We thought we’d have the whole house fan installed before the long, hot days of summer, but there’s been a few hiccups.
When it finally arrived for pickup at a local big box store, it was shipped without instructions or necessary hardware, so that set us back a couple extra weeks.
The current heat wave may have won this round, but we’ll be ready for the next one (fingers crossed).
118 in Palm Springs yesterday, 100 in our own Long Beach. Hotter today.
Smoke from the Sherpa fire fills our skies, making a fire 100 miles north seem uncomfortably local.
Highway 101 around Santa Barbara is open today but has been subject to closures.
Garden lovers will also worry about Lotusland when that area burns, but as far as I can tell it is far enough south that it’s not in imminent danger.
Buckle up. It’s the first day of summer.
I had to look up whole house fans. I hope it is as quiet as advertised. I use overhead fans and moveable personal fans. Right now there is one directed on the computer to keep both of us cool. Let us know how it works out. Quiet and fresh air are good.
@Jane, friends who have had the whole house fan for some years and swear by it tell me that you turn it on at the end of the day for anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, to suck cooling air from outside in and blow the accumulated heat up and out through the attic. So they’re not on constantly all day like a regular fan. We’ve got plenty of those on now too!
We just hit 105F, putting off my plan to do a walk-about the garden as I did late yesterday. I hope it’s not as bad in your area. Fingers are crossed that tomorrow brings cooler conditions and relief from the putrid air quality. I haven’t taken a deep breath in days.
Hi Denise, here in Thousand Oaks the air isn’t too bad. Maybe the mountains are shielding the valley from smoke?
I’m also interested in hearing how the whole house fan works. I think it would be perfect for my house as it stays fairly cool during the day, but heats up early evening and seems to take forever to get cool again at night. I need something to blast all the hot air out in the evenings.
On a separate note, do you have any empty spots in your garden? Every photo you post seems to contain a multitude of plant layers. When I photograph my own garden, it’s difficult to get a good shot because there’s always bald spots lurking somewhere in the background no matter what angle I choose. Maybe that’s just a sign that I need more plants.
@Kris, I was tempted to ride the Metro today to Santa Monica for the free AC, if that gives you an idea of my relationship to high temps.
@Hi Tanya, yes, the WHF sounds ideal for both our situations. If/when it’s installed, I’ll do an update. About the empty spots, there are none here, so you need more plants! I’ve actually been pulling out and thinning lots of plants to make sure irrigation gets to the needy.
We got a whole-house fan a few years ago…it helps but is dependent upon rapid cooling outdoors. When it doesn’t cool down overnight it doesn’t help. I ended up having to do a lot of research on our insulation, etc…what helped more dramatically was exterior solar shades. Keeping the heat out of the house in the first place is important. Once it is inside, it is inside, heating up the carpet, the drywall, the studs and radiating that heat back into the air for hours. The shades have made summer a lot more bearable. The house looks weird with the shades down, but I don’t care.
More importantly, that is such a gorgeous photograph!
Hoov, I appreciate that info. Last night at twilight, after 100-deg day, the temp dropped 30 degrees — no joke. Inside the house it was still an oven. We do still have lathe & plaster and not much insulation, wood floors, so the house really doesn’t hold the heat like new construction. The solar shades sound like what we need on the west side.
We’ve had a whole house fan for 10+ years now and would never be without it. Ours is designed to run all night and it cools the inside so much that we rarely turn on the AC. That’s saying something, considering it gets hot in the Sacramento Valley.
Gerhard, that’s an amazing testimonial! We’ve run into a temporary setback due to our old knob-and-tube wiring. It’d be the perfect time to rewire the whole house, but we’ll probably just get the fan handled for now.