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The certainty of warm weather setting in across the land is dreaded by many in a true “death and taxes” fashion. Inevitability aside, summer heat is one of those things that you can at least mediate to some extent, as most modern homes are already equipped with cooling fixtures like a heat-beating HVAC unit. 

If, however, you are living in an older home with no HVAC, or your old system has finally expired, the prospect of having a new one installed surely seems promising, at least until you start seeing estimates from HVAC professionals. Once you start crunching those numbers, well, you might be tempted to start looking for other ways to keep cool in your home when the weather is anything but outside. One option you might want to consider is outfitting your home with a whole house fan.

If you’re not sure what, exactly, a whole house fan is, the name is actually pretty self explanatory. In essence, the device is built into an attic space or a roof. It is designed to pull cool air into a home through open windows, then exhaust it into the attic, where it can escape the home through vents. Conceptually, the effect is similar to an HVAC unit, though it likely will not cool with quite the same effectiveness. Nonetheless, a whole house fan should still provide significant cooling to your home. Yes, they’re also better for the environment than an HVAC unit, and should be considerably cheaper, too. 

For many, economics is sure to be the biggest benefit of installing a whole house fan in your home, as it should be considerably cheaper than installing a new HVAC system. According to some sources, installing a whole house fan could cost anywhere between $900 and $2,400, though the final numbers may fluctuate based on the scope of the install, the size of your home, and potentially even your location.

By contrast, a new HVAC system could run you anywhere between $7,500 to $14,500 or more depending on your needs. A whole house fan should also save you money after the install too, as they consume a fraction of the energy a central air conditioning unit does during operation. Pro tip, you might even be able to significantly reduce your energy costs in the summer by utilizing a whole house fan in conjunction with your A/C unit, assuming you don’t run them at the same time.

While A/C units have their own issues, there are negatives to consider with a whole house fan too. First and foremost, whole house fans are generally better-suited to regions that see warm days, but experience significant cooling when the sun goes down. That’s because the cooling effect will likely not be as impactful if the air outside your home is too warm. The house fan will likely not be as effective as an HVAC in combating humidity either, which could be a make or break factor in steamier locales. Just as importantly, these systems may also be an easy entry point for pests and unwanted moisture if the unit is not installed correctly — though arguably, the same could be said of traditional cooling systems, too.