If you are always looking for ways to lower your summer utility bills, a whole house fan may be a good addition to your home HVAC system. We all think about how to keep our houses cool in a heat wave without relying too much on the air conditioner. The whole house fan is a more affordable alternative, available through Bay Area HVAC servicers. And it can keep you from running your air conditioner full blast all summer and running up your monthly utility bills.
How Whole House Fans Cool Bay Area Homes
While whole house fans won’t cool the air in your home like an air conditioner will, they still make a house feel cooler by exhausting warm and stale air through attic vents and drawing in cooler air from the outdoors through doors and windows. They are especially good at removing trapped hot air during cool Bay Area evenings. And they can help your home feel more comfortable on hot days simply by moving air through your home and creating a breeze effect on the skin.
When to Use a Whole House Fan
Whole house fans work best when it’s cooler outside. For homes in the Bay Area, that means turning on a fan in the evening. Many homeowners with whole house fans like to keep their fans on all night during peak heat waves to let their home cool off. When they wake up in the morning, they also have a cooler home to start the day, deferring the hour when the AC unit needs to kick in as the temperature rises. We fit the fan to the size of your own home, so you will get a sense for how to modulate the speed of the fan so your house remains at your desired comfort zone.
Whole house fans are typically installed in an attic, but we do install them in homes without attics.
It’s also important to remember that whole house fans aren’t ideal for every home and every environment. They can cool a warm home in the middle of the summer, but they don’t work as well in exceptionally humid climates or in areas with a lot of dust or pollen in the air. If you’re concerned about humidity or allergens such as dust or pollen, you might be better off contacting an air conditioning service and having a central air unit installed instead.
For Whole House Fan Options Contact Our Oakland HVAC Service to Learn More
Even though whole house fans are not a replacement for air conditioning systems for many homes, they can be a great alternative for cooling your home while saving money this summer. To learn more on how to save on energy bills with a whole house fan for your home, contact Element Home Solutions today. We can help you determine if a whole house fan is ideal for your home while providing any East Bay AC repairs that you may need.
