Tired of high air conditioning bills? One way to reduce your cooling costs is by using a modern whole house fan to cool your home in the spring and summer. Unlike an air conditioner, a whole-house fan fits in the attic of a home and exhausts the hot air out of the structure by replacing it with cool fresh outside air. Because whole-house fans use a fraction of the energy of an air conditioning unit, they are an extremely efficient way to cool down a home. While whole-house fans are pretty straightforward to use, there are a few tips that can help a homeowner get the maximum benefit from operating the fan. Here’s a few tips on how to reduce your energy bill with a whole-house fan for maximum results. Operate the whole house fan when the exterior temperatures are at least 8 to 10 degrees cooler than inside. Since whole-house fans replace the hot, stale air inside the home with cooler outside air; it doesn’t make sense to operate the fan when it’s humid and the temperatures are warm outside. For best results, run the whole house fan in the evening, at night or early morning while it’s still cool outside. In the morning when the interior temperature is cool, shut off the fan and close up the house for the day.
When operating the fan open several windows. Since the suction from a whole-house fan is powerful, it’s best to open several windows when the fan is operating. Not opening enough windows means that instead of drawing in cool fresh outside air, the fan will draw air from the chimney. Open upstairs windows. For homes that are multi-storied, the upstairs area can be much hotter than downstairs. To solve this problem, open just the upstairs windows. This will allow you to exhaust the heat from the upper level of the home. Check the exterior vents periodically for obstructions. The air pulled in by a whole house fan exhausts into the attic and out the attic vents. If your whole-house fan doesn’t seem to be exhausting properly, make sure you have sufficient attic ventilation and that leaves or other obstructions are not blocking your vents.