Truth in AirFlow

It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.

-Mark Twain

 

We here at AirScape have spent a lot of time and effort testing and ensuring that our products provide the airflow and the energy use that we state. Take a look at this interesting video of our test chamber.

We just heard that one of our competitors (QC Manufacturing aka Quiet Cool Fans) has entered into a settlement agreement with the California Energy Commission. The most important part of that agreement is this:

“From December 15, 2015, to July 18, 2016, QC sold or offered for sale either directly or through retailers, distributors, or installers whole house fans in California that were listed in the Database with greater air flow and air flow efficiency data than could be verified by the Commission’s testing laboratory, in violation of sections 1606(a)(3)(E)(l) and 1608”

There are no Federal standards other than truth in advertising laws to specifically keep people in our industry honest. So we are grateful to the California Energy Commission for ensuring that customer receive what they paid for.

Thanks to our great customers and we look forward to keeping your homes cool this summer !

Here are some useful links.

CEC Docket Log

Actual Settlement Agreement

Meeting California Title 24 2013

California has slowly (too slowly in our humble opinion!) begun mandating Whole House Fans in certain climate zones.  July 1st, 2014 brings us the latest edition (labelled 2013) of the Title 24 standard that mandates the installation of Whole House Fans in climate zones 8-14.  This applies to designers using the “Prescriptive Standards/Components Package” design method (vs. the Performance Standards method).

Rest assured all AirScape Whole House Fans are Title 24 compliant!

You can find the standard for download on the energy.ca.gov website or via the link below.  Of particular interest is Section 150.1.

2013 Building Energy Efficiency Standards – Title 24

Title 24 position on whole house fans:

12. Ventilation Cooling. Single family homes shall comply with the Whole House Fan (WHF) requirements shown in TABLE 150.1-A. When a WHF is required, comply with Subsections A through C below:
A. Have installed one or more WHFs whose total Air Flow CFM as listed in the CEC Directory is at least 2 CFM/ft2 of conditioned floor area; and
B. Have at least 1 square foot of attic vent free area for each 375 CFM of rated whole house fan Air Flow CFM; and
C. Provide homeowners who have WHFs with a one page “How to operate your whole house fan” informational sheet.

Table 150.1-A in the standard breaks down which zones are required to install the whole house fan.  If you are not sure what climate zone you are in, have a look at the map below or click here for a city by city breakdown.

Title 24 Climate Zones