Please Freep Mail me if you'd like on/off
Posted on 06/25/2008 11:31:20 AM PDT by Uncledave
Just a little public service notice for the renewables ping list and whoever's interested.
Now that summer's here and A/C bills are kicking in, y'all might want to be aware of some of the new models of whole house fans. Much better than the products from the 'olden days'.
AirScape is a good example. http://www.airscapefans.com/collections/whole-house-fans
A pal of mine just put one in and he's thrilled. Equipment ranges from just $500-$1,500 and a relatively handy person can install it himself.
I've no ties to this or any other such company. Just noting an effective and seldom thought-of way for folks to save on their power bills.
Please Freep Mail me if you'd like on/off
I’ll add that, if one shops around, one can find the sort of fan that does not require cutting joists for installation.
In Phoenix, for years, people have used swamp coolers until the monsoons come in July. Then they finally use their AC.
They have both units on the roof.
Thats pretty slick
Grew up with one of those down on the Louisiana coast; great way to improve your learning, since you sure as h3ll weren’t going to sleep at night during the summer...
The Solatube has been around since the ‘80s that I know of; had a couple in my home in Tennessee.
Work best in climes without much cloud cover.
“I’ll add that, if one shops around, one can find the sort of fan that does not require cutting joists for installation.”
I had one installed in my old house and never had this occur. As I recall, they’re designed to sit upon or slide onto the joists. They only thing that needs to be cut (obviously) was the drywall.
I just bought a modest-sized ranch and it has a whole house fan. It is great!
We put in a Champion UltraCool evaporative cooler a few years ago. Last week it kept the house at 77 degrees when it was 113 here in Southern California and running it full-time only costs us about $20.00 a month. Of course we don’t run it full-time or the house would get too cold. We have friends that have A/C and don’t run it unless it’s over 105 because they can’t afford the bills!
I grew up in a huge old turn-of-the-century house with two of those big rotating ventilators mounted on the peak of the tin roof. If they did any good, I never noticed it, the upstairs bedroom I was in was sheer hell to sleep in in the summer!
Those modern vent fans look like a real good idea for some climates. They’d be great for spring and early fall here in the South, before the humidity really starts to kick in.
}:-)4
My first house was in a mild climate where no air conditioning was necessary.
My current home in a radically different area does require air conditioning and it has a whole house fan. Using them both to minimize energy use (and expense) is a fascinating balancing act which, I am afraid, is impossible without a person being present, or an intelligent control system. This is specially true of areas where there are regular cool nights and exceptionally warm days.
The problem is that the entire mass of the house itself is a heat sink, so that monitoring both the behavior of the outside as well as the inside temperature are necessary to maximize efficiency and minimize cost. Of course, the necessity to open and close doors and windows at the appropriate times is part of the process.
My grandparents had a big attic fan. They didn’t get AC until the late sixties, and this was in the Deep South.
I agree with the “constant supervision” part. And one cannot train the goats to do it.
When we built our house in ‘01, we specified a ground source heat pump. Our power bills go down in the summer because the AC is essentially free.
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