Are Whole House Fans Hard to Install?

Nobody likes a hot, stuffy house, so in the summer months, people usually use air conditioning. However, whole house fans have become popular because they’re more environmentally friendly, no longer noisy, and cheaper to operate than AC, while still being effective at cooling down your home. Plus, whole house fans circulate the air in your home, replacing the hot, polluted indoor air with fresh air from the outdoors, making your home a healthier environment for you and its other occupants to live and breathe in.

Furthermore, if you think a whole house fan would benefit you, you can always use it as a supplement to your air conditioning. This means that you can enjoy the benefits of both AC and whole house fans, for example, on hot summer days when the outside air is about the same temperature as the inside air you can run your AC, then at night when outdoor temperatures go down you can switch on your whole house fan to naturally cool your house and replace the indoor air with the fresh, clean outdoor air.

Installing a Whole House Fan: DIY versus Professional Installer
Wanting to avoid installing a new piece of equipment into their homes, some people don’t reap the benefits that come with installing a whole house fan; however, they are not that difficult to install. Below, we will discuss how whole house fans are installed.

Installing a whole house fan is relatively easy. You can either hire someone to install it for you, or you can do it yourself and have a fully-operational ventilation system on the same day you receive it.

Professional Contractor
We recommend that you get a professional to install the whole house fan system for you so you can be sure it is properly installed the first time. Fans that are installed improperly can cause problems with the ventilation in the attic or can cause the fan to run louder than it should. A properly running whole house fan should be relatively quiet, depending on the unit you purchased. Also, they are usually installed in the attic, although they are sometimes set up on the roof.

DIY
The first step in installing a whole house fan is choosing the proper location. This is usually above a main hallway below the attic. This way, the fan can bring in air from the outside through the attic and push hot air out your open doors and windows.

Then, in a nutshell, you cut the air intake hole into your ceiling, which will connect your whole house fan to the rest of your house. Afterward, you attach the mounting brackets to the air intake hole, these brackets are usually included with the fan.

Then, you wire the fan. This is a step that should be done by a professional like an electrician if it is going to be hardwired. However, some whole house fans, like the QuietCool have cords, so in this case, it wouldn’t be an issue. Finally, you install the fan by using bolts to secure the mounting brackets, attach the baffles and floor installation, and screw the louver panel to the joist to cover the air intake hole. Everything considered installation is quite simple, although it is best done by a professional.

Of course, before you install a whole house fan or have one installed, you must purchase one. Here at WholeHouseFan.com, we have a wide selection of whole house fans, from energy-saving whole house fans to Quiet-Cool whole house fans. Take a look, and give us a call with any questions about a particular model, how they work, or their installation. 1.888-229-5757