Kill Your Air Conditioner: Cool Your House with a Big Fan

August 17th, 2009 by Jeff Kart

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The summer of 2009 has been cooler than usual in the Midwest, but Mother Nature can still pack a punch.

August has seen some 90-degree days in places like Michigan.

When it get this hot, some people like to stay inside in front of the air conditioner (based on recent Twitter and Facebook updates). But it doesn’t have to be this way.

The air conditioner, I mean.

A “whole house fan” that uses the attic for venting can keep your home cool with less electricity (and for less money) than modern-day air conditioning.

My parents used to have one of these things in the 1970s and it worked wonders.

If you live in an area with cooler mornings and evenings in the summer, then the whole house fan can be a cheaper and just-as-comfortable alternative to refrigerated air.

The trick is to run the fan when the air outside is cool. Open your windows. The fan will push the hot air out of your house and pull the cool outdoor air inside.

Shut it off before the air gets warm outside. By that time, you should be enjoying cool rooms.

The Environment Report recently looked at people who are returning to this old-fashioned way of staying cool.

They profiled a couple in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that installed a whole house fan themselves for $250, versus the $9,500 estimate they got to install an air conditioning system. So far, they’ve been comfortable this summer.

Matthew Grocoff, with Greenovation TV, says a whole house fan costs about a nickel an hour to run versus up to 30 cents an hour with an air conditioning system.

His web site includes a guide to whole house fans.

The U.S. Department of Energy also has a “how to” guide for installing your own big fan (.pdf).

Whole house fans can cut cooling costs by up to 90 percent in the top half of the United States, according to R.E. Williams Contractor Inc. in Valencia, California.

(Image credit: At top, The Superfan, from R.E. Williams Contractor Inc. Above, U.S. Department of Energy).

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Tags: air conditioning, attic, Energy, whole house fan

About the Author

Jeff Kart is typing about issues in the Great Lakes, from advanced biofuels to zero-emission vehicles. Jeff is an environmental journalist and social media evangelist based in Michigan, where the summers are short, the winters are cold, and the stories are plentiful.

HowardG

90F … lemme see – around 32C a lovely summer’s day here in Australia. What’s wrong with you guys… girls?

Around 35C-38C is getting hot. 46C (114F+) got a bit difficult for some days last summer. But 32C… sheesh!
HowardG

90F … lemme see – around 32C a lovely summer’s day here in Australia. What’s wrong with you guys… girls?

Around 35C-38C is getting hot. 46C (114F+) got a bit difficult for some days last summer. But 32C… sheesh!
http://condo-blues.blogspot.com Condo Blues

I had a whole house fan when I rented a duplex. It was pretty good at cooling during most of an Ohio summer but once it got really humid/got up to 90 degrees in late July onward it was time to turn on the air conditioner or everything melted.
http://condo-blues.blogspot.com Condo Blues

I had a whole house fan when I rented a duplex. It was pretty good at cooling during most of an Ohio summer but once it got really humid/got up to 90 degrees in late July onward it was time to turn on the air conditioner or everything melted.
http://goeggsales.com/ Michele

In northern states I bet this would be great but in FL I don’t think this would help too much. The nights and mornings are still in the 80’s right now and very humid. We have turned to geothermal air conditioning which costs a little more to install but the energy savings plus the tax credit make it worth it! Here is an article about it if you want to check it out…

http://parthenonenergy.greenpress.com/geothermal-energy/geothermal-air-conditioning-an-interview-with-jay-egg-of-egg-systems/
http://goeggsales.com/ Michele

In northern states I bet this would be great but in FL I don’t think this would help too much. The nights and mornings are still in the 80’s right now and very humid. We have turned to geothermal air conditioning which costs a little more to install but the energy savings plus the tax credit make it worth it! Here is an article about it if you want to check it out…

http://parthenonenergy.greenpress.com/geothermal-energy/geothermal-air-conditioning-an-interview-with-jay-egg-of-egg-systems/
Dan

I love my whole house fan! I still have A/C for really hot days, but for most days this summer it has been great! I also have attic fans that are on thermostats and when the attic gets too hot they turn on to pull the air out. The big fan helps create really nice breezes. They can be loud though.
Dan

I love my whole house fan! I still have A/C for really hot days, but for most days this summer it has been great! I also have attic fans that are on thermostats and when the attic gets too hot they turn on to pull the air out. The big fan helps create really nice breezes. They can be loud though.
name

You mentioned Michigan, but I should note that this idea won’t work there very well.

Michigan tends to be very humid, and during hot times like the 90 degrees you mentioned, the night does not get very cool. At least, that is my experience having lived there n the west side for quite a while.

It’s a system best used in dry places with very high temperature drops during the night. Like in a desert.
name

You mentioned Michigan, but I should note that this idea won’t work there very well.

Michigan tends to be very humid, and during hot times like the 90 degrees you mentioned, the night does not get very cool. At least, that is my experience having lived there n the west side for quite a while.

It’s a system best used in dry places with very high temperature drops during the night. Like in a desert.