Whole House Fans

With its warm sunshine and cool trade winds, Hawaii’s beautiful climate is moderated by the temperature of the surrounding ocean. In downtown Honolulu the range between the coldest and warmest months averages only a 6° F difference. In the leeward areas, temperatures in the low 90’s may be reached on several days during the year, but temperatures higher than these are unusual. In the windward areas and neighbor islands the air temperatures are even more comfortable.

When we leave our homes for the day, the air heats up and stagnates. During hotter days, in-home temperatures can reach 100 plus degrees. The hot air trapped in the attic also increases heat in the living area of the home. Hot expanding air accounts for the difficulty in using small fans to blow cool air into the home as these fans lack the volume of air movement needed to rid the home of heat. In addition, many homes have hot zones or specific areas where there is inadequate air circulation for reasons such as not having windows, facing the full afternoon sun, having a poorly constructed ceiling or lacking access to a cross-breeze.

Since installing the Whole House Fan and Solar Guard Insulation in June of 2009, I haven’t had to use the A/C once!”–Leonard C., Manoa, Oahu
I’ve told a dozen of my friends about the Whole House Fan, it’s the best improvement we’ve made to our home.” –Shaina E, Kailua, Oahu

A Whole House Fan is the only fan powerful enough to cool your home’s living space and your attic. It does this by drawing cool air through your home and pushing the hot air out the attic vents. Through this process it makes it as cool in your home as out on your lanai.

Whole house fans help cool your home by pulling cool air through the house and exhausting warm air out of the house. Typically, these very large fans are installed by professionals in the attic of the home.” –The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Green Homes

The high CFM (cubic feet per minute) also means that these fans are the only Whole House or Attic Fans that can create a breeze effect in a home. Drawing fresh cool air over your skin will lower surface temperature by a further 2-3 degrees. –All of this without the high cost and effect of chilled air conditioned air. The Whole House Fan is also remarkably Energy Efficient. With energy consumption of up to 0.7 kwh, and HECO rates of 22 cent per KWH, the Whole House Fan uses just 8 cents an hour on low, and 14 cents an hour on high. It is so energy efficient that model sustainable homes use the Whole House Fan to cool their homes.

While utilizing solar power is something we can all strive for, the benefit of a Whole House Fan over Solar Fans is in the movement of air. CFM (cubic feet per minute) is the measure of air that is moved by a fan. Fans with a higher CFM can cool an area more effectively. The Whole House Fan is sized to remove the air volume of a home in three minutes or less, which allows the home owner to feel a noticeable cooling breeze. While a Solar Fan can move 600-1200 CFM, a Whole House Fan will move from 5600 CFM to over 10,000 CFM. Put another way, the smallest Whole House Fan would need to be replaced by up to 9 Solar Fans! Another consideration is that Solar Fans work best when the sun is shining. The Whole House Fan gives you the option to connect to a Solar Photo Voltaic System (PV), but having the energy efficient fan tied to the grid allows you to run it in the evening when the air is coolest and when no sunlight is available. Summary: The Solar Attic Fan is great as an attic vent, but the energy efficient Whole House Fan has a greater impact on home cooling.

Most homes have some type of passive attic ventilation. These passive vents require wind or hot rising air to drive them. Of course on very hot days with little wind, the hot rising air escapes slowly. An advantage of the Whole House Fan is that there is usually no need to create roof holes, simply install in the attic and vent through attic vents. This leads to greater flexibility and allows for installation in Town Homes, Condos and other CCR communities. our experts can determine during the home consultation, if existing attic vents are sufficient.

During the summer, when temperatures can soar, your attic is 145 degrees and the temperature on your new roof is nearly 180 degrees. It is now more important than ever for a total roof ventilation system. When it comes to ventilation, more is always better. Choices are many in ventilation. Ventilation is Key to Roof Lifespan–Hawaii News Now