How to Build an Insulated, Air-Tight Box For Your Whole House Fan!

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This homeowner had a whole house fan installed in the ceiling of their home that they did not want to part with. The problem with them is that when they are not running, they are extremely inefficient as their thin metal louvers allow hot summer attic temps to radiate down into the home, as well as heat to escape the home during the winter. Insulwise's solution for this is to build a sturdy box around the fan and then insulate the top and sides with 2" thick, insulated foam board. The top has a removeable lid with handles. The end result is a robust solution that keeps out summer heat, seals in warmth during the winter, and will last for years!

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3 окт 2023

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Комментарии : 23

@jonathanthibaut1273 6 месяцев назад

This is by far the best channel on youtube for homeowners. Wish I would have found your videos sooner. Thank you!

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 6 месяцев назад

Thank you! We do try, and have a number of other videos in the works to post. Enjoy! Andy

@jovannihernandez4037 7 месяцев назад

Brilliant video, thank you sharing! Ive been looking for ideas on how to insualte my whole house fan. I really want to get rid of it at this stage...

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 6 месяцев назад

Thank you! Glad that you found this helpful. This design has worked well for us over the years and I think is fairly easy to construct. Hope this helped you!

@jackdempsey9346 8 месяцев назад

Gonna try this. Thanks!

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 8 месяцев назад

You're welcome! The end result is a robust and effective solution. I tried to make it as easy to see the whole process as possible. I saw that you also had another question about the level of insulation that you should have in your attic. We recommend at least a level of R-49 for your attic, which comes out to about 15" total inches of cellulose insulation. You would of course want to first air seal your attic the best that you can. This is a link to our attic insulation page that could offer you some additional tips (at least for how we approach doing this!) www.insulwise.com/insulation/pittsburghs-attic-insulation-specialists/ Best of luck to you! Andy

@jackdempsey9346 8 месяцев назад

@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 You're awesome dude, thanks a lot!

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 8 месяцев назад

@@jackdempsey9346 Thanks Jack, let me know if anything else I can do to help! Andy

@efsilva86 3 месяца назад

Thanks for this Andy! Would xps foam without the wood also work if you adhere it to itself and weight the top? Thanks!

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 3 месяца назад

Hi there, it might. However, we see homeowners attempt to build all sorts of boxes around their pull down ladders, house fans, etc using ways that are less robust than our designs. Often they seem not to stand up to attic heat, or gradually fall apart in various ways. You may be able to get this solution to work just fine, but our approach is to reinforce things like this with lumber attach the foam mechanically with screws and washers. Good luck!

@antodinihuxley1 9 месяцев назад

Nice video

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 9 месяцев назад

Thanks!

@drewmitchell4323 4 месяца назад

Hey Andy, just commenting because this is your most recent video haha. What knee pads do you recommend for crawling around attic frequently. I'd prefer to be able to walk when I'm older. And thanks for all the content, I'm a Mold Remediator in southeastern Wisconsin, your videos have helped me add much more value to my customers.

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 4 месяца назад

Hey there, glad that I can be of help! The knee pads that our teams use are Rexbeti knee pads. They're about $25 a pair on amazon. I have used just about every type of knee pad known to man over the years, and the Rexbeti pads are what work best for this type of work. They're comfortable, don't slip off your legs, and the rounded/ rubber coated knee pad areas do not slip off studs like the hard plastic ones can. Hope this helps! Andy

@drewmitchell4323 4 месяца назад

@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 Thanks for the help! I really appreciate it I've tried a few home depot ones and after a couple I just went with no knee pads, so my knees are really thankful now. You should keep uploading you add so much value!!

@DennisMarwood 5 месяцев назад

Thank you for this video. Any thoughts on adding some hinges to have it open on its own when the fan is turned on?

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 4 месяца назад

It's not a bad idea, but the hinges need to be mounted to something sturdy enough on the hatch so they will hold in place, namely a strip of wood. Usually once we install these homeowners find that their home functions much better than they expected by just keeping the hatch in place, and they then leave them on year round.

@brandonbuchner1771 6 месяцев назад

Thank you for posting this. We tend to use our whole house fan in situations where we burn bacon or popcorn or something else in the kitchen. Or to get fumes out when cleaning with chemicals. Rather than building above like this, i am planning on just taking a piece of rigid insulation, sticking some magnetic tape around the perimeter, and sticking it on the ceiling to cover the louvers from the inside so it can be quickly removable. I know that you would still get some thermal short circuiting from the metal framing for the louver, but does this seem like a reasonable solution to keep me from having to go in the attic to remove the cover each time we overcook some bacon?

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 6 месяцев назад

Your solution will be far better than doing nothing, that's for sure. These things do move a lot of air when they're on. And in some parts of the country they work exceptionally well as they're designed (high dessert areas with hot dry days and cold nights, like Colorado). Andy

@alansitzmann7057 Месяц назад

Why wouldn't you just a door on the bottom side make it look like a attic door that folds down or slides open

@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 Месяц назад

You could do this, but I wouldn't know how do to it in a way that wouldn't be visually quite obtrusive on the inside of the house. There are magnetic covers that you can also attach to the louvers from the underside, and would help air seal the opening, but they still allow for a massive thermal bypass due to there being no insulation there. Andy