We’re in Sunset Magazine!

Sunset Magazine July 2015Exciting news! AirScape has been mentioned in the July, 2015 issue of Sunset Magazine.

Matt Golden, an efficiency expert, provided some tips to help readers efficiently keep their homes cool through the summer. In addition to sealing HVAC ducts, properly insulating the home, and drawing the blinds during the day, Matt recommended homeowners invest in a whole house fan—a suggestion we obviously agree strongly with, especially when ours is the brand being recommended.

Sunset’s July, 2015 issue is on newsstands now. It’d be ungrateful for us not to suggest you go out and get a copy, so, if you’re not already a subscriber, please do! We’re a little too excited, however, not to provide a link, so you can also check out our brief appearance here.

Also, Matt is the CEO of a very cool start-up, Open Energy Efficiency. Be sure to check out their website as well!

Designing the 5.0e

5.0e, Front
5.0e, Front

Our newest model of whole house fan, the 5.0e, is has been available on our website since spring. We’re extremely excited about it. Not only is this our first new fan in several years, but it is also our most powerful and our most efficient fan ever. Moreover, we’re manufacturing a greater portion of this fan “in-house” at our Medford, Oregon facility than any of our other fans. We’re also seeking a patent for some of the innovations behind its performance. As our patent is finally “pending”, we can now share the story of the 5.0e’s development.

Read more

Local to Southern Oregon? Save on a Whole House Fan!

As you might be aware, we here at AirScape are located in beautiful Southern Oregon—Medford to be exact. The climate here is pretty terrific: not too hot, cold, or humid, and with low overnight temperatures, even during the summer. In this climate it is completely realistic to replace traditional A/C with a whole house fan (depending, of course, on the size of home and desired indoor temperature). To see just how well one of our fans works in Southern Oregon, check out the data from our Ashland Data Monitoring demo site.

The ongoing heat wave in the Western states has been generating a lot of interest in our  fans. If you’re reading this from Southern Oregon or within easy driving distance thereof, we’d like you to know about an offer we extend to “locals”: Anyone interested in purchasing an AirScape whole house fan and willing to pick it up in person at our Medford, Oregon facility can take advantage of:

  1. Zero shipping charges (obviously); and,
  2. A 10% discount on their purchase.

There are two caveats. Firstly, this offer is strictly “FOB Origin”: you are responsible for transporting your purchase to its install location, and for any damage it might sustain en route thereto. Secondly, you need to call us directly at 1.866.448.4187 to place your order and arrange to pick it up.

If you’re cooling your home with A/C, rising temperatures mean heavier electrical bills. If you’re not, they mean hot, stuffy bedrooms, lost sleep, and a lower quality of life. In either case, there’s no need to suffer. Our whole house fans offer a natural, energy-efficient means of cooling your home. Call us today to find the right solution for you.

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AirScape’s Shipping Dock, Medford, Oregon

 

AirScape App for iPhone and iPad now Available.

UPDATE: The controls referenced below are currently only available as an upgrade on Sierra units. For more information please call us at 866.448.4187.

Our app for iPhone® and iPad® is now available from the App Store. We released our app for Android devices about a year ago, and are incredibly excited to offer the same great functionality to our customers with Apple® devices.

With this FREE app, homeowners with AirScape whole house fans can:iOS_Blog_iPhone

  • Scan their network to find all AirScape whole house fans connected to it;
  • Assign custom names to each fan on the network for easy identification;
  • Control a connected fan through the app’s interface, which is identical to that on our wall switches and wireless remotes; and,
  • View a fan’s status, indoor and attic temperatures, as well as any SafeSpeed™ notifications if this accessory has been installed.

To operate a fan using this app, both your fan and iPhone or iPad need to be connected to the same local area network (“LAN”)—your fan using a CAT-5 cable between its control box and your router, and your iPhone or iPad using Wi-Fi. For safety purposes this app cannot operate fans over the internet or your cellular network. If, for example, you’ve got access to the internet using your local coffee shop’s network or your phone’s 3G/4G service, our app will not be able to connect to your home’s fan.

Fans that are not connected to a network cannot be controlled using this app. Also, this app is compatible with only AirScape whole house fans with 2nd generation controls (sold 2013 to present).

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Now Introducing… Solar-powered Whole House Fans!

Not really. The headline above is a little tongue-in-cheek. Readers of this blog will know our fans are designed to be run at night, when cool outdoor temperatures can be drawn indoors. Since photovoltaic cells can’t generate electricity at night, directly powering a whole house fan with solar generated electricity isn’t possible—unless, of course, one wants to run their fan during the day, which would heat the home rather than cool it!

We do, however, frequently receive calls from homeowners wanting to know if they can run a whole house fan directly off of their home solar array. We wish they could. Because they’re a more efficient substitute for mechanical air conditioning, whole house fans greatly compliment solar by reducing the size of array needed to provide the same cooling. But again, photovoltaics don’t work at night.

To operate a whole house fan with electricity generated by a solar array, homeowners need some sort of energy storage device that would allow them to store electricity they generate but do not use during the day. Then, this stored electricity could be drawn down through the night to power the whole house fan.

In short, they need a battery—which is why we’ve followed Tesla’s recent announcement of their new Powerwall home battery system with great interest. Home battery systems have been available for some time now. But they have never been as prominent in the popular discourse as they are now, makings this the ideal moment for a blog post “back of the envelope” analysis about using a home battery to operate an AirScape fan.

Read more

Apps for Gen 2 Controls

UPDATE: The controls referenced below are currently only available as an upgrade on Sierra units. For more information please call us at 866.448.4187.

We can officially announce the AirScape Gen 2 Controls Android App for our whole house fans.  This will be a first in the whole house fan industry and we are very excited!

When is it coming? Soon. We are currently in beta testing and an early to mid July release date looks probable.  AVAILABLE NOW  in the Google Play store!

How much?  Free.

Is it backwards compatible?  Yes.  The app will work with all Gen 2 Controls fans from 2013 and 2014.  Some data might not be available on older 2013 version fans but the functionality will be there.

Can I still use the remote controls?  Yes.  The app is another control method.  It does not replace the wall switch, remote controls, or web interface.

What about an iOS (Apple) app?  We are still working on it –  There is currently no official release date.

With the AirScape Fan Controller app, you can:

* Conveniently SCAN your network (LAN) and find all connected AirScape whole house fans
* CONTROL any of the connected fans via the buttons on the app, just like a remote control
* VIEW status/temperatures/timer/SafeSpeed/interlock messages
* RENAME (assign custom names) to each whole house fan for easy identification

Note that the app must be installed on a device connected to your local network (wifi on phones). It does not operate over phone carrier networks (3G/4G, etc.). Only AirScape whole house fans equipped with 2nd Gen Controls and connected to your local network can be found and controlled.

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