Whole House Fan Vs Attic Fan

Attic fan vary by region causing some confusion.

Whole house fan vs attic fan. Attic fansare easier to installthan whole house fans because of their location and size. A whole house fan is mounted in the ceiling between the living space and that attic. Attic fans which are often mistaken for whole house fans and vice versa are not the same thing. Attic fans which may be better known only focus on pushing the hot air within your attic to the outside.

At first glance it seems that whole house fans are similar to attic fans but the function is different. It is used to suck warm air out of the living space up into the attic. A gable attic fan is mounted to one of the gable walls in the attic. In a nutshell whole house fans are designed to run after sundown using cool night air to ventilate and cool your entire living space.

How is an ac system different. The whole house fan pulls the warm air from the living rooms into the attic and fresh air is drawn in through open doors and windows. How does it work. A whole house fan doesn t just push hot air out of the attic it draws it out of the entire house.

Attics fans prevent damage like ice damming in attics during winter. A whole house fan is typically placed inside the attic floor of your home but it is not an attic fan. The attic fan on the other hand blows warm air out through the roof or a gable vent and the fresh air is drawn in through the roof and vents. The fan is used to remove hot air from the attic space in order to limit heat transfer to the living space below.

Even though one is less difficult both projects should only be tackled by professionals. A whole house fan is an inexpensive and simple way to cool an entire home often without the need of a central air conditioner. Installing a smaller fan on the roofline 1or in the gable is easier than putting a much larger fan in the ceiling of the home. Like an attic fan whole house fans remove hot air from a home or building.

While quality attic fan is designed specifically for the removal of air on the attic with the gable vents exhausting the hottest atmosphere the whole house fan just brings in cold air from outside. A whole house fan moves air throughout the entire home including the living space and attic while an attic fan merely circulates air inside the attic. If your attic isn t ventilated well that humid moist air will build up in the attic space and can cause mold to grow. The results are far more effective than the simple attic fan.

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