Chris (SilverUnicorn) wrote:
Hello again!
I ran a search, and I am nor confused than ever, plus I have some
other info from a contractor.
We have a 2 story, 2400 square foot "modern colonial" home (from what
I am told). LOL
Here is a picture of the house for reference:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/4...09fe48e7_o.jpg
Our attic is insulated, with blown-in insulation. There is no storage
in the attic, and access is through a small access in our We have
ridge vents on the roof, with no other ventilation for the attic. We
were considering installing a whole house fan or maybe even an attic
fan. Are either of these a better option than the other? We would like
to lower the temperature of the house when it's cool outside (70-75
degrees) but warm inside (79-88 degrees).
I spoke with a friend who is a contractor. He seemed to thin an atic
fan without gable vents would not be effective, and that a whole house
fan would not give us the result we desire. Can anyone else inout on
this?
You're thinking of sucking air in through a window or windows of the house,
right? In that case, you also have to have an exit for the hot air. The
ridge vent might suffice for a whole house fan assuming the vent area is
great enough.
For an attic fan, you also would have to have a way for air to get from the
lower house to the attic...opening a ceiling trap door would work but having
to open and close it would be a nuisance. Basically, as I understand it,
attic fans aren't meant to suck air from lower storeys but from the eaves
thus cooling the attic. I'd want gable vents too for that. The cooling
effect on the living area would depend largely on the effectiveness of the
insulation between it and attic...effective insulation = little cooling.
When I was in college I had a railroad apartment - full width living room,
hall from it to back, other rooms opening off the hall. Air conditioning
was uncommon and it was hot so I put a window fan in the front window,
opened one in the back. Worked well, nice breeze and the breeze was
controllable simply by closing/opening a window where the breeze was wanted.
Almost 50 years later when we built a house I remembered how effective that
window fan was and put in two "whole house" fans...one in the house, one in
my shop. Both work very well but we never use the one in the house because
of the noise. Lots of noise. Freight train type noise. The one in the
shop I use a good bit because there is generally already a lot of noise and
it helps get rid of wood particles in the air (it vents into a small, closed
area with a gable vent in the attic)
In short, I'm thinking a couple of window fans might work better for you.
..
--
dadiOH
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