*non-reef* Attic Fan

[pk-sd]

Anyone has an attic fan installed in their house ?

I was looking at this product.

http://www.quietcoolfans.com/

I am hoping this will keep me and my tanks cool during summer.

[suver569]

I was looking at a house that had a similar, but older one installed. It really helped. I wish I had one in my house now.

[Skuzzlebutt]

I've got an attic fan. It's not the product you gave a link to, but it is similar. I does a great job of cooling the house when it is cool outside. Like in the evening after a hot day, when the insulation in your attic is doing its job and holding all the heat in even though it is cooler outside. It moves the hot air out of your attic and sucks in cooler air from any open windows. Problem is that it will do almost nothing when it is equally hot outside.

[pisces]

That looks interesting. I've been wanting to install a whole-house fan, but the ones that I've seen have been really loud. This system looks much quieter. Are you planning to install yourself or have it installed? Have you gotten a quote?

[traff]

Hey Pk-Sd
Whole house fans work very well though they are a bit noisy. They are meant to be turned on in the morning for a while before you go to work. You open the windows and all of the cold air outside is drawn into the house and attic (forcing all of the hot air out of the attic space). You then shut all of the windows and vents. When you come home at the end of the day the house will be noticeably cooler (and your tanks will benefit all day long). They do tend to be a bit noisy but only get turned on for a bit in the morning and then you turn them off. (It's not meant to be left on). They usually mount into an opening about the size of a hallway attic access panel.
The model you linked to is a very small unit meant to do just one large room (about 500sf) and not a whole house. For a whole house the model should be able to move about 2-3x the sf of the house.
Home Depot sells them and they aren't hard to put in at all. It's a simple wire hookup to a wall switch (ie....like a ceiling fan). You just have to make sure you have adequate attic ventilation so they hot attic air can clear out efficiently If it doesn't...it's an easy fix to add a gable vent or two.

It's worth the money,
Troy

[pk-sd]

Pisces,

Yes I did get a price quote from them. For my house (2300 sqf), I need to have 3 fans installed. Price including installation and California tax was $1395(if you have AC in your house, you get $300 back from SDGE). Not a bad deal.

But I am still looking at one of the larger units from Home Depot. It seems some of the new units are fairly quite. My next door neighbor replaced his older fan with newer fan and says it’s much much quieter now. Home depot fans are about $200 and you only need one per 3000 sqf. I might install that myself or have a handyman install it.

I think I can put up with some noise (not too much noise) for thousand dollars. Just imagine how many corals I can get for that much dough.

Troy, everything you said is correct also. Thanks for confirming my theory.

PK

[traff]

Hey Pk-Sd :D It always never ceases to amaze people when us managers at Home Depot actually know what we're talking about.....;) ;)

You won't go wrong with one of our newer fans.....as you said....they're much more quiet than they used to be.

Troy