Ok, I just had a new roof with a ridge vent installed on my Cape, along with
new siding and perforated soffit vents. There are also gable vents on either
end.

Because of the configuration of the upstairs hallway, installing a whole
house fan will be difficult (and I don't want to put it in one of the
bedrooms). Also, I understand that whole house fans do a good job of pulling
in HUMID cool air, as well as being noisey.

I'm interested in a gable fan - cooling the attic space, and leaving my dry
air conditioned air alone on the second floor.

Is there any danger of the fan pulling in rain water through the ridge vent?
Are they typically a low amp type of deal - meaning could it be wired into
an existing outlet near by, or does it need it's own dedicated circuit?

Also, somebody said I shouldn't even have gable vents anymore, as there is
supposed to be a flow between the soffit and ridge vents - and the gable
vent will eliminate that. Should I just have one gable vent with a fan and
cap the other one?

Thanks

-CF

Thought this was a discussion on Clark Gable.

The concept on how you move air thru your attic are sort of
complicated, I got intot his once before. The system needs to be
analyzed as a system, you can't be sure of what the exact impact of a
fan would be. Basically with proper ridge vent and soffit vents etc I
would not think you'd need a fn to move more air, that's what the
passive system does. Whoever did your work could probably help you
understand what your options are.

Whole house fans are used in the summer (esp in the evening) to pull
air from the living area up into the attic, the concept being that the
windows below are left open. A cheap way to coll the house in the
evening, when the inside temp will be higher than the outside. Not as
useful if you prefer a/c but much cheaper to run than a/c and get the
temp down,say, 10 degrees by bringing in cooler outside air.