So I’m pretty proud of this one folks. I installed a Whole House Fan, or what I was told growing up was called an Attic Fan. Either way, this thing is about 90% more efficient than my A/C system and I hope that it reduces my pansy ass need for A/C by about 2 months. Basically, as the spring and summer continue to warm up I am able to open my windows in the evening and early morning and suck in all the cool outside air. Thanks to thermal mass (the objects in my home retaining heat (or coolness here) I should have a cool house all afternoon (when its unbearably hot) and not have to cool off again until the evening eliminating time I would normally need my A/C for.

At this point I will note you have options if you want to do this yourself. The traditional units are much cheaper (but noisier) than the unit I bought. Cheaper options tend to be very noisy units and the louvers don’t provide any insulation for the winter so you will need to figure out a way to insulate the unit. I opted to spend some bigger bucks and I went with the QuietCool unit. (I don’t make any money endorsing this product, hell I don’t make any money on this blog at all yet). Their product features insulated doors and because the fan is mounted remotely in the attic it runs very quietly. Installation is pretty simple and this is my first time building a residential electrical circuit with a switch and timer but the instructions that come with the unit and that can be found on YouTube make this pretty easy to do if you have some basic skills.

I strongly suggest laying down some plastic, you will be removing sheet rock from your ceiling.

I removed part of the ceiling joist here but tied it back together so it maintains structural integrity. I planned where I wanted the fan (centrally located in the house, drilled a small hole in the ceiling and used a unbent clothes hanger to locate my spot in the attic.

Then I cut the rock from the ceiling to allow space for the fan hardware.

This is how the door and grill fits into the hole I cut.

The fan mounts remotely and that keeps the noise down.

Next comes wiring…

This is a neat (I feel) envelope trick I learned while working building maintenance in grad school. Use painters tape and an open envelope to collect sheet rock dust as you cut a space for a new switch.

I installed my box, wired my hi/low switch and timer (as per instructions, I’m not that smart; You can actually see my laptop up to the Youtube instructions)

There it is installed, I recommend using the QuietCool switch (found economically on Ebay especially when shopping Ebay with Ibotta). Installation was a breeze and now I routinely cool my house off to the low 60’s and don’t require my a/c until about 4pm on hot days. It runs until about 9 when I start the process all over again. (Those are pretty hot days too).