to move the air in the entire house, and can be set up to draft the air up and out. An attic fan removes the hot air from the attic space so less heat is transmitted back down thru the ceiling.
I find if I open the attic opening it can draft the air up and out more quickly than just relying on the soffit vents.
Wouldn't that suck all the A/C out?
That's what I have. Thing almost sucks the cat up.![]()