AirScape Engineer's Blog

“When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail”

What a wonderfully simple way to describe much of our world.  I am reminded of this whenever I see people working on the “energy” problem.  Software people clearly know, that if only we wired everything up and monitored our energy use, the rest of the problem would be trivial.  Economists clearly have the upper hand, because they can describe carbon trading as the sure fire method to reduce carbon output,  increase energy efficiency, and still have economic growth.  Photovoltaic manufacturers, electric car builders, and wind farm developers are among the many queuing up at the public feeding trough.

Nothing wrong with any of those solutions.  Just bear in mind the aphorism.

By the way, our hammer is a whole house fan.

The newest version of our control board has a master override or interlock. The interlock, which is now required by some building codes, effectively disables the WHF by closing the damper doors and turning off the fans. It is often used in conjunction with smoke detectors or mechanical systems located in the attic. The idea is that if the furnace turns on or the smoke detector goes off the WHF will shut down. This could slow down the spread of a fire or save $$$ if the furnace was accidentally turned on.

The interlock is integrated into our 24v digital controls on V4 of our control board. To use the interlock simply remove the two-pin shunt and run low voltage wire from the interlock screw terminals to the relay on the device that will disable the WHF. To activate the interlock the relay should interrupt the 24v current. Do not wire 120v to the interlock.

When activated a solid red LED will illuminate on the WHF control board. The fans will turn off and the damper doors will close. Once the interlock is disengaged, the LED will go out. The WHF can be restarted by flipping the wall switch off and on again or by using your remote.

When you call in with a tech support issue we will want to know which version of our control board is controlling your unit. This is important because it will help us properly diagnose what is going on with your WHF. In most cases we can determine the control board version if you give us the model information for your AirScape. The model is listed on a sticker found on the unit (near the junction box on the 1.7, 2.5, 4.5 and on the damper door of the 1.0). Occasionally the model sticker isn’t enough. If you are already going into the attic to write down the model information you might as well take a look at the control board as well.

The control board has had several different incarnations over the years. Please take a look at the photos below and identify your control board before you call tech support.

My control board looks most like: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 (Differences between 3 and 4 circled in red)

1 2

3 4

56

As a manufacturer of environmentally friendly products, it is always our goal to find new ways to be even more green in our business practices. In January 2009 we decided to implement a foam packaging recycling program to help reduce our environmental impact. 

In order to ensure that our fans reach customers throughout the country without damage, they require robust polyethylene foam packaging. Polyethylene is a highly elastic and strong plastic that can withstand multiple impacts, making it ideal for shipping heavy objects such as whole house fans. Unfortunately, both the production and disposal of polyethylene, like all plastics, causes serious damage to the environment. In many parts of the country polyethylene foam is difficult if not impossible to recycle, so most of it ends up in a landfill.

The only way to reduce the hazards of plastic is to reduce the production of new plastic products. This is done by both decreasing overall demand and increasing the recycling of plastic. Our program allows us to reduce our need for the production of new polyethylene and also reduce the total amount of plastic being thrown away. We reuse the foam as many times as we can and then we recycle it, ensuring that the foam returned to us does not end up in a landfill.

It is immensely satisfying to us that we have had great customer response to this program. Almost 1 year  into the program and we have an average return rate of 42%, and the numbers are constantly increasing! My personal goal is to achieve a 50% return rate by next Spring, and with the return rates always increasing, I believe we can easily achieve this goal.

We owe a big thank you to all of our customers who have supported this program. We would also like to send out a hearty thanks to UPS, who has kindly begun waiving label printing fees and also begun offering us a discount on our return packages. With the help of UPS, our foam recycling program has been made more financially viable for us to continue in the future.

NOTE: The following instructions do not apply to the Kohilo 2.8

We often get asked how to use a timer with our whole house fans. The short answer is to purchase the optional wireless remote which has a built in timer. But for people who prefer a wall switch there is a solution for you. You can wire a mechanical turn dial timer to operate your WHF. We recommend a mechanical timer because most digital timers require 110v. Our controls are 24v and hooking up 110v would damage the AirScape control board. We also want the process to be a manual one so that you remember to open a window. The following shows two ways to wire a timer with your AirScape WHF:

OPTION 1: TIMER AND AIRSCAPE WALL SWITCH

OPERATION:

ON – Wall switch in on position, turn timer to desired time, chose fan speed

OFF – Switch wall switch to OFF or timer expires

OPTION 2: TIMER AND CUSTOMER SUPPLIED SINGLE POLE SWITCH

OPERATION:

ON – Turn timer to desired time, choose fan speed

OFF – Timer expires