Re: Whole house ventilation

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 08:55:21 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 11:16:34 +0200, "Frithiof Andreas Jensen"
> <frithiof.jensen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Joerg" <notthisjoergsch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>news:1cmre.591$Pa5.22@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>> Why are whole house ventilation systems by default "whole house fans"
>>> that suck air out of the house? Why is there no system available at Home
>>> Depot, Lowes or other places that blows air into the house through a
>>> filter and then out the screen doors instead of sucking unfiltered air in?
>>
>>Because, the "Average Consumer" *wants* a big lump mounted in the wall of
>>his home because that is all he is good for when installing it himself.
>>
>>In Denmark we do not want "the lump" and energy is expensive so we will pipe
>>the air to the rooms in the house, the outgoing air goes through a
>>heat-exchanger and the heat pump sucks the heat out of it and uses it to
>>warm the incoming - in the summer, this is reversed. All the stuff goes in
>>the attic.
>>
>>Alternatively, having no attic or a smaller house, one put the compressor
>>part outside, hidden round the back where the noise annoys the neighbours
>>more than yourself, and pibe coolant into a fan unit in the ceiling where
>>the heat bothers them most (livingroom/bedroom). This flow can be reversed
>>too.
>>
>
> This is standard "central air" here. The remote unit is the air
> conditioning compressor and sometimes a heat pump, although direct gas
> heating is probably more common. Chillers/heaters are in the attic,
> with forced-air ducting everywhere.

Here few have central air-conditioning because forced-air heat is unusual
and the need for AC is minimal. Most have either oil or gas (me)
fired hot-water heat, so the ductwork for central-air is a rather
significant expense. Most here have window units and run them perhaps 30
days over a four month period. For the past few years, I've run mine more
for dehumidification than anything else.

>
>>But *nobody* kicks a whole in the wall for one of those noisy, ugly,
>>lumpy units that the Americans like ;-)

> In older houses, people often use a window-mounted a/c unit or two.
> Noisy and inefficient, but still a blessing in places where the humidity
> and the temperature both idle near 100.

I have a 2-ton unit through the wall downstairs and added a 7000BTU/hr
unit (also through the wall) in our bedroom. Sleep is important. Adding
the ductwork for cental AC would be silly.

> The French like those silly portable air conditioners, the ones with the
> hot air dump hose that you stick out the window. They're hardly worth
> the effort.

I see those in the stores here. What assinine contraptions! The
condenser in the room is just such a good idea.

> In our local climate, the San Francisco peninsula, air conditioning is
> not universal (essentially unknown in the city itself) and a simple fan
> is all you really need to stay comfortable. Now, in the middle of June,
> we leave the heat on.

I just turned mine off a week or so ago. However, I did run the ACs for
five days straight. It was hot and muggy. It's also been raining (what's
new) so I can't open my windows.


--
Keith
.

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