Whole House Fan Applications

WHF Discharge into Attics

We occasionally get questions from potential customers about ducting a whole house fan directly outside, instead of having it discharge into the attic.  Have a look at the graph below from our San Jose DMP demo site to illustrate why we recommend discharging into the attic space.

At the end of a hot day, the attic space is around 95 deg F (RED line).  When the whole house fan is started (GRAY line spike to speed 6), the attic temp drops over 10 deg F in just a few minutes.  What you are looking at is the flushing effect of the whole house fan pushing all that hot attic air outside.  Without that flushing effect, the house would continue to have additional heat load from the attic.  This is an additional (bonus) effect on top of the cool outside air being pulled into your living space!

More info on DMP and Demo Page

attic temp

Winter Fan Use

Over the past few years we have received a lot of feedback from customers regarding the performance and energy efficiency of our fans during the hot summer months. The only thing lacking is how to use the fan year round. To assist with this we offer the SI (seasonal insulation) kit to help increase the R value of our unit. Lately we have been exploring the idea of getting some use from the fan during the winter. The concept of moving outside temperature air through your home doesn’t have to be limited to cool summer nights. The same technology that can cool your home can also be used to bring heat into your home. Some climates can become warm enough during the day to allow for the air to be brought inside and ultimately warm the house. Using the unit the same way you would at night for cooling during summer, in winter, the unit can be turned on when the temperature outside the home gets at or above the desired temperature inside the home. Creating these air exchanges during the day will help in warming the insulation, foundation, etc. which would otherwise have to be heated by your existing heating system. We want you to get the most out of your Airscape fan, and tips like these really help save money during this time of the year.

http://www.hvacquick.com/products/residential/Grilles-Registers/Access-Doors

For further questions please contact Jeremy Batham, Airscape Technical Support 866-448-4187

PR: Data Monitoring Package

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Airscape announces the launch of its new Data Monitoring Package extending the web server capability of its whole house fans.MC-Contact

The data monitoring package “DMP” provides extra sensors and software to allow whole house fan owners to view room, outside, and attic temperatures. Users can view the temperatures through browser enabled devices (smart phones, computers, tablets). Historical data will be aggregated and saved on AirScape servers and available by secure login.

 

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Users can check temperatures in the house, attic, and outside remotely. dmp_package

By looking at the graphs of temperatures, users can view patterns, identify trends, and decide upon the best ways to save utility costs, and optimize green energy efficiencies.

For more information, visit :

http://www.airscapefans.com/learn-about/dmp-explained.php

IP address reservation

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.

This applies to our 2nd Generation controls (shipping with 3.5eWHF and 4.4eWHF models as of July 2012) that are connected to a home network (LAN).

Every device that communicates with an IP (internet protocol) network will have an IP address (local area network addresses will often be something like 192.168.xxx.xxx) and a MAC address. MAC addresses are the serial numbers of the internet and are registered with the IEEE (institute of electrical and electronics engineers). AirScape has a block of MAC addresses that will always be of the form 60:CB:FB:xx:xx:xx . This makes it very easy to find and identify your AirScape whole house fan when it’s on your network.

The AirScape control board gets its IP address from your router through a process called DHCP (dynamic host control protocol).  When your router senses that a new device is connected, it assigns an IP address to that device. (It know that the device is ‘new” by its MAC address – every MAC address is different).

Now, here is the whole point of the IP address reservation. A DHCP assigned IP address can and will change, but we want a fixed address.  The IP address reservation provides the best of both worlds. There is no IP address configuration at the device. The router will recognize that device by its MAC address and then assign it the same IP address each time.

The following example and screenshots are of a D-link DIR-825 router.

Note the AirScape MAC address

It’s marked on the electrical box cover and in this case, it’s 60:CB:FB:00:00:17

Add DHCP Reservation

We can pick any IP address within the LAN range (192.168.0.1 to 192.168.10.255) with the exception of already used addresses. In this case, we are selecting 192.168.0.13

Confirm DHCP Reservation

 Confirm Web Server Operation

Enter the IP address ( 192.168.0.13) into your browser – computer or smartphone.