Whole house fan questions

[Bpracing1127]

I am moving to garden grove soon and we are redoing the inside of the house right now (about to start in a few weeks) she wants to do a whole house fan and I don’t think it will cool the house down in the summer at all especially at night. Wife and I run a cold house especially during sleeping hours.

My questions are does a whole house fan actually cool the house down? Or is it only as cool as it is outside.

Keep in mind we are not redoing the insulation in the walls or lack there of.

Thoughts

 

[spectracular]

Had a 48" WHF made by Triangle Engineering. They are really good at creating a breeze, but will only cool down to external temperature. They are good when it is 65 degrees outside in the early morning and you want the house to gulp-in as much cool air as possible before the day-time heat.

Once the house was hot inside, it sucked as the AC had to try to cool the air, but also all of the walls, ceilings, furnishings etc.

Best thing is to do whatever you can to keep the heat out of the house.

 

[Singleton]

Do it, they work.
@Riverbound

 

[Socalx09]

Once the breeze starts in the afternoon and it becomes shady, I open the windows and turn on the whole house fan. It does cool down the house, but not ice cold. Probably whatever the temperature outside is. But, there is a difference. It doesn’t work if it’s hot outside still. The one in the house is loud as hell though!

 

[Riverbound]

I have seen quite the resurgence in demand for them.


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[Ragged Edge]

We live in west Garden Grove. Our whole house fan will only bring the temperature down to the ambient outside. It is the old style fan that is in the ceiling so it is very loud, when it gets hot here we use the AC. The whole house fan is just for when the temperature is in the mid 80's. If you want a cold house at night during the late summer I think you will need AC.

 

[FreeBird236]

They work great, but kind of noisy. Most of the time So Cal even in the summer should be approaching 70's by 9 or 10 P.M.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Its 93 right now in Corona.....if the temp drops as the sun goes down....I'll use mine. I dont keep my house super cold though. But I dont like a stuffy house. It's perfect for Spring and when days are warm in Fall. When I'm home in the morning on weekends....If I'm up early....I'll use it to cool the house down from being closed up all night....in Summer that tends to not have the need for the a/c to kick in super early....helps keeps the bill down.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

If I moved to a new place that didn't have one.....I'd install a new one. Look in to the newer ones that have the fan mounted up in the attic with ducting to the vent.....versus the fans that are mounted right at the ceiling. Supposed to be quieter.

 

[Mr. C]

We have a quiet cool whole house fan and love it. Ours is a true whole house fan not a room to to room whole house they offer. We love it. And is not noisy. To us. We use almost every night weather it is hot or not. It keeps the attic cool which helps in AC cost. Plus it’s nice just for circulation when you need it. I 100% recommend something like this.


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[WYRD]

They do work in the evenings to run for 15-20min helps push all the hot attic air out before turning the ac on. Thing I don't like about them is, along with the cooler evening air it also brings in dust and pollen at the same time. I wouldn't do one again for that reason.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Do the whole house fan.

It won’t work in the heat of summer. It will work in the fall and spring, or anytime it is hot during the day and cool at night.

Whenever it is hot in your house and you walk outside and think it feels nice, that is when the house fan will work. Turn it on and in about 15-20 mins your house will feel like it does outside.

For that size house is will be $1000-$1200 installed, depending on what model you get. I got the quietest brushless fan QuietCool makes, I think it is the Stealth series. Their Trident series is identical, just with a brushed motor, it is a little cheaper. It has the same noise level though.

If you want to come over a check it out next week let me know. Could use a reason to BBQ and drink

 

[Rbcconst]

If you do it be prepared to dust a lot. My last house had the one in the ceiling. Like someone else mentioned, quiet cool makes a nice one. Spend the extra money and by the ducted one.


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[zhandfull]

Use ours in the evening when outside temperature drops below 80 and also early mornings. Not only does it cool down the house it forces the hot air out of the attic. The house also seems to stay cooler for longer periods of time without AC after running the fan during early morning hours.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

My friend did the attic fan AND the whole house fan. He seems to like it. Attic fan is on a thermostat and operates independent of the whole house fan.


With a smaller house I don’t think it is needed.

 

[Mr. C]

They do work in the evenings to run for 15-20min helps push all the hot attic air out before turning the ac on. Thing I don't like about them is, along with the cooler evening air it also brings in dust and pollen at the same time. I wouldn't do one again for that reason.

Totally understand as far as dust. We use ours in the morning to blow out all the stail our air in the morning and then to get the hot air out of the attic before turning on the ac. Even when it’s cool out we use it kind of just a circulation unit. Also. Make sure u close the the fireplace flue before you use it. Just sayin.


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[Bpracing1127]

Keep in mind guys, house doesn’t have ac. I’m arguing for ac and the fan but being pushed to do only the whole house fan.

 

[Rbcconst]

Keep in mind guys, house doesn’t have ac. I’m arguing for ac and the fan but being pushed to do only the whole house fan.

