# Whole house fans?



## patti87 (Jun 24, 2008)

My husband and I are in the middle of a new home build in WNY.  We're looking into adding a whole house fan, and there don't seem to be any objective consumer reviews out there.

Seems some are noisier than others, some have a single vs. individual fans, and there are significant cost differences.

The home is about 2800 sq feet with a loft.  The plan is for a bedroom A/C unit and to use the whole house fan to cool as often as possible.

Thanks for any insight.

Any brands to use, stay away from?  Any installation hints?

--Patti


----------



## glennjanie (Jun 24, 2008)

Welcome Patti:
In your climate zone a whole house fan would be a winner. Our house came with one and the previous owner was thrilled with it; but then, the house was built in 1956 and very few homes had air conditioning then. They are especially helpful at night and in the early morning. Janie and I changed our house to a geo-thermal heat and cool unit and have discontinued the fan, mostly because of the normally high humidity here.
Glenn


----------



## rk_king2004 (Jul 5, 2008)

Prices ranged from $45 to $270. Most of the ceiling fans performed similarly on low speed. When choosing strength look at the cubic feet per minute numbers on the box to get an idea of how well the ceiling fan moves air. A higher number means more air movement. Fan with the most airflow also made the most noise. 
______________________
how to hang a ceiling fan


----------



## drakejb (Jul 12, 2008)

We've also been looking at whole house fans.  Living in Colorado, the nights cool down during summertime to the 60s and we don't have much humidity so it seems like we are good candidates.

I've seen some fans on the internet that range in price up to $600 to $800 range but claim to be much quieter than the older style fans.  The one house I was in years ago that had one of the older fans sounded like a 747 landing when they turned it on and I am not interested in having one that loud.

Does anyone have one of these expensive fans?  Are they worth it? How long do you run the fan at night? Do they work better than attic fans that blow out the hot air from the attic?  

I'm surprised that so few people in my area have one these but maybe with rising energy prices they will become more common.

Been lurking for a while and just love all the helpful folks on this site!


----------

