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View Poll Results: Possible?
Yes, with work. 10 100.00%
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Old 07-08-12, 11:53 AM   #11
remint
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You could get two remote bulb t-stats with 20' capillaries and C (common) NC (normally closed) and NO (normally open) connections. These can easily be wired with 120v in series with your fan. Wire one through the NC connection to set your house temp and the other through the NO connection to measure outside temp. That way they both have to close the ciruit for the fan to run and you don't have to monitor anything.
Thanks Indyplumber.. This sounds like an ideal solution. The next step is to price out materials and set it up. Seems like it would be a more inexpensive solution than others I have been looking at.

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Old 07-08-12, 07:47 PM   #12
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The Tamarac (which is the only whole house fan you should buy!) has an IR or RF remote. Just use an IR blaster connected to a temperature monitoring device to control it. You could also have an outdoor temp sensor to compare values with the indoor unit so it only turns on when there is a lower temp inside.

If you already have a whole house fan and it's not a tamarac you should remove it and replace it.
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Old 04-13-14, 02:36 PM   #13
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40% AC Savings from using Whole House fan (Denver, CO).
I did a controlled manual test to see what % of savings could be achieved from an automating a whole house fan. Using zip specific Nat.Weather Service Data and my thermo as controls, my AC ran 41% less if I used Denvers cool night air to cool the interior thermal mass and air. I used a laser temp reader to show the huge difference in drywall, and brick temperatures by 6 AM. Because the Xcel Energy rate doubles in the summer months that utility savings would be $300- $350 per season on my house.
I have a layout that would allow me to draw cool air externally into my central HVAC return system, Mirv 12 filter it and distribute it -if I can get the controller unit . I've called 20 HVAC companies in Denver and cannot find anyone who has the knowledge to wire a temperature and relative humidity limited switch system to my central HVAC and whole house exhaust fan.
If you know anyone in Denver who knows how to wire it into an HVAC system have them contact me. When that kind of system can deliver $300- $400 per year cash savings , homeowners would be lining up. larryg7@arczip.com
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Old 04-14-14, 07:51 AM   #14
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What you need(in my opinion) is not a relative humidity switch but a switch that is based on the dew point. If it is warm and the humidity is extremely low, it might actually be a few degrees warmer in the house but if it lowers the dew point of the house, you'll be more comfortable, this is also more important if it allows you to dehumidify on a dry morning and close the place up and give the air conditioner less moisture to remove, if you need to run it on super hot days.

The temperature is usually easy because I imagine you can get a line voltage thermostat for that. Moisture is a tougher cookie but I imagine a line voltage relay connected to a dehumidistat would do the trick. ...but relative humidity is still not the number I would want to go by. In Minnesota we have a summer dew point for months at a time that keeps the windows shut unless you want to rot your walls and carpet, if you have a finished basement, which sucks. I know a bunch of people who open their windows anyway at night here but I can smell the mold, oddly enough they get used to it as it gets worse and think I'm crazy when I tell them that I can smell the mold stench on my clothes when I get home after leaving their house.
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Old 04-14-14, 09:58 AM   #15
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The temperature is usually easy because I imagine you can get a line voltage thermostat for that. Moisture is a tougher cookie ...
You need to do a little research on this...

There are many temperature sensors, and also many humidity sensors available, some even have both on the same precision chip. fo cheap.

There are loads of Arduino projects that will do this very thing.

Time to dust off the old thinking cap, and TRY_THIS.

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Old 04-14-14, 04:42 PM   #16
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The industrial equipment you're seeking is called an economizer. It rigs up to the return air plenum and reroutes the intake to your choice of supply. An economizer can also be rigged to exhaust stale air outdoors. Some economizer units come with their own differential controllers that make all the decisions and tell the units what to do and when. Or you can go with a zone damper, but they are usually controlled by a separate device.

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Old 04-15-14, 02:54 PM   #17
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Simply automating a whole house fan alone is not the answer. One always opens a window when running a whf. If you don't do that it won't work and it could cause havoc with things like an indoor gas water heater that starts backdrafting. I've thought about doing that myself. You would need a motor operated insulated damper to supplement the whf to automate the whole system. And perhaps an economizer too as was just suggested. Not cheap or easy but definitely doable.
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Old 04-15-14, 03:06 PM   #18
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Probably a more practical alternative is to only automate the OFF control. Then you wouldn't need a control damper. This would allow you to open the window, turn on the fan and when the house temperature got as cool as you set on the thermostat it would turn off automatically. That would be my guess as the best control solution for balancing the reward to amount of construction ratio.
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Old 04-15-14, 03:44 PM   #19
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Default Simple ideas are always harder than complicated ones.

I don't know what I was thinking when I said you needed a motorized damper to replace an opening window. Wrong. All you need is a backdraft damper. A doggie door for a large dog will do, though it isn't the most energy efficient. (you already knew that)
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Old 04-15-14, 06:07 PM   #20
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Default DOH you live in Denver

The blatantly obvious things are the hardest to miss. Just go to a hydro grow store and tell them what you want. Believe me, they will have it CHEAP or OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE in sixteen flavors. Those growers need lots of fresh, filtered air. General rule: more cfm and quieter costs more.

While you're there, you can get a diff temp control for 20-30 bucks and up.

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