A whole house fan is an excellent innovation to keep the entire house cool and fresh without running up a huge electricity bill.

This article describes the working of a whole house fan, how it can save you money, how it compares to a bathroom extraction fan, when you should use it, and how these fans are equally effective in winter.

How does a whole house fan work?

When you get into a closed car on a hot day, the first thing you do is to wind down the windows and drive, allowing all the hot air inside to get sucked out and letting in cool air. Only when the car is completely cooled down, do you switch on the air conditioner. Similarly, when you open the windows in your home and switch on the whole house fan from Solatube Australia, you can flush out the trapped heat inside, and fill the interiors with a cool breeze.

Whole house fan

How does a whole house fan save you money?

By quickly cooling down your home, the whole house fan reduces the usage of your home air conditioner. In fact, it can save you up to 90% on your air conditioning cost by reducing the need to run the air conditioning system to cool your home. Unlike air conditioning, which only recirculates and cools stale air, a whole house fan provides natural fresh air throughout the home, improving the indoor air quality.

How does a whole house fan compare to a bathroom extraction fan?

To understand how a whole house fan cools your home during the hot summer months, turn on 20-50 bathroom vents at the same time and feel the effect. A whole house fan draws in large amounts of air from a single point in the ceiling, removing the hot air out of the home and creating a directional breeze inside the home (depending on open windows). It then pushes the hot air into the roof cavity and out through the roof vents to cool the thermal mass of your home.

When is the best time to use a whole house fan?

The best time to run the whole house fan is when it is cooler outside than indoors – generally early mornings and evenings – in order to circulate cooler air and expel the thermal heat in the home. Heat builds up in your home when the windows are shut during the day, trapping it in the thermal mass of the home, furniture, carpets, and walls.

Whole house fans are also effective in winter

The whole house fan is not just a summer wonder – it’s equally effective during the cold winter months when the air in your home gets trapped, creating odour build-ups and leaving stale, unhealthy air indoors. The whole house fan quickly removes the stale air and replaces it with fresh, clean outdoor air. As this happens within 10 – 15 minutes, the intelligent design of a whole house fan produces a healthier indoor environment for you and your family during the cooler months.

Watch the video.

Architecture & Design Team

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Solatube Australia

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