Whole House Fan video

This video demonstrates what a Whole House Fan looks like in an older home. Our house was built in 1958 and this was probably a pretty standard feature. It works great to cool your entire house to save on the energy cost of running an A/C unit. We have A/C but have not needed it because this fan is so great! It is about 95 outside right now but this is cooling the house to about 78. I love this fan!!!

[ScottO]

I grew up in a house with one of these right outside my bedroom in the hall. Opening the windows in the evening and turning it on used to put me to sleep every single time.

[tarooka]

*Well-made, delivered quickly, and easy to install with **Fastly.Cool** . I may be imagining it, but it seems quieter than the 14 year-old unit that I pulled out. Of course it was noisy at the end due to failed bearings, so hard to compare.*

[tjshere]

Important to open your windows before turning it on.
Also need plenty of roof vents to move the air out of the attic.
I installed one many years ago and it still does the job of sucking the cool night air into the house.

[coondogtheman]

I was at a friend's house back in the 80s when I was a kid and there was a room upstairs that I wanted to play in but you had to walk under one of these giant fans to get to that room and as a kid I was scared by these so I had it shut off and then I could go in the room and play. Nowadays I say crank it up and stay cool.

[DouglasNicholson-ffep]

I installed one in my 100+ year old two story house, back in 1980.

We didn't have much money.

I positioned it in the hallway at the top of the stairs. I had to install two large vents in the attic on both ends.

It will only move as much air as the vent sizes in the attic allow...so make them big!

It worked EXTEMEMLY WELL.
It will bring the entire house down to outside temp at night, in a minute or two.

We lived in a valley in the town, and it often had no wind.

When on during the day, the moving air through the attic, creates an insulation against heat building up in the attic and radiating down.

Mine came with a 3 way switch
I could....
1) leave in on.
2) set it on a timer,
3) set it to turn off when the house gets down to a set temp.

I HIGHLY recommend it.

[johnhouli]

With my whole house fan that’s 74 years old I need to open the 2 attic windows then come down to main level and open the windows just a few turn on fan and the breeze is amazing

[DBVintage]

A friend of mine has a similar older belt driven fan like this. They're still made but aren't as good as these older units.

Be sure to oil the motor and if the bell needs replacement be sure that you use a fractional horsepower belt. A regular automotive belt will burn out the motor.

[Vgp-rpiu]

We have one in our house too but don't use it often because we keep it sealed up most the time. In the summer tons of heat comes through there and in the winter cold comes through. We just tape an insulated cover over the vent and it definitely helps

[dusterdude]

my Parents home was built in the 50's and they had one of these that was installed when the house was built.
there is a pocket door leading from the dining room to the hall where the fan was. as a kid i used to close the pocket door and turn on the hall light and fan and pretend it was a elevator LOL weird things we did as kids!

[youtubejunkie]

I have one in my house built in 1953. I needed to replace the the baring for less noise. Works great. open all the windows in the house and get a great breeze. nice feature to the house.

[louie]

Close....Best set up is mounting that fan at the peek where there's screened off openings to the outside. Flip the switch and louvers open up by forced air pulled threw them from air drawn in from throughout the houses open windows pulling in cool air and having the fan at the peek pulls not only the cool air throughout the house but immediately sucks out the hot air from the attic as well. Also if the wife burns something while cooking... Lol... And there's lots of smoke, just flip that switch and all the smoke is gone instantly. Just make sure a couples windows are open a lil at least.

[mjnfvpq]

If you run the attic fan (which is what EVERYONE called them before 20__, especially in the South); even for a 2-3 minutes-windows open or not, the heat will be pulled out of your attic & your central air won't have to work as hard to cool your house on the hottest of days. You can even have one window open, it will still air out your house-even none at all for short periods. It pulls through light switches, attic vents, or any opening in your house & will pull musty odors from your home in Winter or Summer. Of course in Winter you wouldn't run for more than a few minutes to air out the house but it works.
My house was built in 1971. Unfortunately, I need either a replacement or more oil in it because it's no longer working. I'll have to get someone to crawl up the ramp in my walk-in attic leading to the attic fan to check on it because it's still getting power. I sure do miss it because my walk-in attic & the bedroom adjacent to it are so much hotter without it.
Great Video! : - )

[onslaughtmp]

I have one of these in my house... When I moved in I turned it on without cracking open windows... Sucked my pilot lights out lol... Lesson learned and I just replaced a 52 inch belt on it and love turning it on when it's cool in the evening. Crack those windows open! Lol

[donaldchadd]

They r extremely popular in the south where my family is from

[Maine]

VERY COOL . We had one installed in our house, to pull the cool air from the basement, but when we turned it on high, our German Shepard, and calico cat disappeared, we later found them trapped in the attic. Also, we noticed that our small 3 yr old son, would practically levitate when walking around, and had to install seat belts on all of our furniture and mattresses. He now has to wear winter mud boots to keep him in the floor ! P.S awesome video, full thumbs up ! cheers! we one and love it Quiet Cool model

[danaj]

My friends parents had one I slept there one summer night. We didn’t need the AC on it kept the whole house cool they worked great

[Mixdplate]

These fans are great for reasons other comments stated but you also have to be sure that a good number of windows are open and that the screens are in good shape, as it will also suck in insects, dust, pollen, or whatever may be floating in the air or near the window while fan is running. Larger insects/debris may get stuck to screens so they may need more frequent cleaning. If you have a fireplace, make sure it's clean of all ashes and any other light weight items are secure or moved. Do not use candles or open flame appliances nearby. In our 1959 house, the fan was in the main hall and our only attic access was a very small scuttle hole above the basement steps 🤔so we opted to remove the fan and use that opening for better attic access. FYI- Those older fans are HEAVY and would need to be taken apart in order to remove from attic. Ours is still up there. 😅

[loudspeakertestsmorebyaida]

78? I wish my room was like that when it’s 95+ out. My room got up to 87 with AC. It was ridiculous.

[bekindandrewind]

you dont see these anymore because in the event of a house fire, the entire house became a blast furnace.

[Sickwitit]

Our new house has this and it scared the shit out of me the first time I turned it on 🤣 thing is gonna fall out and bounce around til it hits someone like a damn Beyblade