I'm looking to reduce energy consumption. I was reading up on Attic
fans and Whole house fans. We have a "fan" button on our thermostat
that circulates air in the house. We turn it on when we cook so that we
can have fresh air from outside. Is this considered a whole house fan
or not? How is Whole house fan different from this?

Another question is, we have fans in the roof that rotate mechanically
(no electricity) whenever there's a draft I think. Can we install an
attic fan in its place that's controlled by a thermostat so that when
the attic's temp goes up beyond certain point it's on automatically?

Thanks.

wrote:
I'm looking to reduce energy consumption. I was reading up on Attic
fans and Whole house fans. We have a "fan" button on our thermostat
that circulates air in the house. We turn it on when we cook so that we
can have fresh air from outside. Is this considered a whole house fan
or not? How is Whole house fan different from this?

A whole house fan typically is set up to exhaust inside air to the outside
world. The "fan" setting on a thermo typically only circulates the air within
the house (if yours actually sucks in fresh air, you've got something like an
Economizer setup, which is very uncommon in a residential unit).

Another question is, we have fans in the roof that rotate mechanically
(no electricity) whenever there's a draft I think. Can we install an
attic fan in its place that's controlled by a thermostat so that when
the attic's temp goes up beyond certain point it's on automatically?

Yeah, you can do that, if you have enough gable and/or soffit vents to handle
the increased airflow. I think most studies have shown that you burn more $$$
running the attic fan than you save on air conditioning bills, 'tho.

OP here. How do I check what type of fan I have? If I leave the fan on
for an hour or so it eliminates the odor from cooking. So I think the
air is coming from outside.

Anyways, how do I check if it's "economizer" or just a fan that's
moving the air inside the house.

thanks.

A whole house fan is very powerful and when it is on it will create a
breeze, in your house, by sucking air from the outide via your windows.
I have one and run it every night in the summer and it is great! I
woul dnever own a home without one in the Northeast.

The fan setting on your HVAC system will just cause the blower to run. This
will balance out the temps in your house and probably make things seem
cooler. It will not bring in fresh air. if you run this with your windows
open I suppose it will help move and mix the air including some outside air,
around. This is not considered a whole house fan. It is cheaper to do this
that to run your AC.

The roof turbines are for venting hot attic air and work by convection.
Someone here may tell you about some temp differential between attic and
outside and living space, etc. I'm not sure what they are off hand. You can
keep your attic cooler, and supposedly, the rest of your house by replacing
the roof turbines with powered ones. The roof turbines need a way for the
air to come into the attic under the eves. If you do not have vents here
then the roof turbines, powered or not, will do nothing.

A whole house fan
First learn to do a google search.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...e+house+fan%22
The first hit I came up with found this...
http://www.wholehousefan.com/

These fans work best with one open window in the basement or first floor and
an apropriately sized exhaust vent in the attic. These whole house fans move
a lot of air and really make things seem cooler. They WILL pull air
conditioned air from your house so do not use one with AC. My grandmother
had one in her house. It was installed at the top of the stairs. She Kept
all the windows in the house closed except for one per room which was left
open only a couple of inches. There was a really nice breeze in almost every
room of the house! The fan was so string, as I remember, that it would slam
doors closed and pull off you baseball cap when standing under it (Or so it
seemed to a 10 year old kid).

The fan in the link above is equipped with insulated louvers that will close
when not in use. I remember my father would go into my grandmothers attic
and cover up the old fan opening for winter and the open it up again in
summer. With the one on the link above you will not need to do that. Also,
my grandmothers fan had a speed controller on the wall. I would guess you
can get a thermostat for one now.

Good Luck
-B



wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm looking to reduce energy consumption. I was reading up on Attic
fans and Whole house fans. We have a "fan" button on our thermostat
that circulates air in the house. We turn it on when we cook so that we
can have fresh air from outside. Is this considered a whole house fan
or not? How is Whole house fan different from this?

Another question is, we have fans in the roof that rotate mechanically
(no electricity) whenever there's a draft I think. Can we install an
attic fan in its place that's controlled by a thermostat so that when
the attic's temp goes up beyond certain point it's on automatically?

Thanks.

wrote:
OP here. How do I check what type of fan I have? If I leave the fan on
for an hour or so it eliminates the odor from cooking. So I think the
air is coming from outside.

Anyways, how do I check if it's "economizer" or just a fan that's
moving the air inside the house.

thanks.

Know where your return air duct is? Turn on your "fan" and see if the
air is being sucked through the duct or not. If it is, you aren't
bringing in outside air, just circulating it through the filter (and
after an hour or so of doing that, almost any odor will be significantly
reduced). This is the most likely scenario.

--
Grandpa Koca - SAHD for 6 - Keeper of the Perpetual Kindergarten
My opinion is neither copyrighted nor trademarked. It is price
competitive. If you like, I'll trade for one of yours.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm looking to reduce energy consumption. I was reading up on Attic
fans and Whole house fans. We have a "fan" button on our thermostat
that circulates air in the house. We turn it on when we cook so that we
can have fresh air from outside. Is this considered a whole house fan
or not? How is Whole house fan different from this?

The fan switch is for the same fan that circulates the heated air in the
furnace. While any air movement my help air move in or out of the house, it
is not a whole house fan. Thse are generally installed in the ceiling of
the upper floor and draws air in and pushes it intot he attic space where it
exits through the gables and soffits.



Another question is, we have fans in the roof that rotate mechanically
(no electricity) whenever there's a draft I think. Can we install an
attic fan in its place that's controlled by a thermostat so that when
the attic's temp goes up beyond certain point it's on automatically?

Yes, but it probably won't do much good.

snip

I think most studies have shown that you burn more $$$
running the attic fan than you save on air conditioning bills, 'tho.



Is this true?? Should I disconnect the attic fan then?

We have a whole house fan and yes, it will cause doors to slam! But the
breeze and fresh air it generates is wonderful. I have it on right now, in
fact. Eventually we'll have to turn it off and use the a/c, but as long as
we can avoid having to pay for that compressor running we will save a little
$.





My grandmother
had one in her house. It was installed at the top of the stairs. She Kept
all the windows in the house closed except for one per room which was left
open only a couple of inches. There was a really nice breeze in almost
every
room of the house! The fan was so string, as I remember, that it would
slam
doors closed and pull off you baseball cap when standing under it (Or so
it
seemed to a 10 year old kid).

look for a vent outside...

randy

wrote in message
oups.com...
OP here. How do I check what type of fan I have? If I leave the fan on
for an hour or so it eliminates the odor from cooking. So I think the
air is coming from outside.

Anyways, how do I check if it's "economizer" or just a fan that's
moving the air inside the house.

thanks.

I'll bet it recircs only the air in the house.

Another question is, we have fans in the roof that rotate mechanically
(no electricity) whenever there's a draft I think. Can we install an
attic fan in its place that's controlled by a thermostat so that when
the attic's temp goes up beyond certain point it's on automatically?

Thanks.[/quote]
Yes, you can. Tom

On 24 Mar 2005 09:45:16 -0800, rote:

I'm looking to reduce energy consumption. I was reading up on Attic
fans and Whole house fans. We have a "fan" button on our thermostat
that circulates air in the house. We turn it on when we cook so that we
can have fresh air from outside. Is this considered a whole house fan
or not? How is Whole house fan different from this?

Another question is, we have fans in the roof that rotate mechanically
(no electricity) whenever there's a draft I think. Can we install an
attic fan in its place that's controlled by a thermostat so that when
the attic's temp goes up beyond certain point it's on automatically?

Thanks.

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/i...nfattfan1.shtm