Gotta have ac. If not i would do the fan. Trick is to check the outside temp before you turn it on. If its 80 outside and you turn it on you will be miserable.


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[LargeOrangeFont]

Keep in mind guys, house doesn’t have ac. I’m arguing for ac and the fan but being pushed to do only the whole house fan.

Use whole house fan $$$ towards multi zone mini split.

 

[Mr. C]

Keep in mind guys, house doesn’t have ac. I’m arguing for ac and the fan but being pushed to do only the whole house fan.

Then as far as cost. I would ( me personally)invest in the whole house fan first. And see what you think. Worst case you still invest in an ac unit and use the whole house fan as double advantage.


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[4Waters]

Keep in mind guys, house doesn’t have ac. I’m arguing for ac and the fan but being pushed to do only the whole house fan.

You are going to have to do both, the whole house fan will be great in the fall and spring evenings, A/C in the summer. We use a high velocity fan sitting in the front door and have it blow through the house and it will drop the temp in the house from 77 to 72ish in about 45 minutes when the outside temp is in the mid 60's and a whole house fan is way more efficient do to the fact that it also cools the attic.

 

[Cobalt232]

We installed one of the quiet ones last summer at our home in San Clemente. We don't have A/C and it helped a lot. Crank it on hi in early evening, then low all night. That being said, it was really hot last summer in the house during the heat waves. Will eventually add A/C as I really am tired of sleeping in a warm room as the years go by.

 

[Jon]

I am moving to garden grove soon and we are redoing the inside of the house right now (about to start in a few weeks) she wants to do a whole house fan and I don’t think it will cool the house down in the summer at all especially at night. Wife and I run a cold house especially during sleeping hours.

My questions are does a whole house fan actually cool the house down? Or is it only as cool as it is outside.

Keep in mind we are not redoing the insulation in the walls or lack there of.

Thoughts

Where at in garden grove? I have one in my house in garden grove and it works awesome!

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[OldSchoolBoats]

Keep in mind guys, house doesn’t have ac. I’m arguing for ac and the fan but being pushed to do only the whole house fan.

We have friends that lived in GG and no freaking way I would be there in summer with no AC. Screw the whole house fan and get the AC first.

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[Singleton]

Keep in mind guys, house doesn’t have ac. I’m arguing for ac and the fan but being pushed to do only the whole house fan.

You want AC in GG. I live 1 mile from the coast and wish I had it more each year.

 

[DWC]

As mentioned, it cools to outside temp. Works great at night, mostly when the sun goes down and humidity is low.
Quiet cool version is the way to go. The old versions may move more air but are loud as hell.
It’s a great way to offset AC cooling costs but not a 365 replacement.

 

[calkid]

As others have said the whole house fans work in the right conditions. They need to bring air in like a swamp cooler pushes air out, meaning, it's best to "crack" windows in multiple areas of the house to cool the whole house evenly. They also bring any odor, smoke, pollen, dust, etc into the house from outside. On a side note, the units that are controlled by thermostat are not a good choice. Most house fires start in the garage or attic. An attic fire will cause the fan to start due to the heat and pull or push the fire through the attic much quicker.

 

[Bpracing1127]

Where at in garden grove? I have one in my house in garden grove and it works awesome!

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West and orange wood

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

We have friends that lived in GG and no freaking way I would be there in summer with no AC. Screw the whole house fan and get the AC first.

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@Bpracing1127 Joe is going to settle this on the dock with you if you don’t get AC.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

They do work in the evenings to run for 15-20min helps push all the hot attic air out before turning the ac on. Thing I don't like about them is, along with the cooler evening air it also brings in dust and pollen at the same time. I wouldn't do one again for that reason.

If you do it be prepared to dust a lot. My last house had the one in the ceiling. Like someone else mentioned, quiet cool makes a nice one. Spend the extra money and by the ducted one.


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For this reason, and depending on what is located around you, they can pull in a LOT of dust and allergens (really bad for someone with a lot of allergies).

I'd actually suggest doing a swamp cooler instead. It'll give you some cooling vs a whole house fan that just makes the house ambient temps, and the cooler pads with water will actually filter out a lot of dirt and debris from the air which means less dusting and no excessively dirty screens from pulling the outside air in through them.

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[Albert]

They work buy the quit cool brand only I have six of them in my house they work awesome!

 

[Done-it-again]

I would skip the house fan if you don’t have AC and install a mini split in the master bedroom at least. Wish I could ditch the main AC in my house and just have mini splits.

 

[SoCalDave]

Yore in GG so close enough to the coast to get the evening/night cooler breeze. I installed a Quite Cool in my house when I upgraded my HVAC a couple of years ago and we use it all the time. As a matter of fact it is running now and feels nice in here. As others have stated you are drawing the outside are in so that equals to bring dust in as well. There are trade offs on most everything though.

