ML- how close is that fire to your home?

i haven't washed my dd's either. this pollen plus light rain is just making it
meaning less. plus my neighbor 2 houses down was cooking some
tandori or something and made the whole neighborhood smell like indian
food. i was kinda upset cause i wanted some too.

got some rain in the forecast by 9am so going to pull out my G in about
20 and shall be back by 8:30am.

 

So, Paul... what was involved ? Hooking up a huge fan to your exisiting duct work that runs in reverse ? And hey, you live in NC, man, don't you use air conditioning down there ?? Or do you just run this when the temps are warm but not hot enough for the AC ?

I'd love to do something in our master bedroom. It sits above the garage and in the summer, even with the AC on, that bedroom is about 8-10 degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Installed this...



....last year and it REALLY blows, but it's still too hot up there 3 or 4 months of the year.

The windows are in the front of the house, so a window air conditioner would look hideous.

 

^^ huh, that's a neat looking fan.

i got $12 the otherday from amazon... it's for my garage when my
car's are idling inside. fire it into the radiator.

 

You have your cars idling in the garage long enough that you worry about them over heating, ken ??

 

They DO make some whole house fans that connect to existing ductwork, but that's not how traditional ones (or mine) work. Instead, it's a big fan that you mount in a central hallway or in another room that is open all the time (mine is in the playroom). Cut a hole in the ceiling, cut a joist, frame around the opening to form a vacuum box, mount the fan on top, wire it to a switch, and install an automatic shutter in the ceiling where you cut the hole. Open some windows, turn it on, shutter opens, and it sucks air in through the windows, and exhausts "old" air that was in your house out through the attic. Has the added benefit of drastically reducing attic temps. Literally you run this thing for 5-10 minutes and it completely airs out your house and makes the inside temp = the outside temp.

Most of the folks I know who have these are in the midwest, or moved down here from the midwest. Down here, they're great in the spring and fall, and on mild summer days when it's hotter inside the house than it is outside. Also great when it's in the 60's or low 70's outside in the early AM and the evening - you can turn off the air conditioning, run the fan for a bit, and cool the house for a tiny fraction of what the air conditioning would cost. And it's fresh air.... not recirculated.

It is a DIY project... but plan on a day to do it right. If you don't have electrical skills, find a friend who does, or hire an electrician to wire it.

Here are some at Lowes - I got the big one.


I like your ceiling fan, BTW. But yeah... if the air is hot, there's only so much one of those can do.

A simpler solution is to get a window fan like this:

and put it in one of your rear or side windows, blowing out. Then open the window in your bedroom. Nice fresh air will be drawn in...

It sounds like your problem is that your AC system isn't balanced properly (assuming you have central air) - an HVAC company should be able to adjust the duct shutters to direct more flow into your master - or add an additional duct. Closing the vents in other rooms may help, but I assume you've already tried this. They also make booster fans that go INSIDE your ductwork to help draw more AC flow into problem rooms - maybe that's what you need.

And that concludes today's Detailed OC discussion on ventilation.

 

Your system sounds pretty sweet, Paul. And very economical, too. Hats off to you for taking on a pretty large project like that !!

I've tried to tinker with the duct outlets to get the upstairs cooler, but in order to get enough cool air into the master bedroom to compensate for the heat rising from the garage, the rest of the house is not cooled properly.

That garage gets about 120 degrees in the hot summer months. You know what heat does. The house has good insulation but it's not enough for that bedroom and I hate sleeping in a room that's warm... the thermostat is set at 74, but that room is more like 80 or 82 in the summer.

I'm seriously considering cutting a hole in the side of the garage and putting a fan in there to draw some of the hot air out.

Thanks for the idea of the window fan... that looks pretty cool (pun intended). I'll have to check that out.

And I liked your pun as well.... Detailed OC.... nicely done !

 

well, some work requires the car to idle and i dont want the radiator
fan coming on all the time, that's all.


got another ding on my FitS...yesterday while picking up Mexican food.
i was parked there in the 5min spot for no more than 3min, yet, the fat
middled aged caucasian woman managed to ding my car.

i saw her drive off. fat and ugly. her car paint on the door handle.
and some crappy toyota paint on my car. TOYOTA. arrrrrr!!!

will PDR in 5

 

i use those wall mounting oscillating fan on my garage. one unit is plenty
for me. got it from acehardware online.

 

looks like this. you can get it from amazon. i have a wireless switch hooked
up to it so i can control the fan (on/off) from the switch box. you might
be able to find one with a remote control that can change fan speeds,etc.

i have it mounted pretty high out of site, yet it blow well and circulates enough.
i was thinking about getting a 2nd one, but one is enough.



http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-3016-Osc...1725254&sr=8-1

 

Yeah... adding a ventilation fan for the garage might be the ticket for you if it really does get that hot in there... what direction does your garage face? If the door is getting southern sun all day, then yeah, that could make it an oven.... is your garage door insulated? If you have a southern exposure, an insulated door could help by keeping some of the radiant heat OUT.

I like my bedroom to be a cave.... nice and cool.... you don't want to know how low I set our thermostat when it's hot out....

I'd sell one of our children if that's what it took to pay to cool the house...

 

Garage faces southwest, as does the master bedroom.

Yep, the doors on the garage are inuslated and the gargage shares 1.5 walls with the house. Just not enough to cut that summer sun beating right against it.

Yeah, I like a cool, dark bedroom, too. Only thing about this house I don't like.

 

and the ding is fixed.

 

I wish you were my nextdoor neighbor...

 

yah, my neighbors bug me sometimes.

you should see what some people ask me to take a look at though... like
their entire door is smashed in... yah, sure no problem.

 

doesnt look like im going to be washing my cars today either.

scattered showers and iso-t-storms today. + pollen = yuk.

anyone washing their cars today?

 

I hope to...

 

Not me... I'm working today. But I did manage to wash all three this weekend in between the million other things I had on the schedule.

 

Washed the MINI yesterday----the only opportunity I've had in ~ weeks. Then I'm going to have to drive out on the wet streets with more showers coming.

Just catching up with this thread ... you folks have been BUSY!

 

Yeah John, we're heading out on the wet streets soon too. Going to the Gypsy Caravan to look for rusty garden art

Indy was great yesterday, lots of action right in front of us, too bad most of it led to yellow flags.

Mark

 

We'd like to go to the Gypsy Caravan too, but we have to get the house ready for a graduation party.

I saw some clips of Indy---looked pretty exciting!

 

congrats to the graduate!

 

Thanks! We are hosting the party for a student earning her master's degree.

 

wow! that is quite an achievement.

 

Alright I'm in the market for either a new wool mitt or some sort of MF or wool pad. My DP black wool mitt has slowly been disintegrating for several months now and today it's all over but the crying.

 

yah, dont get the griot's MF wash pad. try their MF wash mitt.