If you’ve lived here in Central California for long, you probably already know that it’s near-impossible to get through the summers here without reliable air conditioning. The problem with that, however, is that running your home’s AC system can drive up your home’s energy bills to unsustainable levels.
As a remedy, most energy savings experts suggest turning up your thermostat by a degree or two. Or, they say you should try to rely on things like ceiling fans to the greatest possible extent. But it turns out that there’s another way to trim your cooling costs that doesn’t require you to sacrifice any comfort.
Instead of making do with less air conditioning on hot days, you could use a whole-house fan to cool your home on days when it’s not hot enough to require air conditioning. That’s the idea behind a QuietCool system. Here’s some information on what they are, how they work, and how you can decide if installing one is a smart move for your home.
What Is a QuietCool System?
A QuietCool system is a type of whole-house fan that draws in cool air through open windows in your home and uses it to push hot air out of your attic. Doing this accomplishes two things. Since heat rises, the fan creates an updraft that forces warm air out of your home via the attic. It also creates a steady breeze that can make your home feel between 5 degrees and 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler the moment you turn on the fan.
Plus, whole-house fans achieve those results while using dramatically less electricity than an air conditioner does. The average whole-house fan draws between 200 and 700 watts while it operates. By comparison, central air conditioners typically use between 2,000 and 5,000 watts while they run. In most cases, a whole-house fan like a QuietCool system will provide adequate cooling at outdoor temperatures of 85 and below—at a fraction of the cost of running an air conditioner.
How Does a QuietCool System Work?
A QuietCool system involves the installation of a vent in a central location below your home’s attic. That vent then gets connected to a large, high-airflow fan via a large, flexible duct. The whole system connects to an electricity source and features an RF controller that lets you turn it on and off from anywhere inside your home. QuietCool also makes a Wi-Fi controller module that would allow you to control your system from a handy smartphone app, too.
With a QuietCool system installed in your home, all you need to do is open up your home’s windows and turn on your fan to begin cooling your home. As long as the ambient temperature inside your home is higher than the temperature outside, you’ll experience a rapid cooldown in your home. And even when the indoor and outdoor temperatures aren’t that different, the additional airflow generated by the whole-house fan will create a cooling effect that you’ll notice.
The QuietCool system comes in a variety of models built to suit different-sized homes with different cooling needs. Plus, they work with a system called Zone Air pathway that lets you keep bedroom doors closed for privacy while still allowing a path for air to flow through the room and up to the fan in your attic. This makes using your QuietCool system much less inconvenient and ensures that it won’t create uneven airflow while it’s operating.
Deciding if a QuietCool System Is Right for Your Home
Here in central California, QuietCool systems make an excellent comfort addition to most homes. The reason for that is simple. It’s that this is a region that only sees about three and a half months each year with temperatures above the optimal operating temperature for a QuietCool system. And, there are substantial parts of the days during those months where the temperature falls into the ideal range. That means the addition of a QuietCool fan could substantially decrease your home’s reliance on air conditioning.
According to QuietCool, using their system can allow for a reduction between 50% and 90% on your air conditioner usage. That would make a big dent in the average home’s yearly electricity bills since central air conditioners are among their largest energy consumers. Plus, cutting your home’s air conditioner usage will reduce wear and tear on your AC, helping it to last longer and maximizing your investment.
There are only a handful of requirements for installing a QuietCool system in your home. One is that your home’s electrical panel can support the addition of a new circuit if you don’t already have existing power outlets in your attic. Another is that your attic must have sufficient room for vents to allow the hot air pulled in by the fan to escape your home. In general, you’ll need one square foot of vents for every 750 cubic feet of air per minute that your QuietCool system will move. In our experience, most homes have enough room and electrical capacity to support a QuietCool system.
The only situation where you might wish to avoid the use of a QuietCool system is if there are severe allergy sufferers in your home. Since QuietCool systems work by drawing cooler outdoor air into your home, they can also increase the allergen concentration in your home’s air. While it is possible to mitigate such effects by using portable air filters, doing so might negate some of the energy savings that make using a QuietCool system so attractive in the first place. Plus, your operating costs would also go up when you consider how often you’d need to replace your air filters to keep them effective.
Your Local QuietCool Specialists
If you like what you’ve just read about QuietCool systems, Allbritten can help. We sell and install the latest QuietCool whole-house fans. Since 1932, Allbritten has been proudly serving the Fresno, CA, community. We’re a locally owned and operated home services company, and our dedication to exceptional workmanship and outstanding customer service has earned us multiple awards along the way. And for a limited time, we even offer QuietCool systems for free when you purchase a new complete HVAC system. That means you can overhaul your home’s entire cooling system by replacing it with a high-efficiency central AC and a brand-new whole-house fan at no extra cost.
Plus, we also offer comprehensive HVAC repair and maintenance, along with plumbing services, indoor air quality, insulation, and duct sealing, too! That makes us a one-stop shop for the majority of your household infrastructure needs. We even provide home energy audits to help you make your home as energy-efficient as possible. And if that’s not enough, we even offer financing on approved credit to help you afford the new HVAC and QuietCool system combination you want.
So, for QuietCool whole-house fans, HVAC systems, and more, call the experts at Allbritten today!
