Are whole house fans better than air conditioning for the environment? A whole house fan can be good for the environment because it uses significantly less energy than traditional air conditioning systems. Because it is powered by electricity, the environmental impact will depend on the source of the electricity.

If the electricity is generated from renewable sources, such as solar or wind power, then the environmental impact of a whole house fan would be minimal.

Additionally, because whole house fans do not use refrigerants like traditional air conditioners, they do not contribute to ozone depletion or global warming.

Furthermore, by circulating fresh outdoor air throughout the home, whole house fans can improve indoor air quality and reduce the need for chemical air fresheners and other products that can have negative environmental impacts.

Overall, when compared to traditional air conditioning, a whole house fan can be a more environmentally friendly option for cooling your home, especially if it is powered by clean energy.

There is a energy price spike because of a surge in natural gas prices and could keep rising rapidly for years as utilities invest in electric grids.

The New York Times. By Ivan Penn. May 3,2022

Already frustrated and angry about high gasoline prices, many Americans are being hit by rapidly rising electricity bills, compounding inflation’s financial toll on people and businesses.

The national average residential electricity rate was up 8 percent in January from a year earlier, the biggest annual increase in more than a decade. The latest figures, from February, show an almost 4 percent annual rise, reaching the highest level for that month and approaching summer rates, which are generally the most expensive.

In Florida, Hawaii, Illinois and New York, rates are up about 15 percent, according to the Energy Department’s latest figures. Combined with a seasonal increase in the use of electricity as people turn on air-conditioners, the higher rates will leave many people paying a lot more for power this summer than they did last year.

The immediate reason for the jump in electric rates is that the war in Ukraine has driven up the already high cost of natural gas, which is burned to produce about 40 percent of America’s electricity. And supply chain chaos has made routine grid maintenance and upgrades more expensive.

What is particularly worrisome, energy experts said, is that these short-term disruptions could be just the start. They fear that electricity rates will rise at a rapid clip for years because utilities and regulators are realizing they need to harden electric grids against natural disasters linked to climate change like the winter storm that left Texas without power for days last year. Power companies are also spending more on new transmission lines, batteries, wind turbines, solar farms and other gear to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Rising Price of Home Electricity in the U.S.

By The New York Times

U.S. utilities could spend hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years to repair and upgrade grids.

Almost all of those costs will filter down to monthly electric bills.

“This is an affordability emergency,” said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, which represents ratepayers in California, where rates in February were up 12 percent from a year earlier and utilities are asking regulators to approve further increases. “If you want to control inflation, one of the things you have to control is energy costs.”

Natural gas prices have surged in recent months as U.S. producers have sent more fuel to Europe, which wants to use less Russian gas. Utilities in a few places, like Hawaii and Puerto Rico, rely on some power plants fueled by oil, which has also become much more expensive. The price of coal, which accounts for roughly 20 percent of U.S. electricity, has gone up, too.

The Biden administration has been urging the industry to produce more oil and natural gas, but energy experts say it could take a year or two to significantly increase supplies.

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Demand for electricity is also rising because of climate change. The National Weather Service expects this summer to be hotter than average in most of the country. People who can least afford higher bills could feel the pain the most because most moratoriums on power shut-offs during the pandemic have ended. Last month, the White House sought to soften the blow of higher bills by making hundreds of millions of dollars available for home energy assistance.

“Consumers are going to pay the price for this,” said Gordon van Welie, chief executive of ISO New England, the electric grid operator in the Northeast, where electric rates are among the highest in the country. “The reality is we’re going to be dependent on gas for a very long time.”

How Home Electricity Rates Have Changed Around the U.S.

By The New York Times

Even the cost of wind turbines and solar panels, which had been falling for years, has risen recently because of supply chain problems. But analysts said that over the next decade those renewable sources should help tamp down energy costs, reducing the toll that volatile oil, natural gas and coal prices can take on family budgets and business profits.

The problem is that building new wind and solar installations and the related power lines and batteries will have an upfront cost.

