Attic Fan/Cooling ???

[tmas777]

I live in So. California and have a 1600 sq. ft. home, no central air (my wife wants, I don't want to spend the $$$) anyway last year I put in a whole house fan(pretty large one), I currently have two whirrly birds and about 13 soffits in my attic. Problem- my attic in the afternoon is 120-130 F while inside the house it's about 80 F, went it's about 85-90F outside would more vents or a power vent get that temp down in the attic closer to 100 F. I did put in a window a/c unit in the living room to keep the wife somewhat happy but the whole house fan doesn't seem to help very much because I think the hot air trapped in the attic is causing my house to heat up in the afternoon. Before I cut into the roof and install another product I was hoping for some feedback. The wife thinks the whole house fan idea was a waste, right now I agree but with some help I think it would work pretty good here since humidity it's a problem, hot air coming down from the attic is...

[Proctologically Violated©®]

See the thread a little below, on attic ventilation.

Mushroom fan, dude, mushroom. In a 1600' house, may obviate the whole-house fan, AND ventilate the attic.

[beerguzzler50]

Do you have adequate venting? That will limit what a whole house fan can do. Also remember that a whole house fan brings in air from the outside....so when it is 90F outside, you won't feel a lot of relief...plus even when it is pushing the air out of the attic, it doesn't take much to heat that already hot air to 130F.

[<kjpro]

Why not just make the wife happy and have the central air installed.

Is she good looking?

[Heathcliff]

In the afternoon you are not running the whole fan, right? More venting near the top of the attic (ridge vent or mushroom vents near the apex) might help, or powered attic-ventilator might help, but attics tend to get hot on hot sunny days almost no matter what you do.

How are you using the whole house fan? If the outside cools off at night the whole house fan should work to cool the house, but it will take a while. You get cool breezes from the windows right away but cooling down the mass of the house and roof may take a couple hours.

Do you have insulation in the attic floor, to keep the heat from transferring to the house?

You might consider just giving in on the A/C or barring that, get another small window unit for the bedroom.

[Ashton Crusher]

Why not get an evap cooler and install "upducts". The cooler will cool the house and the upducts will cool the attic with the cooler air on it&#39;s way out.

[John Grabowski]

Something doesn&#39;t sound right. With a whole house fan blowing air through the attic the temperature should be tolerable for a person to work up there. I would check to see if you have adequate venting for the air to escape out of the attic. This includes plenty of soffit vents, a ridge vent, gable vents, and maybe some roof caps. Make sure that your soffit vents aren&#39;t covered with insulation or are sealed from years of being painted over.

[Bob M.]

How about installing a ridge vent? No power, no noise, always works....

[CJT]

If it&#39;s 85-90 outside, that&#39;s the coolest a whole house fan will ever make it inside.

[Al Bundy]

wrote in news:545f1$468a8271$9440c41e$30658 @STARBAND.NET:

Maybe when she&#39;s all sweaty or something :-)