 

[River Lynchmob]

Not a fan of them...if you don't have ac they can cool the house but only to ambient temp. If you have ac I wouldn't do it. The inside of your house will get filthy as you bring the outside air and everything in it.

 

[DLC]

I am switching to a quiet cool type whole house fan, I have a near new loud style whole house fan you can have !!! I think it is maybe 2 years old. Wife doesn’t like the noise, I love it puts me right to sleep!

Keep in mind you have to have attic space for this to work.

I would then looking into maybe mini splits multi heads - get a 4 head system- master, Elliott’s room, kitchen and family room done and high efficiency!

 

[BajaMike]

In G.G. You need A/C. If the house isn’t plumbed and ducted for A/C, get the whole house fan and get mini-splits in your master bedroom and the main living areas, and just turn them on when you need it. Mini-splits are quiet and economical and you can just cool the rooms you are using.

 

[Boozer]

They’re great if you don’t have bad allergies. I have bad allergies and ended up experiencing some serious health issues because of the crap in the air that the whole house fan pulls in.


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[scottchbrite]

We just finished our new house in Murrieta, in March, and I installed Quiet Cool stealth. I’ve never had one before. My wife, literally just 5 minutes ago, was complaining on how cold our house is. I will say be prepared for more dust but I have all dirt- no landscape yet.

 

[HB2Havasu]

I don’t live too far away from Garden Grove. I installed a Quiet Cool WH Fan and blew in a shitload of insulation in the attic a few years ago. It really helped A LOT!!! It’s great to cool the house down in the late afternoon / early evening. But if your house is like ours that was built in the 1960’s without wall insulation your going to need A/C to get it ice cold inside the house between July-September. The WH Fan will only bring down the inside temps to coincide with the outside temps. It’s not a cheap fix. Get ready to spend $10K+ plus for a Central A/C System!

 

[Jon]

West and orange wood

Nice. I live off 9th and orangewood

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[Bpracing1127]

I don’t live too far away from Garden Grove. I installed a Quiet Cool WH Fan and blew in a shitload of insulation in the attic a few years ago. It really helped A LOT!!! It’s great to cool the house down in the late afternoon / early evening. But if your house is like ours that was built in the 1960’s without wall insulation your going to need A/C to get it ice cold inside the house between July-September. The WH Fan will only bring down the inside temps to coincide with the outside temps. It’s not a cheap fix. Get ready to spend $10K+ plus for a Central A/C System!

Yep house was built in the 40s so there is no insulation likely lol. I think the most sensinble option is mini splits at this time.

 

[Cdog]

If you had to pick one you should go with AC.

I just looked these up. AC would be a better route

 

[Kbach]

I’ve wanted to put in one of the Quiet Cool Pro versions in my house but they’re only available from “authorized wholesale locations” (at full retail pricing) not amazon or any of the cheaper places online.

If any of you have the “pro” versions did you have to go through a retailer/contractor or did you find them online somewhere?

 

[Cobalt232]

We used this company to buy and install. https://www.comfortcoolfans.com/ Supposedly, their fans are better than the others. Who knows, it's quite and works as advertised. Used it for the first time this year last night.

Definitely get the 2 speed wireless remote.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

One of my clients is a rep for Quiet Cool. Can get you whatever you need without going through a retailer. PM me if you are interested and I will send you his contact information.



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[batterup]

We have two quite cool fans in our attic and love them. The only thing I had to do is cut about 6 more attic vents in my eaves, so the dust doesn't get sucked back into the house.

 

[Riverbound]

We used this company to buy and install. https://www.comfortcoolfans.com/ Supposedly, their fans are better than the others. Who knows, it's quite and works as advertised. Used it for the first time this year last night.

Definitely get the 2 speed wireless remote.

Their after sale support sucks.... I used them for a while because they were priced more competitively and the product seemed to be better than quiet cool.... big mistake. We ended up having to replace them with quiet cools because stuff broke and parts availability was non existent.

To be honest even quiet cool sucks as far as factory support but at least they are big enough that plenty of people carry their stuff.

 

[Cobalt232]

Their after sale support sucks.... I used them for a while because they were priced more competitively and the product seemed to be better than quiet cool.... big mistake. We ended up having to replace them with quiet cools because stuff broke and parts availability was non existent.

To be honest even quiet cool sucks as far as factory support but at least they are big enough that plenty of people carry their stuff.

That sucks to hear. Hopefully, ours will keep working well. Doesn't seem like there is much to break though.

 

[DWC]

One of my clients is a rep for Quiet Cool. Can get you whatever you need without going through a retailer. PM me if you are interested and I will send you his contact information.



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Thanks for the hook up. Finished the install a couple hours ago. It’s not a replacement for AC, but it is cooling down the house in a hurry.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

Thanks for the hook up. Finished the install a couple hours ago. It’s not a replacement for AC, but it is cooling down the house in a hurry.

Awesome!!

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