Tips & FAQs

Pre-sales

Why is AirScape not available anywhere else?

We’ve chosen to sell AirScape direct online through our own sites, rather than through dealers or other online merchants. The reason? AirScape units are highly engineered and expensive to build — the price would need to be higher if we added another layer to the distribution model. Also, for this type of product that requires detailed technical sales and support, we know we can provide the highest quality service levels directly, rather than relying on dealers who aren’t specialists. So, in a nutshell: the direct online model gives us competitive advantage: it allows us to offer our customers superior equipment, superior value and superior sales and support than they would otherwise receive. It’s efficient and effective for everyone.

How do I know which AirScape fan is right for me?

The answer depends on the size and design of your home, number of bedrooms and other factors. See our page How to Choose for an easy explanation.

My home is 3000 sq ft. Do I need two units or will one be enough?

While the AirScape 1.7 is rated for homes up to 2500 sq ft, we have many happy customers who have installed a single unit in larger homes. Whether this will work for you depends on a number of factors: see our page on undersized installations.

How difficult is it to install an AirScape?

The AirScape whole house fan is designed to be fairly easily installed by the average handyman. Our DIY Installation page provides a quick overview plus detailed resources, including a video. Expect it to take roughly four hours and this can vary depending on attic access and whether or not you need to run power.

What’s the warranty?

The AirScape whole house fan is backed by a three-year warranty on the unit and internal components. AirScape fans are robustly designed and, when properly installed, will provide years of dependable, natural cooling.

Do they require any maintenance?

Nope. Fan units are sealed and permanently lubricated and the door actuator is industrial quality and also maintenance-free. No adjustments or maintenance should ever be required.

Are AirScape fans as powerful as traditional whole house fans?

In a word, no. But that’s a strength, not a weakness. These old fans can be crazy powerful—5000 CFM or more. But they are also crazy noisy. So they’ll suck the ballcap off your head when you pass under, or yank the curtains from their rod (well, not really but it feels like it!). But they sound like a turbo-prop bush plane.

AirScape fans aren’t like that. We take a more subtle and sophisticated approach that in the end is more effective, more livable and more energy efficient.

Here’s why AirScape is so much better:

While a traditional whole house fan can move a tremendous amount of air, it’s so noisy and intrusive that, typically, you turn it off as soon as you feel cooler. But then, quickly, the air (and the occupants) heat right back up again. This is because accumulated heat is radiating from the actual materials of your home.

AirScape fans are designed to run quietly in the background over many hours. Our aim is to stealthily circulate fresh cool air that carries the heat out of the structure of your home. This not only makes the occupants cool and comfortable, but also “pre-cools” your home so that A/C load is reduced for the next day.

Since a building will only give up it’s heat so fast, more CFM (and the excessive noise that goes with it) is not necessarily better. There is diminishing returns as you increase airflow. AirScape units are sized and designed to deliver optimum airflow with minimum noise. So while an AirScape takes a little longer to bring the air temperature down, it’s so quiet that you can leave it running for many hours—while you relax in the evening and while you sleep in fresh, cool, peaceful comfort.

So the bottom line is: don’t expect your new AirScape to create dramatic windstorm in your home. But DO expect dramatic increases in comfort; and dramatic reductions in your A/C costs from “pre-cooling” your home each night.

How loud is the AirScape in terms of sones?

In a real world setting, with the AirScape 1.7 on low speed, some effort is required just to hear it. Sound level is rated at two sones — just above a modern refrigerator (three and a half sones on high). So the unit is QUIET. That said, sound can be very subjective, and highly affected by various environmental factors. Also, you should be aware that, when it comes to whole house fans, comparing manufacturer’s claims can be misleading since there is no standardized testing procedure. Low noise level is a top priority for most AirScape customers; and most are very happy with the real-world results. We suggest you read some of the testimonials from AirScape users.

What are the advantages of the AirScape 1.0 vs the Tamarack HV1000?

Here are a few items we consider important:

insulation is true R22: 3” of PolyISO (vs 2” of same material on the Tamarack)
door uses external commercial grade actuator vs clock motors on the Tamarack
2 speeds vs 1 on the Tamarack
metal construction
power consumption is 70 watts vs 116 watts on the Tamarack

What are the advantages of the AirScape 1.7 vs the Tamarack HV1600?

Key advantages are:

4 fans instead of 2 on the Tamarack (much quieter as fans don’t work as hard)
elegant door design also acts as an additional sound dampener
doors use an external commercial grade actuator vs the clock motors on the Tamarack
metal construction
power consumption is 140 watts vs 276 watts on the Tamarack

Installation

I’m not handy, who should I hire to install my unit?

AirScape units are designed to be easy to install, well within the capability of a weekend handyman. Any reliable electrician, HVAC contractor, general contractor or handyman can likely do the job. Our installation page provides detailed resources that you can pass along to help ensure everything gets done right. We have a number of experienced installers listed on our installer page.

What kind of electrical work is required?

The units run on regular household power, and draw just a couple of amps, so they can easily share a circuit with other devices. They come pre-wired with a regular plug, so wiring can be as easy as plugging the unit in.

There is also low-voltage wiring required for the switch or remote. In either case, a simple wiring diagram shows you how to connect to the unit — no real electrical skills are required. If you are installing a wall switch, you will also need to run the low-voltage wiring to your switch location.

How much should installation cost?

This can vary widely depending on what part of the country you are in, the local construction marketplace and the complexity of your installation. In our experience, most contractors charge 4-6 hours for the job.

My attic insulation goes well above the ceiling joists. How do I deal with this?

Raise the unit above the level of the insulation by building up a box out of 2×6s, 2×10s or whatever depth is required. Staple in some canvas-type material to cover the insulation around the discharge of the fans to avoid any disruption to the insulation.

If you look at the installation video, you will notice that we built up a box from 2×4s to raise the unit above the insulation in that house.

It might also be a good idea to line the inside of that box with some thin duct board (used on the inside of air ducts) to absorb some of the sound from the fan—will make the fan even quieter.

Can AirScape fans be installed vertically?

Yes. The only caveat is, with the 1.0, be sure to position the unit in the “tall” position so that the door opens sideways, not up and down.

Why do I need to measure my attic ventilation?

The design of the fan relies on free air movement through adequate venting area. If there is not enough venting for attic air to escape, pressure will build up and the fan will not work as effectively.

Operating

Important Operating Tips

Only use it when the outdoor air is cooler than your indoor air.

Make sure your A/C is off when you run the fan or you’ll be blowing expensive A/C air right out of your house!

We recommend running your whole house fan all night long. Here’s why: The goal is to cool your entire house down, not just the air. It takes time to pull the heat out of the sheetrock, structure and contents of a house. By ventilating all through the night, the house starts the next day thoroughly cooled so you can delay or eliminate running energy consuming air conditioning the next day. AirScape Whole House Fans are very energy efficient so running on low speed through the night costs just pennies.

With two-speed units, use high to quickly cool down the house and low setting to run quietly through the night.

Never operate the unit without opening a window – this can create negative pressure in the house and cause dangerous backdrafting with gas appliances.

How many windows do I need to leave open? Which ones? How far?

Opening 2 or more windows 1/2 way or more is recommended. Basically you should make it easy for the fan to pull in air.

As for which windows to open, for general cooling you want to open windows far away from the fan to provide airflow to the whole house. Or, you can open windows in the areas you want cooled. For example, if you want bedrooms to be the coolest then open windows in those rooms.