Post by piercetheorganist on Mar 13, 2008 18:22:38 GMT -5
I came into a small amount of cash today, and so went to Home Depot and picked up a whole-house fan. Since my house is un-insulated, the attic (which is essentially a ceiling-mounted oven, during the NC summer) has the effect of trapping tons of hot air, and then radiating it right back down into the house. As a result, my air conditioning bill is -outrageous- (on the order of $175/month). By having a whole-house fan, the hot air will be forced out, and it may be reasonable enough that I can simply shut off the A/C and open the windows.
It's the 24-inch direct-drive model. 2-speed pull-chain. 10-year warranty. 4500 CFM (will empty all the air out of the house in just under 2.5 minutes, which is ideal). This is the model which mounts on top of the joists, and so no joist cutting is required. I'll be borrowing a friend's cordless circular saw tomorrow to cut a hole in the ceiling.
As I mentioned before somewhere, these things *terrify* me, but so does my summer electric bill.
My attic is no fun to crawl around in, being un-floored and cramped and oddly laid-out. I was up there yesterday, running some Romex above the kitchen ceiling to hook up the TOC over the sink.
I'll post photos after installation. Here are some pre-install photos:
Shutters closed:
Half the shutters open:
All the shutters open:
"
"I have to cut two holes in the ceiling; I only have one hole cut, and it's only half-cut. The cordless Ryobi circular saw I'm using has a bad battery -- holds very little charge -- and nothing saps battery power like a power saw.
In the mean-time, here are some photos from the attic:
As you can see, getting up into the attic is...difficult. The ladder is taller than I am, so you can see how high-up it is. Note the patented Back-Stabber:
The attic floor (which is actually the top of the solid wood ceiling below) is ...littered:
This is how the ceiling fans are mounted; outlet box into a hunk of wood which sits on top of the solid wood ceiling. Note the knobs and tubes from the original wiring. The patched cloth-cord wiring scheme in this house scares me; this is a fire waiting to happen:
As you can see, the kitchen is an addition to the house; this used to be the exterior wall:
General creepiness:
"
"Okay, the fan is up, there are a few more things to do before it's done, but nothing which will be noticeable in a photo, so here are the last photos:
Big scary hole in the ceiling:
Fan after being pushed up through the hole (not installed yet):
Fan mounted in place (I still have to install the air shield around it, so that it will suck up air from the room below rather than through those big gaps around the bottom):
The "oh snap!" zone
Shutters up:
More of the shutters, and the 2-speed pull-chain control:
And a video of the fan (click frame to view video; may open in a new window or tab):
"
"One last vid; now that the shutters and air shield are up:
"
It's the 24-inch direct-drive model. 2-speed pull-chain. 10-year warranty. 4500 CFM (will empty all the air out of the house in just under 2.5 minutes, which is ideal). This is the model which mounts on top of the joists, and so no joist cutting is required. I'll be borrowing a friend's cordless circular saw tomorrow to cut a hole in the ceiling.
As I mentioned before somewhere, these things *terrify* me, but so does my summer electric bill.
My attic is no fun to crawl around in, being un-floored and cramped and oddly laid-out. I was up there yesterday, running some Romex above the kitchen ceiling to hook up the TOC over the sink.
I'll post photos after installation. Here are some pre-install photos:
Shutters closed:
Half the shutters open:
All the shutters open:
"
"I have to cut two holes in the ceiling; I only have one hole cut, and it's only half-cut. The cordless Ryobi circular saw I'm using has a bad battery -- holds very little charge -- and nothing saps battery power like a power saw.
In the mean-time, here are some photos from the attic:
As you can see, getting up into the attic is...difficult. The ladder is taller than I am, so you can see how high-up it is. Note the patented Back-Stabber:
The attic floor (which is actually the top of the solid wood ceiling below) is ...littered:
This is how the ceiling fans are mounted; outlet box into a hunk of wood which sits on top of the solid wood ceiling. Note the knobs and tubes from the original wiring. The patched cloth-cord wiring scheme in this house scares me; this is a fire waiting to happen:
As you can see, the kitchen is an addition to the house; this used to be the exterior wall:
General creepiness:
"
"Okay, the fan is up, there are a few more things to do before it's done, but nothing which will be noticeable in a photo, so here are the last photos:
Big scary hole in the ceiling:
Fan after being pushed up through the hole (not installed yet):
Fan mounted in place (I still have to install the air shield around it, so that it will suck up air from the room below rather than through those big gaps around the bottom):
The "oh snap!" zone
Shutters up:
More of the shutters, and the 2-speed pull-chain control:
And a video of the fan (click frame to view video; may open in a new window or tab):
"
"One last vid; now that the shutters and air shield are up:
"