Attic Fan Cooling strategy

Whole house fans are noisy, I live in a ranch 1800 sq ft upstairs, I put the
fan in the mud room away from the bedrooms and hallway.

The mud room is on the other end of the house, with the windows open on the
opposite end it does the job, and I don't have to listen to the noise.
Tom
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Depends on your area and situation.

In hot, muggy Georgia I lived in a house that had a fan in the
attic four feed in diameter. We ran it all night, shut it off during
the day. Windows open at night and closed during the day. It was
cool in the house almost all the time without using air conditioning.
Evenings were sometimes a problem, but not much.

If your house in in the shade or you provide shade for the
windows, you would probably be wise to close windows during the day
and open them at night. It also depends on what's going on in the
house during the day. If no one is home, it probably works best to
shut the windows. If a lot of people are home and doing active
things, they are generating heat, which must be vented out.

If windows are not shaded, provide some. Shade them outside
with a live air space between the shade and the window.

Try different approaches and see what works.

The attic fan the poster is referring to is also called a 'whole house' fan.
It is located in the ceiling of the upstairs so that when on, it vents the
hot air into the attic. The fan is usually 3-5 feet in diameter. The attic
also will have added openings to vent the air outside.

I installed one in the hallway (raised ranch floorplan). We turn
it on right after sundown. The air outside is much cooler at that
point (usually) than inside. We just open the windows of the
rooms we want to cool off.
--

Ed J
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In Utah we prominently use Swamp Coolers. I noticed after using them
for too long the air became very humid. I learned a trick that works
well. I???m not familiar with the attic fan you mention. I???m only
familiar with attic fans that keep airflow steady in the rafters.

A small low voltage fan is all you need on one or two windows upstairs.
Shut the basement windows during the day and open them a crack at night.
Then during the day I place a fan on low speed situated directly against
the window opening. The fan is blowing air OUT the window. This
creates a subtle draft pulling cool air from below to the upper floor.

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Some variation of the above two. Play with the window openings for best
results. Unused rooms should be closed or nearly so while the used rooms
will have the most window opening.

You may want some air coming in downstairs even though you are not using it
at the moment, it will be cooler in the AM. Most times, opening a window
far away allows the air path to wind through and up the stairs and out.
Remember though, that is air not being pulled through the bedrooms.

Depends on the temperature. Many nights I put it on low. Some nights it
gets too chilly, other nights it is hot and humid so we turn the AC on.
Ed

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