“Wind, solar and hydro are exactly what you need,” said Mark Cooper, a senior fellow for economic analysis at the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School. “We should have been much further along in the transition, which we haven’t been.”

Relying more on the grid

Residents of Massachusetts and other New England states have long endured some of the highest electricity rates in the country. Then in January, rates jumped again. And government forecasters say summer temperatures in the Northeast will be far above normal.

Comfort Cool whole house fans are designed to bring in cool, fresh, clean air from outside while removing the air from inside, significantly improving the quality of air your family breathes.

According to the Lung Association, effective ventilation may also help keep bacteria, viruses and other pollutants out of the indoor air. Research shows that airflow and ventilation can alter how diseases spread indoors. The more stagnant the air is, the more likely diseases are to spread. Like the lungs, homes need to be able to breathe to make sure that fresh air comes in and dirty air goes out. Indoor air can build up high levels of moisture, odors, gases, dust, and other air pollutants. To keep the air safe indoors, fresh outdoor air is needed to dilute these indoor pollutants.

Setting up our booth at the IHACI (Institute of Heating and Air Conditioning Industries, Inc.) trade show yesterday. The contractor interest in our modern, powerful and energy efficient Centric Air and QA-Deluxe whole house fans was oustanding. We received a lot of positive feedback regarding the quality of our systems, and attendees were especially impressed with our new two speed remote with temperature control.

A level playing field is described as “a situation in which everyone has a fair and equal chance of succeeding.”

A recent investigation by the California Energy Commission (CEC) confirmed that one of our competitors (QC Manufacturing the manufacturer of Quiet Cool Fans) was not abiding by this rule.

We recently learned that the CEC has entered into a settlement agreement with QC Manufacturing for “stating greater air flow and air flow efficiency data than could be verified by the Commission’s testing laboratory, in violation of sections 1606(a)(3)(E)(l) and 1608.” As part of the settlement agreement QC Manufacturing must pay $205,000 to the California Energy Commission and notify customers who purchased QC whole house fans prior to July l 8, 20 I 6, to address any concerns they might have with the air flow rate and air flow efficiency of their fans.

Since there are no Federal standards other than truth in advertising laws to specifically keep people in our industry honest, we are grateful to the California Energy Commission for ensuring that customer receive what they paid for.

We would like to thank our customers for trusting in us and we look forward to providing you with our ultra quiet, highly reliable and energy efficient whole house fans.

Click here to view the actual settlement agreement.

I have to say that my experience with whole-house fans has not always been positive. I remember almost 20 years ago, my wife and I went to dinner at a friend’s house near Detroit. The living room was getting warm even though it was cool outside, so our friend said he was going to turn on the whole-house fan instead of the air conditioner. No sooner did he flip the switch than it sounded like a helicopter had landed on the roof. Papers blew everywhere, and our previously calm, quiet conversation turned into a shouting match, just so we could hear each other above the din.

At that point, I would have been horrified if an HVAC contractor suggested putting one of those beasts in our house. But times have changed, and now I strongly recommend them. The new style of ducted whole house fan designs are smarter, and thankfully much quieter. The problem is that many HVAC contractors just don’t offer these types of products to their customers.

SIMPLE CONCEPT

A whole-house fan is a fairly simple device. The fan is mounted in the ceiling of a central hallway (in the top floor of a two-story house) and draws cool outside air in through open doors and windows while forcing the hottest indoor air out the existing intake and exhaust vents on the roof. This cycle creates a comfortable living environment and reduces the air conditioning load for the next day.

A whole-house fan is effective whenever the outside temperature is lower than the indoor temperature, which is usually in the evenings and at night. It typically uses a fraction of the energy of air conditioning, which means drastically lower energy bills for the typical residence.

In dry desert climates, a whole-house fan is a no-brainer, as it can minimize or nearly eliminate the need for air conditioning completely. What many people don’t realize, however, is that even in most other areas of the United States, you can use it in conjunction with your a/c to significantly reduce your energy consumption.”

