Are you tired of paying soaring electrical bills and running your air conditioner day and night in summer? Have you developed allergies, likely brought on by stale, non-ventilated, “shut-in” air? If so, you might consider installing a whole-house fan. This can provide much needed ventilation and cool your home using far less energy than that consumed by an air conditioner.
Whole House Fan Benefits & Drawbacks
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, whole house fans are a simple and inexpensive method of cooling a house. They provide excellent ventilation, lower indoor temperatures, and improve evaporative cooling. The cost for a whole house fan is $150 to $350 versus the cost for central air conditioning, which runs $2,000 to $4,000 or more. In addition, whole house fans use one-quarter the power of central air conditioning.
There are also some drawbacks to whole house fans:
• They can only cool the inside of the house to the outside temperature, so if it is hot outside, it will be just as hot inside, except for the coolness offered by air movement.
