Installing A Whole House Fan

The temperature at our house can change over 30 degrees between night and day.  Warm days in the 90's with cool evenings in the 60's means it's great to cool off the house at night.

The large delta in temperature makes our area perfect for a whole house fan.  These are powerful fans that pull air in at night cooling off the house and the attic.  You then turn them off on the morning and close up the house to contain the cool evening air.  

Our house is over 2600 square feet so we needed a large fan.  We decided to go with a 6400 Cubic Feet Per Minute (CFM) Quiet Cool Fan from Whole House Fans.   I roughly estimate the volume of our house to be around 22,000 cubic feet which means the entire house volume in about 4 minutes.  Of course, it takes quite a bit longer to cool off the house.  You have to suck all the heat out of the furniture walls, and electronics in the house. 

The fan came in a large box and was VERY heavy.  We had to pull the pieces into the attic one at a time. 

We then cut a hole in the ceiling. 

Once the hole was done, we were able to install the plenum between the joists.

The fans hang from the rafters and connect with large hoses.  Since the fans are isolated from the ceiling joists, the fan runs quietly.  This is important since we like to run it through the night.

 There are other kinds of fans that are cheaper.  Though they are also quite loud and didn't have the CFM needed for our house.  The Quiet Cool fan has been a great way to cool down the house for the hot summer days.  It was an expensive fan, so not so sure it will pay for itself. Though, I'd rather have fresh cool evening air than stuffy A/C.

In Phoenix For Shannon's Graduation

We stayed in Phoenix for two days so we could attend Shannon's Graduation from Arizona State University for her Bachelors degree in Nursing. She already has her nursing degree and is a practicing nurse, but the BSN gives additional learning and better pay.

The kids made a bouquet for Shannon out of folded paper.

While in Phoenix, we visited Cabelas!

Ben want's an ATV.  Sarah enjoys tormenting him. 

We stayed at a very nice hotel called Phoenix Marriot Tempe at The Buttes.  It was quite nice. Only complaint was that it did not have free WiFi.

The kids enjoyed swimming in the pool.  There are two large pools that are connected by a canal.  You can swim through the canal and there is a window half way through.

We drove back to Los Angeles on Wednesday.  Total trip from Castaic->Williams->Phoenix and back to Castaic was 1,200 miles.

Williams To Phoenix

On Monday we drove from Williams Arizona to Phoenix Arizona.  We descended more than 5,000 feet in elevation along the way watched the temperature raise by about 30 degrees.  Along the way, we took a detour to go sight seeing along a dirt road through the Arizona Forest.

We stopped along the way to take some photos.  The mountains in the background are near Sedona, Arizona.

We continued down the road a total of 6 miles and  stopped at Schenbly Hill Vista for a great view of the mountains around Sedona. 

 

 

There were folks there from Sedona on a Jeep Tour, but our Minivan did just fine on the dirt road. Admittedly though, we came from the interstate 17 freeway side, not from Sedona. We drove back the way we came so we didn't find out what the road would have been like if we continued up to Sedona. 

We continued down the 17 freeway to Phoenix. The terrain changed quickly on the drive down the hill. Pine trees quickly gave way to small trees and shrubs.

The Grand Canyon Railway

We left Williams, AZ on Sunday morning to take a trip to the Grand Canyon via the Grand Canyon Railway.  It's a bit expensive at around $65 per ticket, but a fun way to travel.  If you are a AAA or AARP member, they offer a discount of around 10%.

Shannon's parents came along with us as well. 

 

 

The Pullman car we rode in was manufactured in 1923.

It was great seeing the different terrain and wildlife along the way to the Grand Canyon. 

 

 

There was a Steam Train at the Rim of the Grand Canyon when we arrived at the train station. Although our train was Diesel, they run a steam train once per month. 

 

The train brought us close the the rim of the grand canyon where we were able to walk over and get some pictures of the stunning views.

 

There's lots of things to explore around the top of the rim so the kids enjoyed exploring

The Squirrels were very tame and were looking for a handout.

There was a store called the Hopi House that sold Native American artwork.

I couldn't resist this shot