whole house fan for a flat roof??
My wife and I just bought a 2000 square foot two-story brownstone. We would like to consider putting in a whole house fan, in order to minimize our use of our central AC. It’s a typical flat roof situation, so we have no attic. The roof is about 2 feet, or less, from our second…
My wife and I just bought a 2000 square foot two-story brownstone. We would like to consider putting in a whole house fan, in order to minimize our use of our central AC. It’s a typical flat roof situation, so we have no attic. The roof is about 2 feet, or less, from our second floor ceiling. Is there a strong whole house fan that can vent directly to a flat roof, not through an attic? Is this a good idea for us?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this!!
How about a Green roof? They reduce the heat by 2-30% and reduce stormwater runoff.
Tom here.
The turbines can remain in the winter. Their spinning precludes water infiltration. That said, after twenty years, they were rusty and one froze in place when snow and ice built up to its openings. This was an extraordinary event. Also, these models were from HD and I could not easily lubricate them. As a result I had a leak. I had to go up on the roof in the storm and ‘cap’ it. I replaced it in the spring with a better model which can be easily removed and maintained.
That was my only bad experience.
op here. thanks!!
We lived in a house on 6th Street where a previous owner had one installed. They had built a box at the top of the hatch so that the fan faced out sideways – not straight up into the air. The hatch to the roof was also facing out sideways. The fan had louvers, so when it was off, rain couldn’t get in. We could open the door to the hatch closet and flip on the whole house fan and it really made a difference. It clearly was a big project to install, though, as an entire “box” was built to accommodate it. Hope this is of some help.
op here. thanks for the thoughts. what I’m really looking for is a link to a whole house fan I can buy that goes on the roof (as opposed to in the attic space). Haven’t been able to find any specifics on where to buy one through the search function. I like the wind turbine idea as well, but I think the fan would work better in my situation. any thoughts/links?? thanks again!!
Why didn’t you first use the search facility on this site?
Type in whole house fans; attic fans and you should be rewarded with previous posts.
I know – I contributed to some of them.
Those sound so ‘cool,’ tom.
what do you do in the winter? when it rains? Do you have to go on the roof to adjust them?
I have installed wind turbines on my ‘flat’ 3,500′ brownstone. It’s simpler(pick locations; cut holes; level, secure and seal mounts); requires no electrical power; and you don’t need an electrician to run a line to the attic/roof area (I presume you don’t have one there already). The units cost $50 per and there is a company on Vernon Blvd in LIC that stocks them and makes them to order. I got my first from HD and when I sought to replace them some twenty years later they were selling an inferior product. They have now dropped them altogether. They are for year round use (removing damaging moisture) but I do have caps for them in case a hurricane threatens.
Don’t worry about how un-modern they appear, no one will see them. They vent the super-heated attic space 24 X 7, and they do make a real difference in comfort to your top floor.