Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've put in three whole house fans over the years. I installed this one a few days ago and am very pleased. I deviated from the instructions in two ways to reduce noise. First, I never follow the advice to put the fan in the middle of the house. I put it as far away from the master bedroom (no children) and around as many corners as possible. In this case, after finding I had an unusually tight-fitting garage door I put it in the ceiling of the garage. My door fits so tightly I can see no light around any edge, so the fan will produce a vacuum in the garage and pull through the door to the house if blocked open. That put it even farther from the MBR and around more corners than anywhere else in the house. Second, I stapled dark gray foam pipe insulation, the kind available in 6' lengths at HD or Lowe's, around the bottom and outside edge of the wooden fan frame. I cut one of the lengths of 1" insulation in half lengthwise and wrapped it over the bottom and up onto the side, maybe an inch, all around the base of the fan's frame. That prevented direct contact between the fan's box frame and any ceiling joist. I installed lumber between the joists under the frame and the fan sits on that (plus the teeny normal contact point on the center joist). I did not bolt the fan down (noise), but just put 1x4 lumber around the edge to keep it from going sideways. The 1x4 touched the foam also, on the sides. Since the fans pulls itself down as it pushes air up, floating the fan within the confines of the 1x4s around the edges holds it place nicely. With a separate 12-hour timer I can go to be with it running and it shuts off after things cool off. The fan is quiet enough that you can talk in a normal voice in the garage while it is running on high speed. By the way, it makes no difference where you install this thing as far as effectiveness goes. A vacuum in the house is a vacuum in the house. It will pull nicely from wherever you open a window or door. Installation took 5 1/2 hours plus about 1 1/2 for the timer because I had to fish an insulated wall and because I bought the wrong kind of electric box for the timer. If you use a timer, buy an electric box for "old work." It is made to install in the sheetrock, not to be nailed to a stud and will go much faster. Be sure to block open any door that can slam before you turn the fan on. Doors will slam shut HARD and maybe break something. I thought this fan might be too small, but it's not. When they tell you it's good for a 1500 sq ft house, it doesn't really mean anything. This house is considerably bigger than that. The size of fan has more to do with how many doors and windows you can open and still get enough air movement. With this one, you can get a very gentle breeze with one door plus one sliding glass door (we have no bugs). I really like my foam invention. This fan is noticeably quieter than my previous fans. You will need a helper to install the shutter. You can't hold it up and install a screw at the same time; at least I can't.
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