Hello Friends-

I wanted to share with you a cost effective upgrade for your house!  First thing you may think during this time of the year is that it never gets that hot in Seattle……….but for those people that have a decent exposure we have a few warm months here.   Add to that the fact that many of the properties are without air conditioning and are multiple stories, you will always get a few rooms that are pretty dang hot.   For those of you with a few grand just lying around, perhaps you have thought of an A/C.  For those of you that like to save that money for a trip to Hawaii during the February grey, you might want to examine the option of a whole house fan.

The classic way that an exhaust fan works is to draw hot air out of the attic space and out through the roof, letting cooler air coming in through the windows.  Of course this only works if the air outside the house is cooler than what is inside.   But if you think about it, most of the time the air is cooler outside.  Especially on those days the sun is beating down on your house and turning it into a pressure cooker.  Here’s an image that helps demonstrate:

In the coming days I will give you a couple different scenarios on how this can play out.  Ducted vs. Direct, Solar vs. Powered.   Bottom line is that it is something that can increase the value of your home, and since they are not entirely commonplace it makes your home stand out in the marketplace (should you be selling in the near future!).  A great cost-effective Green feature for your Seattle home.