Several years ago a study was done on whole-house fans in Florida, and the conclusion was that, while they can increase humidity, fans reduce the temperature in a home. The study involved 384 single-family homes, apartments, and condos, and it showed that by using natural ventilation instead of air conditioning, 777 kWh was saved. So if you can use a fan, it does reduce the air conditioning costs wherever you are.

Obviously, the warmer and more humid the evening air, the less effective natural cooling becomes; however, whole-house fans are often used successfully to complement air conditioning systems. Most fan manufacturers like CentricAir state that as long as the outside temperature is below 72°F, a whole-house fan can effectively cool a home.

NEW DESIGNS, EASIER INSTALLATION

The traditional whole-house fan is fairly large and noisier than small fans, but can move between 4,000 and 7,000 cfm of air. This type of fan is installed in the ceiling, and louvers open when the fan is turned on. Newer whole house fan designs are available that have a flow range between 1,000 and 4,000 cfm.

The real distinction between the two is if people want to feel a breeze moving through the house, then they need to get the bigger fans. If they want to cool the house down slowly over a longer period of time, then the smaller fans work great. They’re quieter and more energy efficient, but they won’t create the kind of breeze that a 7,000-cfm fan will.

Besides being significantly quieter, some new whole house fans have motorized, insulated, sealed damper doors; no framing is required during installation; and a smaller fan running all night long will use much less energy compared to air conditioning. In addition, the house will be cooler in the morning.

The one major requirement for a whole-house fan is that the home has to have an attic with a certain amount of clearance, noted Paul Scelsi, training and communications manager, Air Vent, Dallas. “The installation instructions of the various models and brands make that clear.”

In addition, a home must have a sufficient amount of attic ventilation in order to exhaust the air. If there is not enough ventilating, the resulting positive pressure will force hot, dusty attic air back into the house through light fixtures and other cracks.

CHANGING MARKET

So if a whole-house fan saves energy, improves IAQ, offers a quick payback to customers, and increases a homeowner’s comfort level, why aren’t more HVAC contractors offering these products to customers? It’s difficult to say. Perhaps it’s an issue of education – both the contractor’s and the homeowner’s – or maybe it’s price, as the new whole house fans are substantially more expensive than the traditional models. What is known is that the other trades are making money installing whole-house fans in residential applications.

Right now, it’s the electricians who are usually putting in the whole-house fans. It would be a very profitable service for heating and cooling contractors to offer, because they’re already in a house and the fans can help make any air conditioning system work better.

And all contractors know that any type of differentiation from the competition is a good thing.

Sidebar: Attic Fans?

There’s a big difference between a whole-house fan and an attic fan. Attic fans are designed to ventilate the attic space only, while whole-house fans are designed to ventilate the living space within a home.

The Home Ventilating Institute (www.hvi.org) refers to whole-house fans as whole-house comfort ventilators, and they are designed to bring in cooler outside air, draw it through the house, and push the house air out through the attic vents.

Whole house fans cool homes very efficiently in most areas of the country. But older style fans have come under fire for creating leaks into the attic, causing potential depressurization problems and being very noisy.

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The Whole House Fan Man explains the features and the differences between the CentricAir and Quiet Cool.

The Whole House Fan Man explains the features and the differences between the CentricAir and Quiet Cool whole house fan damper inlet boxes.

The Whole House Fan Man explains the features and the differences between the CentricAir and Quiet Cool whole house fan 2-speed operation

Whole house fans are ideal for cooling homes, particularly where cross-ventilation design is inadequate.

The whole of house fans should be positioned centrally, e.g. stairwell or hallways.

Typically, a single fan unit is installed in a circulation space in the center of the house (hallway or stairwell) to draw cooler outside air into the building through open windows in selected rooms, when conditions are suitable. It then exhausts the warm air through eaves, roof or gable vents. This also cools the attic space and reduces any temperature differential across ceiling insulation.

You should not operate the system when external air temperatures are higher than internal.

Traditional whole house fans can be noisy; however, the newer style ducted whole house fans like those from Centric Air are extremely quiet and designed to operate throughout the night provided the windows and doors are left open for circulation. On still nights this can be more effective than air conditioning for night-time sleeping comfort.