Air conditioning is absolutely critical when you live in a climate with very hot summers. But the expense of running an AC unit can be overwhelming. Would you believe that there’s an appliance that can dramatically decrease the amount that your air conditioner needs to run? And that running this appliance is much less costly than running your air conditioner? We’re talking about a whole house fan, and it could be the best investment in home comfort that you ever make.
What Is a Whole House Fan?
This may seem like a new idea, but in fact, whole house fans (an attic fan is an example) have been around since the 1950s. Those old models were very noisy, but advances in technology have made it possible for whole house fans to be very quiet. The fan is installed in the attic, and it helps to remove the hot air that accumulates in the attic by venting it outdoors. This results in cooler temperatures in your living spaces.
How Does a Whole House Fan Work?
It’s not just the air in your home that gets hot. The very structure of the home holds heat. And once your home is hot, the insulation that helps to keep your home at a steady temperature works against you: it holds the heat in. So while you can cool your air with an air conditioner, once it’s been off for a while, it can take a long time—and a lot of energy and money—to get your whole home cool again.
In our area, while summer days are hot, the nights get very cool. Simply opening your windows overnight does help to reduce your AC usage. But because of that insulating effect, and because heat rises and stays trapped under your roof, a simple cross-breeze through your windows is not very effective.
Running whole house fans in Santa Fe overnight can draw cool air in, eliminate that accumulated heat, keep the entire structure of your home cool, and make sure your insulation is doing the job you want it to do in the summer: keeping the cold air in, and not the heat.
How Much Does a Whole House Fan Lower the Temperature?
Your attic gets very hot on a summer day, much hotter than the temperature outdoors. It may even get to 150º F on the most sweltering days of the year. This single large fan can draw in the cool night air, dropping the temperature of your attic by as much as 50 degrees and the temperature in your home by as much as 5 degrees without using any air conditioning technology.
Then, when you do run your air conditioner during the day, it won’t be fighting an uphill battle against that residual heat. This will keep you much more comfortable and cut down significantly on your energy bills and your environmental impact.
Is a Whole House Fan Right for Your Home?
If you’re curious to know more about how a whole house fan could improve your home comfort and reduce your summer cooling bills, we’d love to hear from you. Our team of highly trained technicians can answer all of your questions and make recommendations specific to your home.
Contact Roadrunner Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing today to find out more about whole house fans.
