Like Jessica, I’m “a green geek” and gadgets that help propel me (and, even better, the globe) toward an Energy Smart future excite me. And, also like Jessica, I’m excited by a recent addition of a fan to my home.
Bit by bit, I’m moving my home from 1950s to 21st century energy systems. That SEER16+ HVAC as part of a fossil fuel heating system. 
The light tubes into my laundry room. The AirScape Whole House Fan (WHF).
Since I bought my home, a decade ago, I’d been plagued by an old-style whole house fan (WHF). However old it might have been, this vertical fan sort of moved air (well, if I closed all but one or two windows), was an eye-sore coming down the stairs (a large dusty grid facing me), and changes in weather created the annoying requirement to climb into the attic to move the cumbersome home-made insulation into 
place. The fan was there and often used (we really wanted to cut our energy use, to minimize air conditioning) but this fan certainly wasn’t anyone’s favorite part of the house.
Well, along comes the energy audit and, even with that bulky insulating system in place, that vertical house fan ranked up there in terms of leaks out of the house. Another striking against this aging fan. Up to four strikes? Okay, time to finally get it out.
While we now have that SEER16+ air conditioning system, the preference is to turn it on as little as possible. Thus, with opportunity in front of me, the search was on for a new WHF that would meet my efforts to foster an Energy Smart house. After a long search, I became convinced that the AirScape was the best option and ordered one. Well, I didn’t have a chance to see one before ordering and didn’t a friend with one, so this was done with some trepidation. The results, almost three months in, suggest that concerns were unfounded.
Installation was extremely straightforward, one of the easiest DIY projects that I’ve encountered, probably manageable even without the instructions.
The look is a major improvement. No longer is there a dusty large grill in my face every time I descend the stairs. Instead, there is a (smaller) grill overhead.
Noise levels have definitely fallen. The AirScape has four high-efficiency fans, rather than that old
Cooling power is great. I can have low power to cool through the night or power up stronger when starting up.
But, what is my real green-gadget favorite element of the AirScape?
What do I make sure to show visitors to the house?
Actually, to make them listen to?
The whine at fan start up and stop.
What, the whine? Why is that matter?
The AirScape comes with automatic insulatind doors, with actuator-driven system for both opening and closing. Thus, the whine. No longer do I need to climb in and out of the attic just for fan insulation issues. (YEAH!!!) And, the seal is tight enough to eliminate that air leak issue.
The only problem, I live in the DC area (read HUMID!!). A WHF is a wonderful thing for helping a home feel more comfortable but does nothing about that humidity. Even so, since having the AirScape, the household air conditioning hours have fallen easily by 75 percent. That is an energy savings that I’m glad to be taking to the bank.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Jessica // Oct 27, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Darlin’ that you’d link to me already means you’re a genius!
When you say DIY, you don’t mean you actually cut the hole in the roof yourself? Seriously we not DIY people, we garden and hammer but if there’s a saw involved that sucker’s gotta save me enough $$$ to pay the roofer.
But I’m still very curious!
2 Energy COOL: Luxury will become mainstream « Energy Smart // Nov 25, 2007 at 2:59 pm
[…] ways to improve cooling, from passive solar design, to improved insulation/building practices, to household fans, to … But, considering existing air conditioning systems and structures, there is much we […]