Attic Fans vs. Whole House Fans
Read this tip to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Whole House Fans and other HVAC topics.
Attic Fans vs. Whole House Fans
An attic roof fan is not the same thing as a whole house fan. Whole house fans have large blades and are located in the highest ceiling or wall of a home or building. They work by blowing large amounts of air into a ceiling space. Whole house fans move thousands of cubic feet of air each minute, pulling air through a house and exhausting stale air through the attic to the outside. These fans can be used to cool a house if the weather is below 85 degrees and not too humid.
Whole house attic fans move attic air hundreds of cubic feet per minute. They work to cool the hot air inside the attic so the rest of the house can be cooler. Hot attics can increase the workload of a central air conditioning unit, so attic fans help take some of the stress off by exhausting heat.
Attic fans and whole house fans can be used together but need to exhaust air through roof ventilation. Install plenty of exhaust and intake air vents. If there's not enough air intake, fan blades can create a partial vacuum. Failure to provide enough exhaust ports will cause fan blades to spin, but not move air efficiently.
