Whole wihouse fan - Remote control.

[wedge40]

I'm looking at installing a whole house fan, but the one I'm looking at has a toggle switch to choose low-off-high for the speed. Anybody know of an aftermarket remote control switch I could use.

 

[OKnewguy]

Not sure about the switch, but make sure your fan is good quality. My parents had an ancient attic fan that was great. Dad went up and "worked on it" during the last year of his alzheimers, and ruined it. Anyway, the replacement I installed was one of the attic fans from HD or Lowes. This thing was so incredible loud! It sounded like a turbine and did not move much air either. The older unit had a huge low rpm motor and just hummed along, but the new one spins so fast and just made tons of noise. We sold the house shortly after, so I do not know if the newer unit lasted.
You might try some of for the remote, used in ceiling fans. You would have to check amperage thou.
Dave

 

[heehaw]

most of the whole house fans i have seen use a 1/4 hp motor, which pulls pretty low amperage: so any remote switch rated at say, 8-10 amps would work: i put a rotary switch on ours that goes, off, high, low: has worked for 20+ years, even though we never use the low position: if we want air flow, we want air flow!!
heehaw

 

[tommu56]

I put one like this (2 channel) on my cabin gen to remote start

You have to be electrically inclined and need a 12vdc supply but it works great!!!!

Auto Roll 4 Channel RF Remote Control

 

[heehaw]

thats pretty slick..where did you find that remote unit??
heehaw

 

[ustmd]

Here in Central Texas they recommend a solar unit with a built in thermostat built in that way it only runs during high temps.

I do not have one, but know several people who do. They love them and say they beat the heck out of their old electric units.

 

[tommu56]

thats pretty slick..where did you find that remote unit??
heehaw

click the blue auto roll link

I have an onan generator and saw their remote kit for it $300.00.

and decided to roll my own

I used this remote
Auto Roll 2 Channel RF Remote Control

one channel for start one for stop.

I used 2 alarm relays to carry the current I was afraid of burning out the ones on the board.

My investment was about $50.00 plus some wiring and an enclosure.

 

[thatguy]

to clarify... "whole house fan" are you talking about a) attic mounted fan to draw hot air out of the attic or b) a fan that is mounted in the ceiling that draws air from the outside thru open windows up to the attic...

just wondering..

Brian

 

[wedge40]

whole house fan is one that draws hot air out of the house, attic fan draws hot air out of the attic.
I'm looking at a whole house fan.

Wedge

 

[deepNdirt]

If you setup a couple of attic ventilator fan that is thermo temp control to cut on/off when reaches a certain temperature in the attic, have them to draw out the hot air, And also along with having a whole-house attic fan to draw the air from through-out the house into the attic, This is about the best efficiency you can expect, :thumbsup:

when using a Whole house fan system without the attic ventilators you should be sure not to open windows near the vented eves of the overhang of your house, otherwise the fan will draw the musky attic smell back into the house, Wifey's don't like this Its best to open a window the furthest end from the fan and on a Gable end away from any louvered vents, etc,etc, you might also think of shutting off A/C -heating registers, these fans can and will draw from ever open crack from anywhere, even through the flu of a fireplace or wood stove. Them old ashes sure can make a mess across the floor

Not really sure the need of having a remote
I have our wired directly to 20 amp wall switch, although I'm sure when the heat flash hits while watching a ballgame it would be convenient to have a remote

 

[dmccarty]

We have one of these whole house fans.

EnergyFederation.org | Whole House Exhaust

The company also sells VERY quiet bathroom vent fans. They are so quiet we sometime leave them on for hours. We used one of the Panasonic vent fans.

EnergyFederation.org | Exhaust Only

I forget which of the two whole house fans we installed but our does not have a remote but I am not sure the had the remote feature when we built the house.

The one we have does make noise but it is not earth shattering either nor does the fan shake the house.

We do not use the fan often or for long. We turn on the fan if the heat has built up in the house. The fan does quickly exhaust the hot air in the house. Given we have a 2500ish sf house with 10 foot tall ceilings that is pretty impressive. I doubt we have run the fan more than 30-60 minutes. Usually it is just 10 minutes or so.

Knowing what I know now, , I would consider adding a few of the Panasonic fans around the house instead of the whole house fan. The Panasonic fans are QUIET.

The whole house fan empties into the attic, which for us is a who cares, since we have ridge ventilation as well as vents in the eaves. The Panasonic fans are supposed to be vented outside the roof since they are designed for exhausting humid air from bathrooms. I suppose if Panasonic fans are not in the bathroom or kitchen they could dump air into the attic without a problem.

Later,
Dan

 

[zzvyb6]

I bought a remote controlled 120v switchbox at Lowes or Home Depot (can't remember which) last year to turn my fountain on and off. Not sure what the current limit is, but they do exist. eBay?