3 ms·

My parents grew up without AC. Their families used a series of open windows and window fans to create a housewide draft. You can't just point a fan at yoursel

My parents grew up without AC. Their families used a series of open windows and window fans to create a housewide draft. You can't just point a fan at yourself...a big problem is the air in your house getting hotter than outdoor air due to greenhouse, electronics, warm bodies, and ground temps. So recycling air out helps a lot. That said, we had that same setup as a kid for about a month and it was still rather miserable compared to AC. Mainly because AC removes humidity, whereas fans don't.

cududa 4y ago
I got very into indoor plants over the winter and outfitted the house with smart humidifiers to control humidity in each room as my old house is VERY drafty. It’s absolutely wild to adapt to the plants summer humidity needs (based in Ohio). I can keep my windows open with a few window fans to circulate air and the indoor humidity level hovers around 15-20% less than outdoor humidity.
schiffern 4y ago
The trick is to run the whole-house fan all night, and shut it off when the temperature starts to rise in the morning (effectively "banking" the cold night air by cooling the building mass). Turn the fan back on when it gets hotter inside than outside (usually 4-7 pm). Wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer are cheap nowadays! A "cheater" whole-house fan can be made by putting a box fan exhausting in a window (fill in the rest with cardboard etc), and opening windows on the opposite (ideally coolest, usually North/East) side of the structure. Remember: locate the wireless thermometer sensor outside the cool intake window[s], otherwise your temperature reading will be off. On sticky wet days, I find it helps to run the AC for a couple hours in the morning, after shutting off the fan. This dehumidifies the indoor air while it's still cool outdoors, so the AC runs more efficiently. Pro-tip: running an AC on LOW fan speed makes it dehumidify more effectively. Later in the day, I use AC set at 75-80 to "shave off" the worst of the heat in the afternoon/evening, prior to turning on the fan. Using only the fan without any AC, this results in a ~90% reduction in electricity used for cooling (at the cost of a few less-than-comfortable evening hours). Using the fan+AC technique, I yield about a 75% energy reduction (but with higher comfort).

cududa 4y ago

I got very into indoor plants over the winter and outfitted the house with smart humidifiers to control humidity in each room as my old house is VERY drafty. It’s absolutely wild to adapt to the plants summer humidity needs (based in Ohio). I can keep my windows open with a few window fans to circulate air and the indoor humidity level hovers around 15-20% less than outdoor humidity.

schiffern 4y ago

The trick is to run the whole-house fan all night, and shut it off when the temperature starts to rise in the morning (effectively "banking" the cold night air by cooling the building mass). Turn the fan back on when it gets hotter inside than outside (usually 4-7 pm). Wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer are cheap nowadays! A "cheater" whole-house fan can be made by putting a box fan exhausting in a window (fill in the rest with cardboard etc), and opening windows on the opposite (ideally coolest, usually North/East) side of the structure. Remember: locate the wireless thermometer sensor outside the cool intake window[s], otherwise your temperature reading will be off. On sticky wet days, I find it helps to run the AC for a couple hours in the morning, after shutting off the fan. This dehumidifies the indoor air while it's still cool outdoors, so the AC runs more efficiently. Pro-tip: running an AC on LOW fan speed makes it dehumidify more effectively. Later in the day, I use AC set at 75-80 to "shave off" the worst of the heat in the afternoon/evening, prior to turning on the fan. Using only the fan without any AC, this results in a ~90% reduction in electricity used for cooling (at the cost of a few less-than-comfortable evening hours). Using the fan+AC technique, I yield about a 75% energy reduction (but with higher comfort).