Hi natalie steele,

There is SOoooo much info out on the WEB abou this. It's a fairly popular question too. So, if you don't mind, I'll refer you to 500+ links that you can pick-and-choose from on this subject.

Go to Google.com to start. Just look for the ones that 'interest' you.

My best to ya and hope this helps.

Jay J -Moderator

[This message has been edited by Jay J (edited August 26, 2001).]

Most newer houses don't have whole house fans because they have central air. With central air you air condition or move the air around with just the fan.

Pros: Reasonably cheap to install and run. DIY job. Cools hotter upper levels by pulling out hottest air in house. Cools attic air by forcing out very hot air.

Cons: Very loud (at least in the house I grew up in). Lets heat and moisture escape to attic during winter. Only effective when outside air is comfortably cool and dry.

These fans are used in certain parts of the country where temp. changes are fairly dramatic between the day and evening/night.

They work by opening the windows at the LOWEST point in the house, and then by turning on the fan, the cool outside air is drawn in to 'replace' the warm air which gets pushed out the house fan. It doesn't take long and can be thermostatically controlled.

As I mentioned, they're not very useful in climates where the days can be in the 90's and the evening in the 70's ESPECIALLY when it's humid out. Where I live in the Atlantic States, Central A/C is most prevelant.

Jay J -Moderator

Guys this is not an advertisement - but our company distributes the highest quality whole house fan in the world! Its super quiet and its the unit with auto insulated doors that open/shut when used.
http://www.wholehousefan.com - is the place to check it out.

thanks,

George K.

Natalie -

to answer your question - a whole house fan must be installed on the second floor over an exsisting attic - it can't go on the first floor.

I would think the most important thing to remember is that you have enough unobstructed roof venting - for every 750 cfm of air flow you'll need at least 1 sq. ft of roof venting - other wise the air will not flow out of your roof. Our unit requires about 1.33 sq ft - as the air flow is 1000 cfm.

You can check out more on wholehousefans at our site: http://www.wholehousefan.com

bye!