Whole house fans are great for cooling down your home in the summer, but did you know they should be used all year round? Whole house fans offer many benefits, from increasing energy savings to improving indoor air quality.
Here are our best tips for using your whole house fan every season.
What is a whole house fan, and how do it work?
A whole house fan is installed in your home’s attic. It draws cool air from outside, through open windows and doors, across the ceiling of your home, and into your attic. This creates a breeze, lowering the temperature inside your home while cooling the roof and walls of your house.
Whole house fans operate on a timer and can be set up to run for hours at a time, allowing for more efficient cooling or heating. They can also be programmed to turn on when the temperature reaches a certain point, so they don’t waste energy. Because whole house fans pull air from all over your home, they’re best used as part of an overall energy efficiency plan.
How to Use a Whole House Fan in the Summer
Whole house fans are a great way to keep your home cool during the summer.
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Use During the Night to Naturally Cool your Home and Lower Energy Bills
In summer, the weather is hot and humid. This can make it hard to sleep at night. You could keep the air conditioning on. Or another solution is to use a whole house fan and save on your energy bills.
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A whole house fan works best when used at night when the outside temperature is cooler than inside, and there is little wind. This is because a whole house fan works by exhausting hot air from your home and pulling in cooler air from outside. If the outside air is not cooler than inside, then a whole house fan will not work as well.
How to Use a Whole House Fan in the Winter
Fans aren’t just for use in the summer — whole house fans can also be used in winter.
Get Rid of Stale Air
Whole house fans are a great way to circulate fresh air through your home and get rid of stale air. The fan works by drawing in fresh air from the outside and pushing stale air out through vents in the roof or side walls.
This is especially beneficial in homes that don’t allow for proper ventilation. For example, if you have problems with indoor airborne contaminants, a whole house fan can help clear out unwanted particles from your home’s interior space.
Reduces Moisture Buildup
Whole house fans are especially useful during the winter when humidity levels rise due to colder temperatures outside and when your heat is turned on.
This is because, in winter, you’re likely to use more energy to heat your home than during other seasons. The fan will help circulate air throughout your home, lowering the humidity level.
In turn, this helps prevent mold and mildew from growing on your home’s walls, floors, and ceilings.
Vent Cooking Smells
Cooking is a wonderful activity that brings people together, but it can also be a source of odor.
The good news is that you don’t have to wait for the cooking smell to go away on its own. Instead, you can use a whole house fan to help speed up the process and eliminate cooking smells.
Turn on the whole house fan before cooking. It will circulate air throughout the rooms and keep odors from spreading throughout your home.
Extra Operating Tips
To stay safe when using a whole house fan, you’ll want to keep these tips in mind.
Close the Fireplace Flue when Using a Whole House Fan
If you live in a house with a fireplace and a whole house fan, you may have wondered if it is safe to use the fan.
The simple answer is yes, but there are some safety tips that you need to follow.
If you have a damper on your fireplace, close it before turning on the fan. This will prevent smoke from coming back into the room while you use the fan.
Don’t Use Your Whole House Fan When the Humidity is High
If you’re in a humid climate, you may be tempted to turn on your whole house fan to help circulate air through your home.
But this is a bad idea.
Whole house fans draw in humid air from the outside and blow it through your home. Unfortunately, this can actually make things worse in humid areas because they’re pulling in more moisture than they are removing, resulting in mold and mildew growth.
Want to find out more about whole house fans? Contact the HVAC experts at Moore Home Services today.
