"Don" wrote in message ...
On Wed, 17 May 2006 08:01:27 -0400, "jd" wrote:

sounds like you need a couple of power vents in the roof. These are simply
fans permanently mounted through the roof, and attached to a thermostat. At
a given temp, they turn on, and start sucking the hot air out of the
attic/crawl space. They're not that expensive, and if you're comfortable
playing with roofing, they're easy to put in (if not, a general contractor
should be able to put them in for pretty low bucks). They draw air in
through the soffit vents, so convection is helping too....

I'll look into this. Who does this type of work? A roofer?


The whole house fan i s *supposed* to pull air through the house. if you
keep the windows closed, it will suck air back through whatever opening
there is - usually a chimney - so you may be pulling air back through your
furnace or a fireplace or some such, hence the soot smell.

I can assure you it is from our fireplace which we use in the winter
time. This home originally had no central a/c which is not that
unusual for Colorado. So the previous owners used the whole house fan
a lot. We installed central a/c many years ago so the whole house fan
isn't used.

Unless it seals very well, the shut-off whole house fan is probably a pretty big
source of leaks for your A/C'ed air. If you don't use it, you might want to seal it off.

If you add power ventilators to the roof, unless you have lots on inlet vents in
your attic, the fans will suck air from your house through the whole house fan, and
any other leaky spots that exist. With the kind of heat you are talking, there should
be ways to get good convection ventilation without the power. I bet a properly designed
coupola would do wonders. Ridge vents are supposed to be pretty good.

Bob