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Any one know anything about attic/whole house fans?
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flim_flam wrote: We have one and it looks like a pretty easy thing to install. It just needs to be framed in and secured. I would think your interior contractor would be able to handle it. Of course, you will need the electrician to wire it up to a switch. We like ours quite a bit although it must be a regional thing as I had never seen one until we bought our house in NY. We use it for two things: cool summer nights when we don't need the AC and when we burn something in the kitchen
Here in VA, my attic fan runs nearly 24x7 in the summer thanks to the attic hitting over 100 degrees by 0930 most days. I didn't have one for the first 2 years I was in this townhouse, and I was astounded by the huge difference in the summer--our bedroom is on the top floor and it took the temps down 15 degrees easily just simply through not allowing the walls and ceiling to heat up all day. Here's my take:
While you'll need a proper electrician to wire it up, have the roofer install it. GCs and "handymen" *can* install it; however, [assuming you're talking about the sort that go in the roof, not a side-wall] it's going to be a big ol' hole in the roof and thus offers water all kinds of opportunities to find new and exciting ways to leak into your house. A decent roofer will ensure it's an integrated (and thus water-tight) part of your new roof rather than an "add-on" that might not be quite as tight as it should be.
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- SuperflyPete
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SuperflyTNT wrote: You'll need an electrician as he'll need to fish he walls to install a new toggle or rotary switch.
LOL. Not an issue. There is no wall. There also isn't a roof or a floor. I'll talk to the contractor who is rebuilding the exterior wall and the roof.
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An Attic fan is strictly for the roof and used to assist with ventilation in the attic. A whole house fan vents from the house interior into the attic, and requires MUCH more careful sealing and a cover for when you are not using it.
Attic fans are not useful in all circumstances, as sometimes the attic ventilation is good enough that the fan doesn't help much. A lot of the ones I've seen DON'T have an interior switch but just run off of a temperature sensor within the attic, or run all of the time.
The idea for a whole house fan is that you have days with hot weather but cool nights, open the windows and exhaust the heat from the interior section of the house.
Any decent roof guy can manage the first, but I think I would find someone who knows how to seal and cover the second (Whole House Fan). Big, unsealed gap between house and attic = bad.
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